“With a long-awaited project like this, it’s important that we get it right.”
And, that’s why City of Newcastle (CN) councillor Callum Pull has raised concerns over the consultation process currently underway for improvements to Minmi Road.
Council is currently seeking feedback into plans to widen and upgrade the key sub-arterial thoroughfare in the hope of reducing congestion along the troublesome link, which connects the growing suburbs of Wallsend, Maryland, Fletcher and Minmi to Newcastle.
CN recently revealed it would increase the width of Minmi Road to two lanes in each direction from Summerhill Road to Maryland Drive in the east.
A central median and separated turning lanes at Anna Place, McNaughton Avenue and the Service Station are also intended to help remove logjams and enrich safety, in conjunction with restrictions on right-hand turns in and out of Mount Street and Minmi Road properties.
But, Cr Pull has expressed some trepidation in regard to the process.
“In a closed Councillors’ Workshop in October, we were presented with two cross-section diagrams outlining two potential design options for the upgrade,” the Ward Four Liberal representative said.
“However, when the Public Exhibition portal appeared online, they were nowhere to be found.
“When councillors were shown these two design options in a workshop, I asked whether the community would have the ability to make submissions on which of the two they preferred.
“The answer I received indicated residents would have that opportunity.
“But, when you log in to the Feedback Page you can’t see anything about it.
“Council officers told us that the preference was option two, which is the one currently out for exhibition.”
Cr Pull labelled the difference between the choices as “chalk and cheese”.
“Design option one was far better for motorists,” he said.
“The point of these upgrades is to get traffic moving through what is an infamous bottleneck.
“Option one had generous parking and travel lanes for traffic… and a four-metre-wide shared path for those not travelling in a car.
“The second possibility, which is preferred by the cycling working party, cuts down the width of on-road parking, cuts the width of the path, cuts down the width of travel lanes and imposes a cycling lane on the road.
“That makes no sense.
“Residents in Maryland and Fletcher know all too well that roads are too narrow in some streets and residents are often fined for parking on the curb.
“Now, here we risk a similar scenario.
“Locals could be fined for infringing on a cycling lane.
“Very few people in Ward Four will be cycling every day for their morning commute.
“In fact, the recently adopted environment policy stated that only 4% of residents city-wide walk or ride to work, as opposed to the vast majority who drive.
“Clearly even less people from this area will be on their bike daily.
“I believe the reduction in lane sizes is an unnecessary constraint on the vast majority of commuters.
“That is, at the end of the day, what these upgrades should be about.
“We need to get traffic moving and improve the lives of local residents by reducing the time wasted stuck in traffic.”
People can log on to www.newcastle.nsw.gov.au/yoursay by 17 November to provide comments on the proposed concept designs.
For more news stories:
- Relief for Port Stephens oyster farmers at hand
- A feather in Singleton Council’s cap
- Second person charged in relation to Laguna man’s murder
Get all the latest Newcastle news, sport, real estate, entertainment, lifestyle and more delivered straight to your inbox with the Newcastle Weekly Daily Newsletter. Sign up here.
