Unconsulted, a bus stop has been placed right in front of a family’s home, making it difficult for them to access their driveway.
Hoa Tran, her spouse Nam Nguyen, and their two children have resided in their Oakleigh South, south-east Melbourne house for seven years.
When a developer purchased the property, the bus stop was relocated 12 metres down the road. Previously, it had been in front of their neighbor’s property.
The shelter is now located just in front of Ms. Tran’s home, and the mother reports that she has trouble sleeping owing to the constant passing of buses.
The Victorian Department of Transport sent the family a letter advising them of the site change and instructing them to contact the department if they had any questions.
Hoa Tran, her spouse Nam Nguyen, and their two children have resided in their home in Oakleigh South, Melbourne’s south-east, for seven years, but now allege it is difficult to enter their driveway due to the installation of a bus shelter in front of their residence.
However, Ms. Tran claims that her and her partner’s repeated calls and emails to the department were disregarded.
Ms. Tran did not receive a response and a sketch of the bus stop’s design until the day before work was scheduled to begin.
This image depicted a street pole with a bus stop sign, but did not include the shelter that is now located in front of her home.
She claims she had no opportunity to object to the installation of the shelter, as the bus stop is now located just outside her front gate.
Ms. Tran told A Current Affair, “When we initially heard about it, we were in a bit of shock.”
To the family’s annoyance, the bus shelter was recently relocated 12 metres down the road and is now in front of their property.
As she lives on a main road, she reported that the bus makes it difficult for her to notice approaching vehicles.
She said, “I’m scared about how we’re going to get out and how we’re going to get in.”
The visibility is completely obscured; we cannot even see the traffic signals.
We cannot even enter the driveway because the bus is there, and if we attempt to do so, there is a significant probability that we will be struck by the bus.
All oncoming traffic is obscured from our view. We are always afraid that we will T-bone someone or that someone will T-bone us in an accident.
The agency informed Ms. Tran that the bus stop had to be relocated because the adjacent property had been subdivided and a second driveway was being constructed.
The family was shown a photograph of the future bus stop, but the shelter was not visible.
The Kingston City Council authorized the relocation of the bus stop on the condition that the neighbors be contacted, according to a spokeswoman.
They stated, “Since then, Council officers have been vigorously lobbying on behalf of the neighbor to the Department of Transport for Public Transport Victoria (PTV) to appropriately engage and calling for an on-site meeting.”
We will continue to urge PTV to conduct adequate consultations.
A representative for the Victorian Department of Transport stated that the bus stop was relocated to “improve accessibility and connection” for passengers.
They stated, “We considered other locations, conferred with the resident of the next property, reacted to comments made, and gave a copy of the design drawings.”
Following inspections by engineers, coordination with the city government and the bus company, and engagement with the local resident, we have established that the chosen position is the most suitable.
»Melbourne family angry af ter bus stop moved right in front of their home«