GORE HILL FREEWAY INTERSECTIONS
Mrs CHIKAROVSKI (Lane Cove) [3.40]: I rise to speak in this grievance debate to express the concerns of Lane Cove residents about the opening of the Gore Hill Freeway and its impact on Epping Road. The Gore Hill Freeway will be of benefit to the Lane Cove electorate, as I mentioned yesterday, but residents are concerned about two intersections, one being the intersection of Parklands Avenue, Longueville Road and Epping Road, the other being the intersection of Epping Road and Centennial Avenue. At the moment those two intersections are governed by traffic lights and no plans have been made to change those intersections to grade separation. The freeway, when completed, will start at Woolloomooloo, go through the tunnel, come up the expressway, through Willoughby and Artarmon, underneath the Pacific Highway, then over a rise to the first traffic lights at Longueville Road - the first between Woolloomooloo and that point. Motorists reaching that point on the freeway will suddenly have to stop. Motorists who drive along the freeway for five, eight or nine kilometres, mostly at freeway speeds, will come over a rise and have to stop suddenly at the traffic lights. Motorists will be driving into the afternoon sun and will have poor vision and difficulty seeing where they are going.
The problem will be exacerbated when motorists, having passed that set of traffic lights, reach the Centennial Avenue intersection, which also at this stage has not been programmed for grade separation. Traffic will start to bank up at that intersection. The traffic that the Roads and Traffic Authority says will be coming on to the road will be
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banked up at Centennial Avenue and at Longueville Road. It will also bank up through and down the underpass at the Pacific Highway. Immense problems will be caused, mainly in regard to safety. Motorists, having travelled at high speed for some distance on the freeway, will have to stop at those intersections, but many of them will want to leave the highway at those two main exit points. I refer to people living on the North Shore. The Pacific Highway intersection will take some of the traffic going up to the North Shore but those wanting to go into Lane Cove will have to turn off at either Longueville Road or Centennial Avenue. Those two intersections cannot cope at the moment. At peak hour traffic lines up into Artarmon because the intersections are not designed to cope with large volumes of traffic.
The Roads and Traffic Authority is well aware of that problem but, as with other road programs, it does not have enough money. My main concern and that of my constituents is not money but safety and amenities for people living in the electorate. The Deputy Premier, Minister for Public Works and Minister for Roads is well aware of my concerns in this regard and I have raised them with him a number of times. I might add that the previous member for Lane Cove also raised this topic with the Minister. I am well aware that not much money is available but it seems highly ludicrous that a project of such a size has been undertaken without proper provision being made for its completion. Unless traffic is able to come on to and move off those intersections, larger traffic jams will occur. Of a morning the problem is of a different nature. The Roads and Traffic Authority expects that Gore Hill Freeway will relieve traffic on River Road. That means motorists will be driving along Centennial Avenue and trying to turn right on to Epping Road to access the freeway.
At the moment there are two lanes in Centennial Avenue and only one is a turning lane. At 8 o'clock in the morning even now a traffic jam extends for about a kilometre along Centennial Avenue. That problem will become worse, with half the traffic not diverting at River Road. Traffic will divert into local streets in an attempt to find an alternative route other than Longueville Road to get up to the intersection of Longueville Road and Parklands Avenue. That will only increase the traffic line-up in Longueville Road from its present length of half a kilometre to one or two kilometres. People in the Lane Cove electorate are very concerned about this problem. We are concerned about the amenity of our community. Our village-like atmosphere will be destroyed unless proper provision is made for access to the freeway.
I have said that solving this problem requires money, and I understand that a not inconsiderable sum of about $67 million would be required. The Deputy Premier does not have that sort of money in his back pocket at any one time. I would urge, beg, and plead with the Minister, before any plans are made to pursue a further extension of this road to take it through to Epping, to consider grade separation of those two intersections. Some angst may be involved in that. A couple of the properties that will be affected by the grade separation happen to belong to some very dear friends of mine. They might not be too happy about cars driving outside their front doors. But I urge the Deputy Premier, Minister for Public Works and Minister for Roads, for the greater good, protection and safety of the community to talk to his friends in Canberra who are so keen to provide money for the Glebe Island Bridge. Perhaps those Federal friends could look to the other side, to the North Shore, and find the money in their pockets to provide what is required. If it does not happen I am terrified - and terrified is not too strong a word - that major collisions will occur at that point causing incredible loss of life. I and my constituents are deeply concerned about that very serious problem.
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