A Wagga woman has urged politicians to help lobby for urgent safety upgrades along Tumbarumba Road where two of her relatives were killed in separate car accidents.
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Jessica Barron has launched a petition via Change.org calling for a range of safety measures to be implemented along the road, such as widening the road and installing flexible crash barriers.
Ms Barron, who is now living in Canberra for university, was raised in Wagga but her mum's family is from Tumbarumba. She said driving along Tumbarumba Road was something she has done countless times.
She was just four years old when her uncle Jodie Bramich was tragically killed along the stretch of road in 2005. In May last year a second uncle, Shaun Bramich, passed away in another devastating car accident on the road.
"[The road] is in the same condition; if nothing's being done I thought I'd do something myself," she said.
Ms Barron said it was devastating for her family, particularly when they still needed to travel the road frequently and they passed the roadside crosses each time.
"To see that nothing is changing as a result is terrible," she said.
"It needs actual upgrades, it needs to be widened or else accidents are going to keep happening."
According to Transport for NSW, in the five years to the end of 2019, 36 crashes were reported on Tumbarumba Road.
Wagga MP Joe McGirr, one of the politicians the petition has been addressed to, has already reached out to Ms Barron and plans to talk further with her on Tuesday.
"It's pretty clear that there's increasing concern about Tumbarumba Road," Dr McGirr said.
Dr McGirr said that although Tumbarumba Road was a council road, he was "there to support the councils to get action on this".
Tumbarumba Road crosses through Wagga City Council as well as the Greater Hume Shire.
"We've had a number of constituents raise concerns with us," he said.
"Road safety is an absolute priority and we want our roads to be as safe as possible."
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Dr McGirr will be speaking with Ms Barron further about her ideas for upgrading the road. He said he has already reached out to the Centre for Road Safety for advice.
Ms Barron said there are a number of issues with the road, mainly sharp bends that aren't signposted, a lack of guard rails, steep hills and "sections where it's more pothole than road".
She said the lack of phone coverage just adds to the issue.
Since launching the petition, Ms Barron is thrilled with the response and said this demonstrates how much the community is behind her on this issue.
"I was expecting maybe two dozen signatures," she said, receiving around 100 in the first hour.
As of Monday afternoon the petition had more than 550 signatures.
"Everyone in the community knows someone who's died on that road," Ms Barron said.
"It's just a very risky road and it shouldn't be that way."
Ms Baron's petition can be viewed online.
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