One of the most perilous stretches of the Great Western Highway for pedestrians has been earmarked by council for RMS attention.
At its meeting this month, council unanimously supported a motion by Cr Kerry Brown for the Mayor to write to the RMS asking that it address the lack of safe pedestrian access between Leura and Wentworth Falls.
Cr Brown said: “Although the two towns are side by side, the 200-metre stretch along the highway between Scott Avenue at the bottom of Leura and West Street at the top of Wentworth Falls has no footpath or back road.
“I drive along that stretch of road several times a day and, more often than not, I see someone struggling through waist-high grass on the southern verge or walking on the highway itself. I am amazed someone hasn’t been killed.
“I used to run the gauntlet myself when I was going to Wentie TAFE from my home in Leura.
“On a bike is just as dangerous as there is a 100m stretch from Scott Avenue where the left lane hard is against the kerb leaving you nowhere to go if a car or truck thunders up behind you.”
Council’s request to the RMS will also include consideration of pedestrian access between Scott Avenue and Sinclair Crescent.
Cr Brown said: “It’s a dog-leg on the highway between South Leura and North Wentie but there is no safe way to cross.
“The Leura Crematorium is another 100 metres up from Sinclair Crescent and the only access is by walking on the highway itself. People do. I stop to pick them up which is probably just as dangerous.
“I don’t understand how this major nexus between Leura and Wentworth Falls and significant facilities could be so poorly serviced for pedestrians. It should not require a car to make the trip safely. They are not warring states.”
Councillor Brown’s motion also included a request for the RMS to provide an update on its plans for the highway median strips through Leura and Katoomba.
“As a gardener and councillor, I am appalled that visitors driving into the heart of the Blue Mountains tourist precinct are greeted by a dirt and scrub décor. The worst example is the median strip right outside council chambers between Civic Place and the Yeamans Bridge entry to Katoomba.”
