MEMBERS of the public are being urged to comment on the Wauchope Traffic Management Strategy when it goes on public exhibition later this month.
A date has also been set for a community workshop at the Wauchope Senior Citizens Centre.
The strategy will be open for comment from 17 February through to March 21 with the community workshop to be held between 6pm and 8pm on Thursday 20 February.
The workshop will provide interested people with an additional opportunity to learn more about what the strategy involves and to put forward their ideas on some of the key items identified.
The council’s infrastructure and asset management director Jeffery Sharp said the need to plan the future of traffic through Wauchope in a safe and efficient way had been identified for a number of years.
Rather than plan and implement each project in isolation, he said the council had prepared the Wauchope Traffic Management Strategy looking at planning improvements for the Wauchope local road network as a ‘whole’.
Mr Sharp said a strategic approach would ensure that community funds are expended in a way that provides the best outcomes for the community while at the same time ensuring the safety and efficiency of the road network.
It will defer any commitment to significant works in the short term and will enable council to continue monitoring the need for major works depending on changing traffic conditions.
Objectives of the strategy include ensuring the road network can accommodate future planned growth in and around the Wauchope township, providing a safer road environment for pedestrians, cyclists and vulnerable road users, managing heavy vehicles and improving public amenity.
The strategy has identified a number of proposed improvements as short, medium or long-term priorities. While the council will ultimately determine when the works will be implemented through its annual budget allocations, Mr Sharp said it would be reasonable to expect the short-term priorities to be implemented within the next three years. All of the medium and long term actions involve intersection upgrades and are scheduled for four to 10 years or 10 years plus.
Preliminary works on the installation of traffic lights at the intersection of Cameron and High streets is listed in the strategy as a short-term priority. The actual upgrade of the intersection is listed as a medium-term strategy.
Studies have found that the existing roundabout at the intersection of High and Cameron streets will be unable to cope with future traffic growth, resulting in excessive queue lengths and delays.
Other short-term actions include deferring the link road component of the Wauchope alternative route strategy, reviewing the suitability of existing pedestrian crossings in High Street and examining the feasibility of using Bain Street as an alternative route to service through traffic generated in the northern and north-western sectors of Wauchope, including Beechwood Road.
Any works on the Oxley Highway (High Street) would be undertaken in partnership with Roads and Maritime Services, both in terms of deciding a way forward and actual funding.
The Draft Wauchope Traffic Management Strategy will be available for viewing at the council’s Wauchope office and on-line at www.pmhc.nsw.gov.au
Specific inquiries can be directed to the council’s call centre on 6581 8111 or the Wauchope office on 6589 6500. Written submissions will be accepted in writing, via email at council@pmhc.nsw.gov.au or on the council’s community engagement website at www.pmhclistening.com.au