Wagga’s $240,000 transport masterplan to make the city “the world exemplar for movement” has been dubbed “absolute drivel”.
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The document advocates for fewer car parks in the CBD, smaller homes closer to Central and a stop to development north of the Murrumbidgee River.
Council’s transport consultant with offices in Brisbane and Melbourne labelled traffic pinch points like the Glenfield Road overpass, hospital precinct and Gobba Bridge “irritating hotspots”.
In fact, the landmark study suggested “a smooth flowing network for car traffic is of virtually of no benefit to the city”.
Committee 4 Wagga CEO Chris Fitzpatrick found the suggestion traffic congestion was good for Wagga particularly egregious.
“This strategy is driving at a carless society,” Mr Fitzpatrick said.
“The expectation we had of this document was for solutions to ensure smooth flowing traffic to get from A to B in the shortest time possible.
“It shies away from the reality that we need motor vehicles in Wagga to carry out our daily business, whether that’s shopping or getting the kids to school.”
The report’s suggestion for higher density housing in Central is based on the theory frequent public transport is dependent on “medium density development around the route in preference to low density sprawl on the edge”.
Public Jack Egan said his patrons are furious with the report’s finding that convenient access to parking was a sure sign a city was “underperforming”.
“Everyone’s irate; they’ve spent $240,000 on this rubbish and it’s not worth the paper it's written on,” Mr Egan said.
“Older people and young mothers can’t be expected to walk from the city fringe in 45 degree heat or the 6 degree cold.”
Council has encouraged residents to get in touch to share their opinions, as they will incorporate community feedback in the final Integrated Transport Strategy (ITS) due in May.
Wagga chief financial officer Natalie Te Pohe stressed the findings are independent and “not the view of” Wagga council.
“Ultimately we want the (ITS) to provide the tools that support the community’s vision of being a thriving, innovative, connected and inclusive city, and one that we’d be proud for our children to inherit,” she said.