LOWERING speeds on roads in Thurgoona is about Albury Council being proactive and not waiting for a coroner’s report, a former mayor says.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
They’re Table Top Road, from Kinross Court to Ettamogah Road, (now 100km/h); Thurgoona Drive, from Table Top Road to 200 metres east of Litchfield Drive (80km/h); and Kerr Road, from the Riverina Highway to Thurgoona Drive (80km/h).
Council’s engineering and works committee chairman Henk van de Ven said the push to change was sparked by the spread of suburbia.
“With the extra families that are living around here, we don’t really want a coroner’s report to suggest the speed limit is inappropriate in an area,” he said.
“We want to be a bit proactive about this and make decisions in the best interests of the community well before something happens.”
Cr van de Ven said the speed reductions had not been based on crash statistics.
He conceded the 100km/h to 60km/h drop, which applies to an area north of the Kinross Woolshed hotel, may not win RMS support.
“They might say 80 is a more appropriate speed limit, we’ll approve to 80 at this stage and then watch what goes on,” Cr van de Ven said.
“We’ve requested it to 60, yes it is a large speed limit drop, but it’s only just a continuation of a 60km/h speed limit that already exists on part of that road.”
Cr van de Ven said the Thurgoona Drive cut followed a similar reduction on that road from Elizabeth Mitchell Drive to Table Top Road last year.
He said public objections could be made to the RMS.
“Feedback needs to go back to RMS now, we’ve made the decision – council has been proactive about this,” Cr van de Ven said.
“They wanted to go to public consultation on one of them and we said ‘well no, we need to be a bit proactive about this’.”
Some Border Mail readers felt the council should spend more on roadworks rather than cut speeds and others want action on the Elizabeth Mitchell Drive and Thurgoona Drive intersection.
The RMS is expected to reply to the council within the next three months.
