Murdoch underpass grubby and dangerous

by Coleen Tan

April 8, 2008

LOCAL resident Tom Perrigo, also head of the National Trust’s WA office, is miffed with the condition of the South Street underpass, which acts as an entrance to Murdoch University.

“I’ve been cleaning it up by myself for the past few years,” Mr Perrigo said. “It’s a complete mess.

“There is vandalism and graffiti everywhere, and a whole lot of rubbish.”

The underpass, which links Abraham Place to the university, has piles of leaves strewn on the ground, graffiti all over its walls, a pile of empty cigarette boxes, and cluttered drains filled with sand and mud.

“I’m worried about the broken lights and the lack of security,” Mr Perrigo said. “This is an entrance to Murdoch University.

“It ‘s the pathway for current students as well as prospective students!”

 Rachel, a public relations undergrad at the university feared the tunnel was not safe.

 “I used to walk through the underpass everyday at night when I was studying at Murdoch College,” she said, “and my friends used to scare people by jumping out of the dark corners of the entrance and exit.

“It’s actually pretty dangerous! I mean, who knows? There could be rapist lurking around in the dark.”

Jane Hii, an education student also at Murdoch, is a regular commuter. She said the underpass was “definitely not safe for pedestrians as well as cyclists”.

“I used to attend evening classes that ended around 7pm last year,” she added, “and there’s always a bunch of punks hanging around, inside the tunnel.

“Sometimes they’d get drunk and mess around rowdily. It gets quite scary sometimes.”

Melville mayor Russell Aubrey and city CEO Shayne Silcox failed to return our calls.