An upgrade to the Ross Street intersection at Glenbrook has hit a stumbling block, as Blue Mountains Council prepares to dig in its heels over the plans.
Ward 4 councillor and mayor Mark Greenhill said the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) had advised the council in late August that the upgrade would involve fully closing public vehicular access to Glenbrook village centre from the current intersection at Wascoe St and Mann/Hare St at the highway.
This was not what the community or council wanted, Cr Greenhill said, adding that after extensive consultation council had conducted with the community, RMS had selected an option costing $5 million, instead of council’s preferred option at $7 million.
"What the RMS proposed will see traffic snarls in Glenbrook town centre and force the local Fire and Rescue team to embark on a rat run through back streets in order to attend fires and emergencies to the west of the town,” Cr Greenhill said.
But Glenbrook Fire and Rescue captain Mark Mallitt said in discussions they’d had with the RMS, a concrete speed hump-type structure would be installed at Wascoe St to block off access which the fire trucks could still manage to drive over.
“It wouldn’t impede our response time,” Mr Mallitt said.
An RMS spokesman said, “A review of environmental factors is now being prepared and will be presented to the community for consultation in the coming months.”
Cr Greenhill was to ask council at its meeting on Tuesday to write to ministers Angus Taylor and Stuart Ayres seeking $2 million in extra funding and delaying the upgrade until further funding had been explored and community feedback sought on the $5 million proposal.
Mr Ayres said: “If council want to change the preferred RMS design at a cost of an additional $2 million they are welcome to pay for it.
“This intersection has been consulted on and designed to death. It’s time to get on with it.”
