NRMA Motoring and Services local Director Graham Blight met with Mayor Toby Smith on Friday to discuss Tenterfield Shire's motoring and road issues, focussing on the proposed heavy vehicle bypass.
Mr Blight stopped in Tenterfield as part of a two-day tour of the New England Highway that began in early on Thursday morning in Singleton, taking in 500 kilometres and nine towns along the highway before terminating in Tenterfield the following day.
Mr Blight said the tour was a great opportunity to see the local NRMA roadside assistance services and make sure the service is being well maintained.
"When we come to smaller areas we like to make sure our staff are getting enough support and talk to the local councils to see how they are coping," Mr Blight said.
Mr Blight met with Councillor Smith to talk about various topics, including the state of the local roads and the construction of a heavy vehicle bypass for Tenterfield.
Mr Blight said the NRMA supported the heavy vehicle bypass.
"There has been some political progress in the previous months, but it is moving slowly. It [the heavy vehicle bypass] may take a while, but it will have to go ahead," he said.
Mr Blight said New South Wales' current financial situation was to blame for the slow progress and that the Road Transport Authority believes that the highway traffic on Rouse Street is not dangerous.
"You have to expect this type of response from the RTA with the current financial situation of NSW. For us, it is all about safety," Mr Blight said.
Councillor Smith agreed, "The main issue is safety.
"Rouse Street evolved during the horse and buggy days. It was never meant for cars, let alone trucks. The State Government is now considering having b-triples on the New England Highway. They will come right through the centre of town if this comes to fruition," Councillor Smith said.
"We do not wish to reduce tourism to Tenterfield. Tourism is vitally important to Tenterfield, the motels, cafes and shops here rely on it and we recognise that. We believe that possibly more tourists would come here if Rouse Street became a boutique street," Councillor Smith said.
Federal Member for New England, Tony Windsor raised road issues of the Tenterfield Shire in Parliament, calling for road safety upgrades for the New England Highway in Tenterfield and the road between Legume and Woodenbong.
"I would not be doing my duty to Parliament and New England if I didn't raise both roads on the New England Highway as infrastructure in dire need of federal funds to undertake an urgent upgrade," Mr Windsor told the Parliament.
"I believe Tenterfield's main street and Bolivia Hill are death traps waiting to happen, as there have already been victims and there is likely to be again if the government doesn't look at the issue.
"The Legume to Woodenbong road for instance is currently considered a local road. It is obviously in need of major repair, but it is completely un-affordable for the local council, Tenterfield Shire Council on its own," Mr Windsor said.
"There is massive under-funding of shire council roads," Mr Blight said.
"The roads are deteriorating, it's creating dangers for country drivers and this is reflected in our statistics. Country drivers hold 30 per cent of the state's driver's licenses but account for 60 per cent of the deaths.
"The New England Highway needs some pretty serious spending on it in the upcoming years. The sheer weight of traffic on the road is enormous," Mr Blight said.
Councillor Smith said that the New England Highway remains the primary route for truck drivers, despite efforts made to encourage them to use alternate routes like the Pacific Highway. He also believes that the New England Highway is going to see an increase of traffic over the coming years and, until a bypass is built, pedestrians and cars on Rouse Street will have to learn how to cope with the traffic.
"Pedestrians must learn how to deal with the b-doubles coming through town. People just can't walk out in front of a truck 30 metres down the road," Councillor Smith said.
Mr Blight agreed and said that a new education program would soon be launched by the NRMA teaching people how to live with B-doubles.
"There is a whole new educational program teaching people how to share the road. It's for truck drivers, road drivers and pedestrians," Mr Blight said.
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