Police visit the scene after two boys were hit by a car near St Edmund’s College on 28 March 2025. Photo: James Coleman.
Almost a year since two St Edmund’s students were seriously injured after being run over along Canberra Avenue, a promised safety upgrade has received the green light for construction.
Taylor Hazell was high on meth when he drove a stolen car, at high speed, from Sutton to the Canberra stretch of road. He hit two boys, who both suffered horrific injuries, on the median strip before he crashed in Manuka and was held down by members of the public.
It led to an ACT Government commitment to build a midblock signalised pedestrian crossing near Burke Crescent as quickly as possible.
A government spokesperson confirmed to Region that the National Capital Authority (NCA) recently provided the Works Approval to allow the construction stage to begin.
“The construction stage has been tendered and contracts for the construction of these works are currently being finalised and are expected to be awarded shortly,” they said.
“Construction of these works is then expected to take up to approximately four to five months to complete (weather permitting).”
All works are expected to be completed by 30 June.
A petition had called for an overpass to be installed on Canberra Avenue instead.
City and Government Services Minister Tara Cheyne recently responded to this petition, stating that overpass and underpass options had been investigated as part of a feasibility study into the crossing options near St Edmund’s and St Clare’s colleges, but they were deemed not feasible.
“Surveys around the world have found that pedestrians will always favour at-grade intersections and won’t use overpass or underpass facilities at times with low traffic,” she said.
“These facilities would not necessarily achieve the desired level of patronage and pedestrian injury prevention.
“The time it takes to cross a road is a major decision factor for pedestrians. If safe crossing facilities can be made easy to access and provide minimal delays, many studies have shown that they are more likely to use them.”
Other reasons included the structure’s large footprint, which led to accessibility issues; impacts on utilities, services, and existing trees on both sides of Canberra Avenue; and security concerns for nearby buildings.
Ms Cheyne wrote that the pedestrian-activated traffic signals on Canberra Avenue would provide both a safer way to cross the road and have minimal delays to those wishing to cross.
“Upon pushing the button, pedestrians will be provided with a green walk signal in less than 20 seconds,” she said.
Dropping the speed limit to 40 km/h (from 60 km/h) is off the table.
“Based on the available information, signalised midblock pedestrian crossing was considered the most reasonable and practicable solution at the time,” Ms Cheyne wrote.
A review of pedestrian activity along Canberra Avenue was conducted in 2022 and 2023, and bollards were recommended at the time to prevent illegal parking in the median.
The installation of the bollards was subject to NCA approval and wasn’t implemented.
Taylor Hazell has pleaded guilty to two counts of culpable driving causing grievous bodily harm, as well as single counts of taking a child by force while stealing a vehicle, dangerous driving, taking a vehicle without consent and driving a vehicle without consent in relation to the March 2025 incident.
He’s yet to be sentenced.
