Rossmoyne and Shelley communities outraged over bid to change intersections along Leach Highway

Residents in Perth’s southeast are desperately attempting to stop construction works from beginning at a local intersection that they say will dangerously affect Rossmoyne and Shelley communities.

More than 700 people had signed a petition to the WA Parliament by Tuesday to block “intersection improvements” proposed for Leach Highway.

The calls are backed by local representatives like mayor Patrick Hall, as well as Riverton MLA Dr Jags Krishnan, who has vowed to put a halt to the project until public consultation is undertaken.

Main Roads say the $5 million project would improve safety by removing an inward bound right turn from the highway into Fifth Avenue and reconfiguring the intersection of Leach Highway and Corinthian Road East.

But locals say the changes — which are expected to be complete by mid 2025 — would remove a sorely needed entry point into the Rossmoyne community and funnel traffic down nearby streets.

Speaking with PerthNow this week, Dr Krishnan said he had received overwhelming feedback for the right turn into Rossmoyne to be retained.

He said he had requested with Transport Minister Rita Saffioti for works to be put on hold until more feedback from the community had been sought.

“The overwhelming response is that right out into Leach Highway should be blocked, they’re okay with it,” he said.

“But right in should be allowed.

“That seems to be a solution which is widely accepted and looks like that is where it’s headed.”

Speaking to Canning councillors on March 19, lead petitioner Helen Lund said she was horrified when she received a notice in her mailbox about the impending works.

“We’re wanting to maintain our capacity to turn right into Rossmoyne,” she said.

“We see a real problem with diverting everybody into Webb Street.

“People’s enjoyment of their peaceful little street becomes a rat run.”

Canning mayor Patrick Hall also said at the meeting that councillors “shared concerns” and were “working in the background” with the State Government on a solution.

“The City of Canning at the moment has no jurisdiction (over) Leach Highway, it is a major road,” he said.

“I would agree there has been a distinct lack of consultation and that’s regrettable.

“We’re really trying very hard to ensure that they’re fully aware of the inadvertent consequences of the changes that are occurring.”

Mr Hall said he had never received “so many emails and phone calls” about a single issue in his five years as mayor.

Dr Krishnan said seeking additional community feedback would “hardly affect” the project’s estimated timeline, which is expected to be complete by mid 2025.

According to the notice distributed to residents in February, Main Roads said the works had been considered by the State Government since 2021 in a bid for improved safety.

“As a major east-west thoroughfare, the highway is an important arterial route connecting road users to Kwinana Freeway, plus the Welshpool industrial centre and airport terminals,” they said.

“Of particular focus is the Leach Highway and Fifth Avenue intersection, which experiences delays for the right-turnout movement during peak commuting periods, as well as school pick-up and drop-off times.”

They said modelling of traffic signals at the intersection of Leach Highway and Beatrice Avenue revealed “improved access” for road users and pedestrians crossing Leach Highway.

Ms Lund told PerthNow if the Leach Highway turn into Fifth Avenue was blocked, heavy traffic would be forced from the busy major road down nearby Webb Street, where two schools and an aged care facility would be affected.

“Webb Street is a black spot, the other problem is there are three very vulnerable populations that use it,” she said.

“It has the overpass from Rossmoyne Senior High School and so hundreds of kid come over that, some of them then cross Webb Street to find their parents or find the bus to go home.

“The other vulnerable population on that street is obviously the primary school (and) the third population that will be very much affected by putting all that traffic on to Webb Street is our aged care population.”

Ms Lund also said removing turns into the local community would incur a knock-on effect to local businesses.

“It’s a ripple effect, as soon as you shut a road, people’s behaviours change,” she said.

“When you’re choosing what businesses you access, it’s the ones that are most convenient to you.”

Another local also told councillors removing the inward bound turn would force cars into adjacent community streets with “blind spots” and the new route could impede emergency services.

“It’s not user friendly to be forcing a lot of traffic through the neighbourhood to get to Webb Street,” Danielle said.

“Emergency services will be hindered dramatically because they will be funnelled through Webb Street at a light and meander through that traffic.”

A Main Roads spokesperson told PerthNow that changes to the Leach Highway were supported by extensive traffic modelling and that adding traffic lights at Fifth Avenue had not been determined as “feasible”.

“The treatments will reduce the likelihood of the most severe crashes that occur during right-turn movements,” they said.

“Removing this movement at Leach Highway and Fifth Avenue has been considered as the optimal treatment for safety and the overall efficiency of the corridor.”

The spokesperson also said their modelling did not show a “significant impact on local road networks”.

“Discussions have been ongoing for a number of years to ensure the safety concerns raised by the local community are being captured and addressed,” they said.

“On most local roads, our traffic modelling shows the change to be plus or minus one vehicle per minute during peak hour only.”