Power Fuel Granville’s cheap petrol prices spawn traffic mayhem on Blaxcell St

Bargains at the bowsers of a western Sydney service station might be good for the budget but are spawning such a traffic “disaster” residents are prepared to take an extreme step to curb the chaos.

An influx of drivers drawn to cheap petrol prices at Granville’s Power Fuel service station is escalating so rapidly residents of a side street are prepared to turn it into a cul-de-sac to tackle the mayhem.

The Blaxcell St servo’s heavily discounted prices are welcome as the cost of living soars but the community is suffering as queues stretch almost 700m and clog intersections and the Louis St roundabout.

At Charles St, which intersects with Blaxcell St, the bank-up is proving such a burden residents are poised to ask Cumberland Council to barricade their street to stem the flow of drivers using it to reach Power Fuel.

Michael Katrib, 50, who has lived in Charles St all his life, said there was unanimous support from his neighbours to block the street.

“I’ve spoken to my neighbours on both sides and they’re very happy to do it - 101 per cent they’ll be happy,’’ he said.

Traffic banks up at Blaxcell St, Granville, blocking Charles St.

He said the problem had become “worse and worse and worse” and blocking the street was the best solution, despite meaning residents would only be able to leave via The Trongate.

Converting the street into a cul-de-sac would cost the council $100,000.

In April, the council agreed to build a median island over the pedestrian crossing in front of Power Fuel to stop northbound drivers turning right into the service station from Blaxcell St.

But the problem with southbound cars banking up would still persist.

Traffic queues bank up almost a kilometre up Blaxcell St. Picture: John Appleyard

Cumberland councillor Joseph Rahme said the bottleneck had grown over the past four months and plagued the area till 11pm each day.

“Residents are becoming increasingly frustrated and this is a disaster in the making,’’ he said.

“It’s just mayhem. It’s every night, it’s relentless.

“It’s been over a year but I think it’s been amplified with inflation and the cost of living.’’

After meeting residents, he backed the suggestion to block Charles St but only if other ideas were unsuccessful.

A Cumberland Council spokesman said it would need to obtain approvals from Transport for NSW and its traffic committee if the street were to be blocked.

“Council is aware of the traffic issues at the intersection of Blaxcell St and Charles St, Granville, and is currently reviewing options to improve the traffic flow which will be progressed through to the Cumberland local traffic committe and council,’’ he said.

Streets

Short term solutions discussed with Cumberland police include clearer road marking at the Charles-Blaxcell St intersection to stop queuing and dispatching police to monitor the site daily.

But the discounts are likely to fuel more gridlock.

“Obviously as council or police we cannot stop the petrol station owner from dropping prices in a free and competitive market,’’ Cr Rahme said.

Granville resident Michael Katrib supports Charles St being blocked off.

Power Fuel has some of the cheapest prices at the bowsers in Sydney, Picture: John Appleyard

Power Fuel’s unleaded petrol was 154.9 cents a litre on Wednesday, making it the cheapest in the Parramatta area where the average price was 164.5 cents. It was 28 cents less expensive than the most expensive bowsers in NSW.

In the Blacktown area, the cheapest unleaded petrol was 157.9 cents on Tuesday.

Power Fuel Granville also has the cheapest Premium 95 petrol at 166.7 cents compared with the area’s average of 176.9 cents.

By comparison, on the opposite side of Sydney in Paddington, Premium 95 was 10 cents extra at 176.90 cents.

On Friday, Power Fuel continued to offer the cheapest unleaded petrol in the Parramatta area where prices remained 154.9 cents a litre. The average price in the area was 163 cents.

At Blacktown, the cheapest unleaded petrol was 157.9 cents at Metro Petroleum Toongabbie.

Power Fuel’s Premium 95 was the cheapest in the Parramatta area at 166.9 cents — significantly lower than Paddington where it was at 176.9 cents at 7-Eleven.

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