Member for Orange Phil Donato has called on the government to fast-track funding and works on a dangerous intersection with the Mitchell Highway before someone is killed.
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Mr Donato has called on government to bring forward the 2022-23 schedule for the intersection of the Mitchell Highway and Pretty Plains Road at Shadforth.
There is currently only a small turning lane for vehicles heading west to use before turning left onto Pretty Plains Road, and Mr Donato wanted a turning lane extended.
"A number of residents have approached us to talk about that intersection and the inherent dangers of that intersection," he said.
He said it was a busy intersection, with cars travelling west home from travelling to Bathurst staring straight into the setting sun just as they came up to the intersection and cars suddenly stopping to turn presenting a danger.
"I don't want to wait for three or or four years to rectify the intersection, thousands of cars use that road every day and vehicles turning left at 100km/h onto Plenty Plains Road don't have a long turning lane, so you'd want cars behind you to be paying attention," Mr Donato said.
"School busses drop off just up from the intersection up there.
"It does need serious government funding and we don't want a serious injury or death at that site."
Mr Donato queried the minister for regional roads, Bathurst MP Paul Toole, about the intersection in question time this week, saying there had been "collisions and near misses" at the site, but a lack of deaths of serious injury were "more luck than anything".
Mr Toole said in question time the upgrade was planned for the 2022-23 suite of road upgrades, with $50 million committed to upgrading the highway between Bathurst and Orange over the next five years, and said the Pretty Plains Road intersection was in the "early stages of investigation".
"The sections of the Mitchell Highway being prepared for delivery have been prioritised based on casualty crash history," Mr Toole said.
"The left-turn lane into Pretty Plains Road is being investigated as part of the larger Pretty Plains Road project, with design for the left-turn lane to be undertaken in the 2022-23 financial year.
"The extended timeframe enables the left-turn lane to be delivered as part of a larger project, achieving economies of scale that will provide greater safety benefits for all road users."
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Max Stainkamph
Max joined the CWD in September 2017, leaving the big smoke of Melbourne to come to Orange, where he stayed until 2020.
Max joined the CWD in September 2017, leaving the big smoke of Melbourne to come to Orange, where he stayed until 2020.
