- The City of Melville and local community’s push for a lower speed limit on Farrington Road from 200m East of Bibra Drive to Casserly Drive in Leeming has succeeded.
- Work was undertaken to change the signs in early March 2025.
- The speed reduction follows Council’s previous road safety measures on Farrington Road.
The City of Melville and local community’s lobbying has successfully helped reduce the speed limit on the stretch of Farrington Road from 200m east of Bibra Drive to Casserly Drive in Leeming from 70kmh to 60kmh.
Main Roads WA advertised the new speed limit as effective from 5 March 2025.
Improving community safety is a core Council focus and driving the Farrington Road improvements has been a long-running initiative.
This most recent speed reduction comes in the wake of the City’s installation of a speed platform at the exit of Striker Indoor Sports onto Farrington Road in September last year.
It was aimed at alerting motorists to the exit, prompting them to slow down and lookout for pedestrians.
This was part of a broader City of Melville initiative to improve safety along Farrington Road, which included the installation of speed cushions in July 2021 on all approaches to the four roundabouts between Karel Avenue and the Kwinana Freeway ramp, successfully reducing traffic speeds. This also led to Main Roads WA lowering the speed limit between Karel Avenue and the Kwinana Freeway off ramp from 60kmh to 50kmh.
A Council commissioned Road Safety Audit (RSA) late in 2023 identified high volumes of pedestrian traffic during the day.
The City will continue to work with the State Government to secure a Zebra or Puffin crossing outside Leeming Forum in line with community feedback and was pleased to hear about election commitment announcements for a pedestrian crossing at this location.
Comments attributed to City of Melville Mayor Katy Mair:
“The new reduced speed limit Farrington Road between Bibra Drive and Casserly Drive from 70kmh to 60kmh is a great win for community safety and the City of Melville has worked very closely with the local community to achieve this,” said Mayor Mair.
“The safety of all users of Farrington Road — whether in a vehicle, on wheels, or on foot — is the City of Melville’s top priority and the reduction of the speed limit is a great result.”
Comments attributed to Leeming resident Con Abbott:
“Leeming residents Ian and Gail Chadwick developed our goal, which is to cross Farrington Road, at any time, safely,” said Mr Abbott.
“This aim focused our thinking on what was required to reduce the risk of vehicle crashes and improve pedestrian safety.
“It is well-established that lowering speed limits save lives. With the Farrington Road speed limit now reduced from Bibra Drive to Karel Avenue, Leeming residents now interact with traffic at speeds that better suit the residential environment and road conditions.
“The State Government’s promise to install a signalised pedestrian crossing on Farrington Road is the key piece of the safety matrix because pedestrians will be able to stop traffic and cross safely - 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“From the outset, the Farrington Road safety project has been a joint initiative between the Leeming community, our Ward Councillors and the City’s management.
“That collaborative model has worked well because of the open dialogue it created while ensuring that all parties remained accountable for achieving outcomes.”
Image: City of Melville Mayor Katy Mair, Leeming resident Con Abbott and Councillor Jennifer Spanbroek next to Farrington Road.