THE trial Busways network route through Wauchope has angered residents as much as removing the Clarence Street stop, according to Billie Scott, a well-known Wauchope resident and bus user.
Ms Scott, who has been the pivotal figure in getting 1500 signatures on a petition to Busways, has been working with the Wauchope Chamber of Commerce, the Area Health Service and the local shopkeepers, to advertise the petition.
The petition calls for the alternating bus routes to be abandoned in favour of a clockwise route only.
“Changes in the direction of travel causes confusion, particularly for the elderly, who are standing on one side of the street looking to the left when the bus route has alternated and the bus is in fact approaching from the left on the opposite side of the street,” Ms Scott said.
“This means the commuters miss out on a service and have to wait another two hours for the next bus which will hopefully arrive on the side on which they are standing.”
She said the former bus route stopped outside the library where the bus passengers alighted close to bill paying, doctors’ surgeries and the library.
“From this stop it is an easy downhill stroll to pharmacies and other shops including IGA, and the residents have a strong desire for this stop to be reinstated,” Ms Scott said.
The former terminus in Bransdon Street is in the safest street in Wauchope shopping centre, according to Ms Scott.
“The current terminus in Cameron Street near Young Street has caused great alarm to the passengers and the shopkeepers alike. Currently, cars are permitted to park where the bus stops, and on occasions the bus double parks, which means that drivers and passengers of both the cars and the buses, are being placed in unsafe situations.”
Ms Scott said the Area Health Service and the Wauchope Chamber of Commerce were asking for the hospital stop to be situated in front of the hospital on High Street and the current stop behind the hospital in Johnstone Street abandoned for access and safety reasons. The hospital currently cannot be accessed from Johnstone Street.
Ms Scott addressed the Port Macquarie Hastings Council meeting last Wednesday night and handed over the petition, which she asked be considered as part of council’s consultation on the trial network route through Wauchope. Council agreed to write to Busways highlighting residents’ concerns over the Wauchope bus route.
