Wagga residents call for removal of pedestrian island on Red Hill Road due to crash risk

Wagga City Council constructed the island on the western end of Red Hill Road earlier this month as part of the Active Travel Plan - a 56-kilometre network of cycle paths across the city.

The island offers cyclists and pedestrians safer passage across the busy thoroughfare, however San Isidore resident Gretchen Sleeman believes it poses a risk to vehicles.

"Red Hill Road is not a suburban or residential street it is 70 kilometres per hour and this is a dangerous obstacle for vehicles," she said.

"There is no street lighting there and no reflectors so if you are driving along in the dark it just appears all of a sudden and eventually for someone it will be too late to get around it."

Mrs Sleeman is fearful any drivers who hit the pedestrian island could suffer serious injuries and major damage to their vehicle.

"The metal rods would just go straight through your windscreen if you hit them," she said. "I first noticed it on Friday and I couldn't sleep that night I was so worried someone would go straight through it."

Glenfield resident Owen Guthrie has also raised concerns over the placement of the island and said it needs to be addressed "before a February fatality".

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Wagga City Council said it has not received any official complaints regarding the pedestrian island but will investigate the visibility of the safety feature.

"The feedback from a road user via The Daily Advertiser has been taken on board and council staff will look at the pedestrian island in relation to visibility at night," a council spokesperson said.

Feedback for the Active Travel Plan has been overwhelmingly positive, the spokesperson added.

Mrs Sleeman has called for the "unnecessary" island to be removed entirely.

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