A pedestrian crossing at the intersection of Appin Street and Irwin Avenue will be installed when funding is achieved, welcome progress that was triggered by a community petition and a safety report.

Father of three children, Peter Skinner, organised a petition that secured 366 signatures in favour of the crossing to increase safety in the area for children, the elderly and pedestrians as a whole.

Wangaratta councillors voted to adopt recommendations in the report that will include the construction of an east-west pedestrian crossing at the intersection of Irwin Avenue.

Director community services and infrastructure Marcus Goonan said a safety assessment was completed by council's technical services team for the section of Appin Street and this included vehicle and pedestrian volumes in the area.

He said council undertook a site inspection and desktop review to identify key safety issues and assess the area against Austroads standards and the Infrastructure Design Manual (IDM).

"The assessment focuses on pedestrian accessibility, existing infrastructure conditions, and opportunities to improve safety outcomes within the defined study area," Mr Goonan said.

"The report recommends installing a new pedestrian crossing at Irwin Avenue, realigning existing pram crossings to match pedestrian desire lines, relocating crossings away from bus stops, adding tactile ground surface indicators, and implementing kerb outstands to reduce crossing distances and formalising parking arrangements."

Mr Goonan said the work is currently not budgeted and council will need to look for funding in the coming year's program or future years' programs.

Cr Tania Maxwell, in speaking to the motion, said some councillors met with constituents and they pushed for something to be done about the crossing.

"We recognised that there is more and more traffic and some safety precautions were necessary," she said.

Cr Maxwell noted that she will keep people informed of any advancements in making the safety better at the location.

Mr Skinner has called for council to find a way to include the funding for the school crossing in the 2026/27 budget with hopes for it to be installed by the start of the 2027 school year.

"It's fantastic that it has been recognised as there are real safety issues on the street," Mr Skinner said.

"The amount of motorists who drive down there who don't do the actual speed limit is ridiculous.

"Cars are travelling over 50km/h which is particularly dangerous during school drop-off and pick-up times.

"There are also people coming in and out from the two kindergartens off Appin Street as well which compounds the traffic and risk factors."