IT’S a narrow, bendy road with blind corners, yet Mount Canobolas’s main road has a speed limit of 80km/h and an Orange councillor says it needs to change.
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Councillor Tony Mileto will raise the matter at next Tuesday’s Orange City Council meeting after a weekend walk up the mountain left him concerned for public safety.
“Myself and my wife are going to Peru, so we thought we’d do some walking to get some fitness,” he said.
“I thought cars were travelling too fast and I looked for a sign and I was astounded to see there was an 80km/h sign.”
There is only one speed sign, located at the foot of the mountain, just past the Mountain Tea House.
While residents would be more familiar with the road, Cr Mileto said there were no advisory speed signs on the bends to recommend an appropriate speed for tourists driving it for the first time.
“I think what a lot of people do is negotiate the corners and drive to the conditions, but as soon as they’re out of the corners, they accelerate harshly and that can have potential for an accident,” he said.
“If people aren’t familiar with it, they will think that’s the speed limit.”
He said with no line marking and blind corners along the route, it needed to be looked at for safety.
“I believe it’s a fatality waiting to happen,” he said.
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He said there were numerous other walkers on Sunday, as well as four cyclists, and strong winds through the area could limit their ability to hear oncoming traffic.
“We promote it as a tourist attraction, but we don’t have the appropriate signage,” he said.
Mount Canobolas Road falls within the Cabonne Council area and Cr Mileto said raising the issue at Orange would start the process, whether it be referred to Cabonne, the City of Orange Traffic Committee or the Orange-Cabonne Road Safety Committee.
“I’m mindful that a lot of people who frequent the area stay in Orange,” he said.
He said he would also ask for the intersection of Lake Canobolas Road and Canobolas Road to be considered, saying it was confusing as to which traffic in which direction should give way.
Cabonne Council was contacted for comment.
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