CABBIES and councillors have slammed new rules at one of the city’s most notorious roundabouts, deeming them dangerous and confusing.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Council engineers have released a report defending changes to traffic conditions in March, preventing drivers from travelling straight through the roundabout from the left lane at the corner of Peter and Morgan streets.
But Wagga taxi driver Tom Pearce claimed the roundabout has become more dangerous, not less, since the changes were made.
“I’ve seen people caught by surprise, frantically trying change lanes, because they either didn’t know about the change or didn’t see any signage early enough” Mr Pearce said.
“I didn't notice any trouble at that intersection to warrant the change.
“It doesn't stop a lot of people going straight from the left lane, who I would speculate don’t know or care.
“It is dangerous when they go straight from the left lane, because everyone aware of the change is assuming traffic will behave in a certain way.
“It’s no different from someone going straight through a stop sign, it catches you off guard.”
Council’s traffic committee claims similar roundabout configurations throughout NSW have reduced the prevalence of major accidents, but also a “rise in the number of minor crashes”.
Councillor Paul Funnell claimed the very same traffic committee members responsible for devising the new rule could not recall any major accidents at that intersection.
“I’ve spoken to businesses nearby and they can only recall two major accidents, one was an elderly couple who ran into the (pedestrian) island and the other was an unlicensed, unregistered and uninsured driver over the limit driver, who ran into parked cars.
“The public are outraged over this ill-conceived concept and yet council is digging its heels in, using flimsy evidence to support the decision.
“As far as I'm concerned this was done ad hoc and I will be moving an amendment to put it back to how it was.
“They should put it back to how it was.”
The report suggests the “only way that traffic should be permitted to again travel straight through this roundabout in adjacent lanes” is if the roundabout is widened, which is financially prohibitive.