Murrumbidgee Turf Club calls for safer horse crossing on Travers Street

Club chief executive Steve Keene made an in-person address to Wagga's council meeting on Monday night to seek approval for the plan, which he said would be similar to signs at school zones.

"We're hoping to have the lights operating between the hours of 4.30am and 9.30am," he said.

"Muswellbrook (Race Club) have had a similar issues and they have installed lights a little over 12 months ago and they have seen significant decreases in incidents and near misses."

Mr Keene said the lights would make the crossing much safer for stable staff, riders, horses and road users.

"I think the flashing lights will work well just to remind the users of the road that use it every day as well as being handy for those coming from out of town just to make them aware that there is horse movement in the area," he said.

The club will pay for the lights, with the council being asked to contribute $500 for line marking in order to discourage overtaking at the crossing site.

Horses cross between the club's race track and multiple stables on a section of Travers Street near the Olympic Highway roundabout that leads to Gobbagombalin Bridge.

The proposal has been put to the council's traffic committee.

During a later debate on quorum requirements for the traffic committee, Cr Rod Kendall called from prompt action on the horse crossing as winter fog conditions would soon return.

"I don't want to pick up the paper and read about an accident," he said. 

The club has also installed a warning signs and a chicane inside its property line to prevent horses from bolting across the road if they break free.

"To compliment the lights, the club has in the past two weeks installed a chicane so when (the horses) are coming off the track, there is not an open gate," he said.

The club started campaigning for a crossing on Travers street in 2017 in response to increased traffic heading to new housing in Estella, with nearly 1800 people signing a petition.