Work begins on upgrade of deadly stretch of Scenic Highway in Terrigal
CENTRAL Coast Council answered the prayers of many when stage one of the upgrade to a deadly black spot on Scenic Highway in Terrigal kicked off with relentless force yesterday.
Central Coast
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AS THE first chainsaws were pulled just after 9am yesterday to mark the start of works to fix a deadly black spot on Scenic Highway, years of frustrations for residents could finally be fed into the powerful mulcher waiting to eat up the fallen trees.
It’s been a decades-long fight for Terrigal residents to get safety improvements on the notorious stretch of road out the front of iconic The Cowrie restaurant, where 32-year-old mother of four Annabelle Deall was tragically killed on August 6 last year.
And yesterday morning Central Coast Council answered the prayers of many — including The Cowrie owner Brett Dengate, who is still deeply affected by Mrs Deall’s death — when stage one of the upgrade kicked off with relentless force.
A team of about 10 workers, including three men wielding chainsaws on safety harnesses, wasted no time in bringing down the first of a dozen trees on both sides of the road where line of sight for motorists will improve from 47m to 115m.
“We’ve answered the community’s calls and needs,” council’s group leader of assets, infrastructure and business Mike Dowling told reporters.
“The first stage is to demolish the trees, and the next is to cut back the embankment (by 4m) and restore the retaining wall. This will open up the line of sight … and improve driver safety through this area, particularly coming from the east to the west.
“Following that, there’ll be a pedestrian refuge put in place and a footpath that will run from (The Cowrie) down to Barnhill Rd so that pedestrians have a safer access point.”
The full upgrade at the location is expected to be finished by early May, before further work on Scenic Highway promises to also improve traffic flow in Terrigal.
Mr Dengate and residents thanked council for finally getting its act together.
“I couldn’t be happier now this work has begun,” Mr Dengate said. “It’s going to make the area much safer for everyone.
“We’ll now work with council on planning options for more parking at The Cowrie. We’re looking at flattening out the front and possibly having diagonal parking, which will give us more spots (than the current three-and-a-half).”
Several Bellevue Cres residents had big smiles on their faces as they watched day one of the works. And even those away on holidays marvelled at the photos they were sent of it at day’s end.
“Wow, it looks so different already,” Simone Channells said.
Her husband Geoff, who was part of the Express Advocate’s campaign to get the road fixed, agreed.
“It’s great. It’ll be so much safer for motorists and pedestrians when it’s finished,” he said.
Tree-removal work is expected to take just three days, with minimal traffic disruptions, Mr Dowling said.
But residents say any delay is a small price to pay as their much-loved seaside suburb becomes a much safer place to live.
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