HIGH HOPES: Cargo resident Bronwyn Schumann wants the Cargo Road speed limit increased to 100km/h. Photo: JUDE KEOGH 1008cargord3
A CARGO resident fears the death of a 22-year-old man on Cargo Road will be used as an excuse to maintain the unpopular low speed limit and will dash the chances of restoring the 100km/h speed limit, dropped in 2010.
Bronwyn Schumann said she has lived in the village for almost eight years and found the road to be just as safe as any other country road - provided motorists drive to the conditions.
“I dislike people saying [Cargo Road] is dangerous,” she said.
“It’s full of potholes... [but] I firmly believe that 100 kilometres is quite acceptable.”
Mrs Schumann said the statistics used by the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) to justify the speed reduction were flawed and many motorists ignored the signs and travelled over the limit anyway.
She said most accidents on the road were caused by drivers being inattentive.
But Christine Cantrill, the mother of a crash victim who was lucky to survive an accident on the road in August, said the road’s users should be campaigning to have the road fixed instead of pushing for the speed limit to be increased.
James Cantrill is still recovering from the injuries he sustained in the accident at the intersection of Cargo and Lake Canobolas roads.
“It’s just a miracle that he survived but he was told by specialists last week that he was a ticking time bomb,” she said.
“It’s just about the worst road in the area.
“I feel for people who live at Cargo and have to travel at 80km/h, but the reason it’s been taken back in sections is because the road’s cambered the wrong way.”
Mrs Cantrill said she was concerned work planned to straighten a bend before the intersection where her son’s accident occurred will see drivers speed up when they reach the crest.
She has lived in the area 20 years and said she was shocked how bad the road had gotten and believed the road speed limit should remain unchanged until it is fixed.
“There are accidents every day but you don’t hear about them because they’re not fatalities,” she said.
“There are that many blind corners it’s not changed in years.”
Mrs Schumann also believes the road needs more work, despite her rejection of the “dangerous road” tag.
She said overtaking lanes into Cargo, and widening in some sections to accommodate the increasing number of trucks on the road and traffic travelling to Canberra and the coast were vital.
While barriers installed along the road had made a “lot of difference”.
“Cargo at this stage is expanding there’s lots of new houses being built ... we need to have a decent road,” she said.
Police are yet to release the name of the 22-year-old Cargo man killed in Friday’s crash.
clare.colley@ruralpress.com
