ITC regularly receives reports of motor vehicle accidents in the Lane Cove area. These accidents tend to always be in the same spot. As a community awareness initiative, ITC asked the Lane Cove Council to provide a list of the Top 10 Motor Vehicle Accident Black Spots in Lane Cove. The Lane Cove Council advised ITC that regional roads and traffic lights are the responsibility of the NSW Roads and Maritime Services (RMS).
The Lane Cove Council advised that the RMS data on motor vehicle accident is not as user-friendly as it could be and the Council has to supplement the data with police reports and local reports on more recent accidents where Council can determine if there is a more immediate risk to safety.
The Lane Cove Council advised that the traffic hot spots are on regional roads as they are roads which have a higher volume of traffic and intersect with local road junctions.
Top Ten Accident Black Spots in Lane Cove
Longueville Road nr Epping Road
River Road nr Northwood Road
River Road nr Kenneth St/Longueville Road
Epping Road nr Centennial Road
Mowbray Road nr Rosyln Street
River Road West nr Barina Road
River Road nr Greenwich Road
River Road nr St Vincents Road
River Road nr William Edward Street
Pacific Highway from Westbourne to Frederick Street
Note: Lane Cove Council advised that the list above is in no particular order as injury to people/cars varies at these locations.
ITC was surprised to see that the intersection of Centennial and Barwon/Figtree Roads did not make the top 10 list (this picture was sent in by a roving reporter this week).
Please take extra care when traveling through these roads. If you are concerned about this intersection the relevant minister to write to is Duncan Gay via this link https://www.nsw.gov.au/contact-minister-roads-maritime-frei…
Funding for Black Spot Improvements
Lane Cove Council informed ITC that RMS has a set criteria for how it classifies a black spot or black length and unfortunately, Lane Cove roads often don’t meet the criteria in terms of volume as, despite Council’s concerns for each and every accident, the incident rate is relatively low in the overall scheme of the funding bids received by RMS annually. A good example of Lane Cove Council being denied funding for road improvements was the dangerous pedestrian crossing at the corner of Longueville and Birdwood Avenue. Lane Cove Council ending up having to fully-fund the lights at this corner after almost a decade of campaigning for funding assistance from RMS. The other two areas on Council’s priority list are the intersection of Northwood and River Roads as well as the Kenneth Street/River Road/Longueville Road intersection.
Lane Cove Council’s Current Funding Requests
Northwood Road and River Road (near the Lane Cove Country Club)
In April 2015 Council applied to RMS for funding of lights at the intersection of Northwood Road and River Road. They are still waiting for an RMS outcome. Subject to RMS decision, further action will be undertaken in due course.
Kenneth Street/River Road/Longueville Road
Lane Cove Council advised that Traffic Lights are RMS controlled and therefore Council welcomes RMS’ comments to a concerned resident (as reported by ITC) that they would be making improvements to this intersection – Council has previously spoken to RMS seeking improvements at this location. Council spoke to RMS as recently as yesterday and it appears there is no specific time frame for the improvements they mentioned to the local resident – Council will continue to follow up to see when action will be taken. While Council is keen to see improvements to the lights at this intersection because of previous accidents please note that following discussions with Police this week Council believes that the suggested improvements discussed to date would not have prevented this particular incident. This is currently a Police matter and so additional detail has not been released.
As the Traffic Committee focuses mostly on localised roads and traffic matters within its control (the lights are RMS/State controlled) it is unlikely to see this as an agenda item as a lot of liaison takes place directly with RMS in between the bi-monthly meeting schedule. Council has been dealing directly with RMS on this particular matter.
Lane Cove Council Priority Areas
Lane Cove Council advised that In addition to priority areas, Council continues to look at the local road network as a whole to help identify improvements based on the incident patterns. For example, Council has applied for funding for improvements on River Road near Barina Road which it will hear the outcome of later this year.
Lane Cove Council Road Safety Awareness Programs
In addition to infrastructure projects, behavioural projects such as the “Distracted” campaign, “It’s Local. It’s 50” campaign, as well as child restraint safety checks and workshops to educate supervisors of Learner Drivers all aim to improve safety on our local roads.
Please let me know if you would like any further clarification on any of the above.
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