Perth Voice Interactive

A NEAR-DEATH experience for a chihuahua has prompted Stirling council’s decision to install bicycle barriers outside the playground at Yokine Reserve.

A joint cycle-pedestrian track skirts the playground’s western entrance, which is on the bend of a steep hill that restricts visibility.

Cr Joe Ferrante told colleagues he’d been cycling downhill towards the blind corner when confronted by the tiny pooch.

“I don’t cycle fast and I nearly squashed a small dog,” he said.

“What would have happened if a child had run out of the playground or strayed onto the path while going in?”

Cr Terry Tyzack says the playground entrance is a ticking time bomb.

“If a child is hit, or a woman with a pram it would be horrendous,” he says.

“The path is only two metres wide, it’s meant to be three, and the signs indicating that the path is multi-use have faded. We have established this is a risk and need to take action.”

Council staff reckon rails could cost around $10,000 to install. Cr Tyzack says signs should go up to warn cyclists: “We don’t want cyclists plowing into the barriers, replacing one safety risk with another.”

by STEPHEN POLLOCK