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Wednesday, 23 June 2010 |
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Mr MIKE BAIRD (Manly) [5.42 p.m.]: Mr Acting-Speaker (Mr David Campbell), I congratulate you on your recent appointment. Tonight I speak on behalf of Seaforth residents, many of whom are bewildered by a recent announcement of the Roads and Traffic Authority that it will build a $400,000 sign that will stretch across two lanes of traffic in the middle of Seaforth. Last week the Roads and Traffic Authority notified residents that it would commence installation of the sign on Frenchs Forest Road tomorrow. That sign will warn motorists travelling into the city via The Spit Bridge when there is traffic ahead. The problem with that approach is that there is no alternative route to the city. Almost every day there is a chronic amount of traffic in that region. This $400,000 sign will inform motorists that there is traffic ahead. I am sure that many members would argue that that is not a good use of money. In addressing the lack of an alternate route Seaforth resident Paul Adams put it succinctly when he wrote to me as follows:
I have spoken to residents about this and everyone is both baffled by the so-called need to do this as, contrary to the letter from the RTA, there is no alternative route heading East or towards Mosman. If it is bottle-necked in Seaforth you have nowhere to go— Bottlenecks occur regularly. He continued:
—essentially everything funnels to the Spit Bridge and if you are heading that way there is no other way around, or at least by the time you read a sign on Frenchs Forest Rd. Over the last week the new Minister for Roads and members of his office have listened to the concerns that we raised on behalf of the community. Yesterday the Minister advised me that he had agreed to my request to instruct the Roads and Traffic Authority not to install the sign, which was to go ahead tomorrow, and that more constructive options will be investigated. The Minister's office acknowledged that, while there are designated alternative routes to take in all other instances when there are large variable message signs throughout the State, in this case there does not appear to be an alternative route.
After speaking to the Minister this afternoon I anticipate that he will be making an announcement tomorrow. I am hopeful that the Minister will confirm that the construction of this sign will not go ahead, so we are some way towards achieving a commonsense approach. I appreciate that the sign will not be constructed tomorrow but I hope that tomorrow's announcement will be that the sign will not be erected at this location in Seaforth. Every day there is significant traffic congestion in Seaforth. Every day residents are plagued by the bottleneck at the Seaforth roundabout. While the Roads and Traffic Authority is examining traffic issues in Seaforth I ask it also to examine this issue.
Earlier this year I asked the Minister for Roads a question and I alerted him to the traffic delays that are occurring at this roundabout, in particular, in February and March. Buses are supposed to take between two and three minutes, as per their timetables, to get through Seaforth roundabout during morning peak periods. However, it is not unusual for those buses to take up to 15 minutes to drive just a few hundred metres. Local resident Pat Garousse sent an email to the Minister, a copy of which was sent to me. It reads as follows:
I would just like to say that we all know how the traffic is flowing at Seaforth—this does not take too much intelligence and I object to you spending money to tell us. More importantly, the money could be spent to improve the traffic flow at the roundabout into Seaforth shopping area ... perhaps considering taking some of the corner off and making an inside lane so the buses can get through and not be caught on the roundabout with all the traffic. It is not that motorists do not know there is traffic ahead; the problem relates to the bottleneck at Seaforth roundabout and at Spit Bridge. Resident Pat Garousse made a very good point. Why not use the $400,000 to fix the roundabout that is causing so much congestion in Seaforth? I asked the Minister for Roads to visit this site and to see first-hand the problems being faced by Seaforth residents. The Minister told me he is happy to do so and I look forward to an opportunity of showing him these problems. The Minister will better understand the problems being faced by residents across New South Wales when he sees them first-hand.
If the Minister visits Seaforth I will take him also to the Falcon Street interchange where traffic from the Northern Beaches, including traffic from Mosman, travels across the bridge to the city on only one lane. Will the Minister give consideration to this plea from Seaforth residents? Sera Mayer, another Seaforth resident, informed me that there might be another location for the sign but said that it should not be located on Frenchs Forest road. Sera said:
If the RTA really wants to put the LED sign, why can't it be installed on Wakehurst Park Way, away from the residential area? This is absolutely a waste of money and will not make any difference to the traffic flow. The money should be spent on the Seaforth roundabout. I ask the Minister to listen to the community's plea. The Minister has an opportunity to visit this area tomorrow—and I hope that he will do so—and he has an opportunity to inform residents that the sign will not be erected in that location. The Roads and Traffic Authority should look for an alternative site. It should also use the $400,000 to fix the traffic problems being faced daily by Seaforth residents. They face congestion problems that are not being faced by any other community. The Roads and Traffic Authority, when assessing the problems in Seaforth, must fix these traffic problems for Seaforth residents. The Roads and Traffic Authority should no longer install this traffic sign and the funds should be used to address the problems at Seaforth roundabout. The Minister should also experience first-hand the congestion being faced daily by people in Seaforth and on the Northern Beaches.
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