ORANGE City Council will demand NSW Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) install traffic lights at the intersection of Bathurst Road and Glenroi Avenue after a briefing from the RMS staff failed to yield a result.
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An RMS representative privately briefed councillors prior to their meeting on Tuesday night after council traffic counts revealed Glenroi Avenue was the busiest of five intersections in the eastern stretch of Bathurst Road.
But councillor Glenn Taylor said he was not satisfied with the outcome.
“They said we could put in an application, but on the current stats, it’s highly unlikely it would get a guernsey,” he said.
“Someone’s going to get killed and they refused to acknowledge there was even an issue.”
At the Tuesday meeting, councillor Jeff Whitton moved to request the RMS to install traffic lights at its expense.
“Common sense dictates that intersection will require traffic lights to move traffic into Glenroi Avenue and out of Glenroi Avenue,” he said.
“Even before this new application [for the service station] was going forward, it’s been a place locals avoid - you don’t make a righthand turn into Bathurst Road regardless of this development going in or not.”
Councillor Neil Jones pointed out the traffic volumes at Glenroi Avenue outnumbered Edward Street and Cox Avenue.
“[The intersection] exceeds two others with signalised lights, it’s a no-brainer,” he said.
Deputy mayor Chris Gryllis asked for fresh traffic counts once the service station was complete and general manager Garry Styles indicated the counts would be part of the submission.
Councillor Reg Kidd asked for council staff to continue discussions with Kinross Wolaroi School to remove the pedestrian traffic lights.
“Even though they say people use the lights, we will get congestion,” he said.
The RMS has previously said the intersection design, turning movements and driver behaviour had been considered in addition to traffic movements and less than 1 per cent of motorists turning right from Glenroi Avenue into Bathurst Road experienced extended delays.
danielle.cetinski@fairfaxmedia.com.au