Safety improvements in Leopold

New state-of-the-art ‘smart’
lighting at bus stops and key locations along the Bellarine Rail Trail will
help increase safety for Leopold residents.

As part of a $250,000 Victorian Government initiative to improve public safety
and combat anti-social behaviour, lights will be installed at the intersections
of the rail trail with Melaluka Road, Kensington Road and Christies Road, as
well as other highly used entrance points.

These lights will also feature CCTV cameras.

In addition, lights with WiFi capability will be put in place at several bus
stops in Leopold, increasing the visibility of passengers to approaching
drivers and providing live wait-time updates to those using the stops.

The City of Greater Geelong will contribute $30,000, bringing the total
investment in the project to $280,000.

If successful, there’s potential for similar technology to be rolled out across
the region.

It’s expected the lights will be in place by mid-2021.

Mayor
Stephanie Asher:

We
want Leopold residents to feel safe when using the rail trail and waiting for
the bus, and a big part of that is making sure these areas are well lit.

The smart features will offer the added benefit of increasing surveillance
through the CCTV cameras, and giving bus users up-to-the-minute information
about how far away their bus is.

Anything that encourages more people on the Bellarine to use the rail trail and
the bus service is a good thing. We thank the state government for its
investment in this project.

/Public Release. View in full here.