FUMING drivers being forced to squeeze from two lanes into one to cross a dangerous city bridge are calling for its upgrade.
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Drivers believe Marshall’s Creek bridge on Hammond Avenue needs to be widened to counter congested bottle neck traffic on the highway that connects the city centre with the booming industrial estate and airport.
Long-term resident Geoff Hall says money needs to be poured into widening it to the width of the road for safety.
“It’s an accident waiting to happen,” he said. “Why spend all that money to replace it and not do a proper job when they widened the road?
“If two trucks pass one another, it’s very narrow for them to pass.”
Born and raised in Wagga, Mr Hall hopes the issue can be listed on the political agenda.
“We have two parliamentarians from one party and we still don’t have a solution,” he said.
“It is a blackspot.”
Professional driver Peter Rex, who’s owned and operated Wagga Shuttle for four years, said the bridge on the Sturt Highway was congested because it was the main stretch between Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.
“Whenever you bring four lanes of traffic into two you're always going to have a merger problem,” he said.
He hoped placing pressure on state and federal representatives would yield a response.
But Mr Rex believes building ring roads to allow heavy vehicles to bypass the city would be a more effective option.
“We need a long-term plan more than a short-term plan,” he said.
“The short answer is working with council in going to state and federal governments and expanding their ring road idea.”
Councillor Paul Funnell has campaigned hard to upgrade the bridge.
“It needs to be replaced and it needs to be replaced now,” he said.
Nearby business, Fencing and Gate Centre, manager Wayne Green said last month’s reseal improved traffic flow, while Old N Dazed owner Jessica Bye saw no major issue with the bridge.
The calls follow a $3 million road surfacing project completed last month.
The Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) own the bridge and widened it to its current width in the mid-1960s.
A spokeswoman said they had no plans to widen it because there were no known congestion issues and only one crash has been recorded in the last five years.
The calls follow a $3 million road surfacing project completed last month.