Work on long-awaited traffic lights on the Great Western Highway at Glenbrook is expected to start in months following the release of findings into public submissions on the proposal.
Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) released the submissions report for the upgrade to the Ross Street and Great Western Highway intersection on February 1.
But Blue Mountains mayor Mark Greenhill has criticised RMS for ignoring council’s concerns about changes to the nearby Wascoe Street and Mann/Hare Street intersections.
“This was not what the community or council wanted,” said the mayor.
“This option does not reflect the design outcome, as agreed by the council and I believe it is not in the best interests of Glenbrook residents, business and visitors.”
While the council supports the introduction of traffic lights at the intersection of Ross Street and the highway, it has opposed plans to close access to Glenbrook village centre from the current intersection at Wascoe Street and Mann/Hare Street. It wanted to allow ‘left in’ and ‘left out’ movements at the Great Western Highway intersection with Hare Street.
But a spokesperson for RMS said closing access to the Great Western Highway from Hare Street will “improve safety for motorists”.
“Importantly, emergency vehicles will still be able to access the Great Western Highway from Hare Street by use of a mountable kerb,” the spokesperson said.
Council has also claimed closing access from Hare Street “will see traffic snarls in Glenbrook town centre”.
In its report, the RMS acknowledges that more traffic will be directed to the Ross Street and Great Western Highway intersection as a result of the proposal but stated “the Ross Street intersection has better storage capacity on the approach to the highway compared to Hare Street (south) and Great Western Highway”.
Ninety seven submissions were received during the consultation process.
“After considering all responses, including project aims and design requirements, Roads and Maritime has decided to progress the project to the next stage,” the RMS spokesperson said.
“The upgrade will include new traffic lights at Ross Street to permit safe right turns onto the Great Western Highway, extending the existing right turn lanes on the Great Western Highway, and closing access to the Great Western Highway from Hare Street to improve safety for motorists.
“A contract to carry out the work is expected to be awarded soon with work anticipated to start in the coming months and finish in late 2018. RMS would like to thank everyone who took the time to consider the proposal and provide their thoughts on the project.”
