Traffic lights will be installed at the junction of Murray and Edward Streets as part of a $4 million overhaul of the three intersections in the busy hospital precinct.
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Construction is due to commence in mid-2022 on safety upgrades to the Murray Street and Docker Street intersections with Edward Street, and the Murray Street and Brookong Avenue intersection.
Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Paul Toole has confirmed that the updated Murray Street junction will feature traffic lights and dedicated turning lanes, while the Docker Street intersection will house new dedicated turning lanes.
"Due to high traffic volumes and rapid growth in Wagga, traffic lights were found to be the safest and most efficient option to move traffic through this intersection," he said.
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"There is a history of crashes at the Murray and Edward Streets intersection, with the majority of incidents involving turning vehicles and rear-end collisions."
Transport for NSW has now confirmed it will oversee the development of all three intersection designs, though the Murray and Brookong junction falls under local roads jurisdiction and will be delivered by Wagga City Council.
"TfNSW is finalising the concept designs for the two intersections along Edward Street and will be sharing these with the community in coming weeks," a spokeswoman said.
It comes after the Southern Regional Planning Panel approved NSW Health Infrastructure's plans for the highly anticipated but now controversial hospital campus car parking works, which will fall 300 spaces short of the promised total car parks.
The Daily Advertiser spoke to residents and business owners near the Murray and Edwards intersection, yesterday, all of whom welcomed the safety upgrades but raised concerns about available parking.
"Parking's always been a problem there. [But] there are accidents nearly every day. We hear the horn going all the time. It's really good for safety reasons, but for the businesses it's probably not so good," said Amelia's Antiques owner Noelene Wright.
FinalDraft Building Design owner Neil Harwood hopes the hospital car parking works will take the pressure off the surrounding streets and believes the traffic lights are "long overdue".
"It's a busy intersection with the ambulances coming out ... you just get too many people stopping at the intersection and they get too impatient," he said.
"You do see a lot of people parking along here and they've all got hospital stickers on their windscreens. So there must be a lot of hospital staff who still can't get a park over there. But hopefully that will change."