Exit to service station on the Sturt Highway between Forest Hill and Alfredtown needs urgent fix

Local resident Wally Bell said the Sturt Highway between Forest Hill and Alfredtown is an accident-prone spot, largely due to the dangerous exit to get to the service station by the old Shanty Hotel.

Mr Bell said several people have been killed in accidents there as motorists slow down from 100km/h to get off the highway.

He himself had a "near miss" at that very spot, as he attempted to exit the service station and get back onto the highway.

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Mr Bell wants a dedicated exit lane for vehicles to safely enter the service station and exit towards Borambola, as well as a refuge in the middle of the highway to safely turn back towards Wagga.

"There'll be more people killed there unless they put a turning lane in and out in both directions," he said. "It goes on and on, something's got to be done pronto."

Mr Bell is one of dozens of people who have submitted concerns to a NSW parliamentary inquiry into speed limits and road safety in regional NSW.

Between 2019 and 2021 there were 200 deaths per year on country NSW roads, while 9776 people were killed or seriously injured on those roads between 2016 and 2020, costing the community $13.7 billion.

The committee has set out to see how speed limits are impacting driver safety on regional roads.

Another Alfredtown resident anonymously made a submission about that same location, adding that a large section of trees obscures the view of the service station for drivers in both directions.

Thanoj Kakarla works at the service station and laughed nervously when asked to describe driving in and out of his workplace, which he said is "too dangerous".

He has seen multiple accidents on that road and agrees dedicated exit lanes would be safer for drivers, but also better for business.

Leeton Shire Council wrote to the inquiry outlining its disappointment at the way Transport for NSW set speed limits in their LGA with a "lack of genuine consultation and due process".

The submission said blanket approaches to speed zones without local context "serves to confuse" motorists, and "drives complacency instead of alertness".

Leeton mayor, and former NSW Police chief inspector, Tony Reneker said TfNSW needs to consult with local councils to target areas that are accident prone, which they are not currently doing.

"The reduction of speed limits aren't in a position that they're reducing road trauma," he said.

Cr Reneker said he supports anything that reduces road trauma, but current "blanket" statewide speed limits don't take local conditions into account. "You can have a 50km/h zone, and there's not a house in sight," he said. Variable speed limits can be unsafe and set out to "entrap motorists", he said.

A TfNSW spokesperson said they continue to work on strategies to reduce trauma.

"In the 2022- 23 budget, the NSW government committed $880 million towards improving road safety in NSW," they said.

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