Council calls for solutions to danger on Old Bathurst Road, Blaxland
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Council calls for solutions to danger on Old Bathurst Road, Blaxland
Blue Mountains City Council will invite Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) representatives and associated agencies to meet with the Mayor and CEO to discuss strategies to manage the issue of large trucks on Old Bathurst Road, East Blaxland.
The Blue Mountains has been subjected to increasing heavy vehicle (HV) movements as a result of construction activities in the Sydney basin and the movement of bulk quarry products from west of the Mountains.
Mayor Cr Mark Greenhill said: “Council has expressed long standing concerns with the movement of heavy vehicles across the Blue Mountains and around the City. This is why Council launched a high profile safety campaign in 2016, Respect…Our Code on Blue Mountains Road, to promote safety and reduce the impact of HV emissions and noise on residents.
“This is the second Mayoral Minute on this matter that I have brought to council in recent months because I am genuinely concerned that if something isn’t done, someone will be seriously injured or worse. What is happening now is unacceptable.”
“We are calling for the Roads and Maritime Service, and associated agencies, to meet with us to look at this problem and come up with real solutions.”
Council has previously called for the NSW Government to examine strategies to manage the increase in HV traffic, including improved signage in both the Penrith and Blue Mountains areas, but to date no changes have been brought into effect.
At the Council meeting of 25 June 2019 it was tabled: “That the Council now considers a matter arising in relation to large trucks using Old Bathurst Road, Blaxland that has been ruled by the Mayor to be a matter of great urgency.”
Council wrote to Infrastructure NSW to express its concern in relation to truck movements and safety on Old Bathurst Road and asked the Local Traffic Committee (LTC) and Drive Neighbourly Committee to review the incidence of large trucks using this road and consider strategies to prevent this dangerous practice.
A letter has also been sent to The Hon. Andrew Constance MP, Minister for Transport and Road Transport Minister, outlining the Council’s concern on this matter.
Councillor Brendan Christie said: “We need the RMS to get on board and fix this problem before a serious accident happens or someone gets killed. Words aren’t enough, we need action from the RMS.”
Photo: Mayor Mark Greenhill and Cr Brendan Christie with concerned residents Denise Marsh, Richard Burgos and Anne Burridge-Burgos at Old Bathurst Road.