Now Orange City Council has revealed a traffic count of 4000 vehicles a day use the intersection, much higher than anywhere nearby with traffic lights, it seems a convincing case to Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) that traffic lights should be installed.

When traffic lights were installed outside Kinross Wolaroi School, just a couple of hundred metres down the road, it caught many councillors by surprise, as the decision was made by the RMS (formerly the Roads and Traffic Authority).

That decision was particularly puzzling at a time when lobbying was in full swing for a crossing at the intersection of Lone Pine Avenue and Bathurst Road so The Canobolas Rural Technology High School students could safely cross the busy highway to get to school, a request that was ignored for years.

To the casual observer there seems to be an inconsistency in the way the RMS decides where traffic lights are placed on the highway.

Orange City Council has reason to be concerned any delays could create traffic chaos once the 7-Eleven is opened.

We don’t want a repeat of the traffic chaos which followed the opening of the Woolworths Petrol Plus on the corner of William Street and Bathurst Road.

It still begs the question, however, why the traffic lights cannot be moved just up the road from Kinross Wolaroi School.

Councillor Kevin Duffy is correct in wanting to push the case for lights at the Glenroi intersection as a matter of priority.

Perhaps the developers of the 7-Eleven could contribute to the lights.