WITH traffic lights now studded across 40 sites in Albury, it’s hard to fathom the hype which marked the first signals being switched on 50 years ago.
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The launch of the controls at Kiewa and Dean streets was headlined a “Red letter day” in The Border Morning Mail with the NSW Transport Minister officially flicking the switch at 12.18pm on March 13, 1967.
In the lead up to that moment, diagrams were printed in the BMM explaining to motorists and pedestrians the three phases of the lights.
Nevertheless, a practice run with them left some pedestrians in a muddle.
“They didn’t seem to know the big red, amber and green lights are for motorists only,” the BMM reported.
“The guide for pedestrians is the ‘walk’ and ‘don’t walk’ set of signals facing the footpaths.”
Signs attached to the lights defined ‘walk’ as ‘you may leave the kerb’, a flashing ‘don’t walk’ as ‘you may complete your crossing, do not leave the kerb’ and ‘don’t walk’ as ‘you must not leave the kerb’.
Milton Morris, 92, who was NSW Transport Minister in 1967, recalled the surprise of some walkers with traffic lights.
“Most people thought as soon as you pushed the button you went ahead, it didn’t quite work that way, they were a bit impatient,” Mr Morris said.
He recalled travelling by train to Albury for the opening and then turning on Wagga’s first traffic lights later the same day.
“I remember we had a thousand traffic lights in Sydney when we had nothing happening in the country and we did Tamworth, Wagga and quite a few others,” Mr Morris said.
While the minister, who lives at Maitland, enjoyed delivering traffic lights to country areas, there was scepticism over whether Albury needed them.
Trucking company owner Max Luff, who was an Albury alderman from 1962 to 1968, said he and fellow councillor Karl Weiss were dubious.
“Karl and I didn’t really think Albury needed the traffic lights,” Mr Luff said.
“We didn’t think it was big enough and we thought it might be an intrusion on the lifestyle of the country town.”
Mr Luff said although the Hume Highway’s route had been switched from Dean Street to Hume Street earlier in the 1960s it made sense for the Kiewa-Dean street intersection to host Albury’s first traffic lights.
“The Mate’s store was a booming place at that stage and the Globe Hotel was a leading hotel for accommodation and you had the post office there,” he said.
“There was a hub around the Kiewa and Dean street corner.”
Technology has prompted upgrades to the lights over the years with the latest the installation of 30-second countdown clocks.
