Dubbo Council defends handling of road crash black spot

Another tragic death at a notorious intersection in regional NSW has triggered renewed calls for a council to work faster to fix the dangerous stretch of road.

Dubbo Regional Council has come under fire for its handling of a notorious crash black spot after another death on a dangerous stretch of road the organisation was told needed fixing almost 12 months.

A 42-year-old Dubbo man died on December 12 when his vehicle collided with a prime mover at the intersection of Boothenba and Old Mendooran Roads on the outskirts of the city.

A truck driving down Boothenba Road crosses the intersection of Old Mendooran Rd. This truck was not involved in any collisions. Picture: Ryan Young

His death followed that of a 28-year-old Queensland woman who collided with a prime mover at the same location in November 2020.

When members of the troubled former council met following the woman’s death they were presented with a report prepared by engineer Ridwan Quaium, which recommended the closure of a 540m section of Old Mendooran Rd, which runs between the Golden Highway and Boothenba Rd.

To improve road safety at the intersection, Mr Quaium also recommended the alignment of the intersection of Boothenba and Old Mendooran roads be redesigned.

The report said both recommendations would create an easier-to-navigate T-intersection and improve visibility for drivers.

A council graphic shows the red section of Old Mendooran Rd to be closed. Picture: Dubbo Regional Council

The council agreed to implement the recommendations in January 2021, but almost 12 months later the road remains opened and community members have taken to social media to voice concerns about what they claim is a slow response to the serious danger the intersection presents.

Dubbo man Adam Richards is the founder of a Change.org petition, designed to highlight the danger of the intersection and put pressure on different levels of governments to fix it.

“It’s a really bad intersection and I know a few people that live out there and they said there’s been so many near misses,” he said.

“There’s been plenty of other minor accidents without deaths out there.”

A memorial for one of the crash victims who lost their life at the intersection of Old Mendooran and Boothenba roads. Picture: Ryan Young

Mr Richards said he wrote to politicians and the council about a year ago, pleading for something to be done to stop more deaths at the intersection.

“When council eventually got back they said all this takes time and planning and blah blah blah, there was just excuse after excuse after excuse and now 12 months since the first death here we are again and someone else has been killed,” he said.

“I realise some people down there are against closing that bit of road and I don’t really understand why.”

After the former council agreed to close the road, a small group of Old Mendooran Rd residents lashed out because they claimed they were not consulted before the decision was made.

In February 2021, council staff and former councillors met with the Old Mendooran Rd residents who said they feared the safety problem would be shifted if the section of road was closed, because it would lead to more traffic using the intersection of Boothenba Rd and Golden Highway.

The council’s infrastructure director, Steven Colliver, declined to say when the road would be closed or when the alignment of the intersection would be redesigned.

“Council staff installed traffic counters in three locations around the intersection of Old Mendooran Rd (and) Boothenba Rd to gain a detailed understanding of the traffic volumes and vehicle types using the intersection,” he said when asked what work the council had undertaken in the process of closing the road.

“Council liaised with the Australia Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) with regard to the provision of a new private level crossing to assist a land holder gain access to their property over the Merrygoen Railway Line as a result of their existing access off the section of Old Mendooran Rd, between Boothenba Rd and the Golden Highway being closed. ARTC is now committed to the construction of this new private level crossing early next year.

“Council has also liaised with ARTC, Transport for NSW and the Local Traffic Committee on the closure and removal of the existing level crossing on the Old Mendooran Rd.”

A broken Boothenba Rd, near the crash black spot. Picture: Ryan Young

Mr Colliver said independent road safety auditor, WaySafe, had also been called in to investigate the Old Mendooran Rd and Boothenba Rd intersection, the Old Mendooran Rd and Golden Highway intersection, and the Boothenba Rd and Golden Highway intersection.

“This was done as part of the initial road closure process to fully inform council of the potential risks that exist at all intersections in the immediate area,” he told The Dubbo News.

“The closure of Old Mendooran Rd, between Boothenba Rd and the Golden Highway, will push additional traffic onto the Boothenba Rd and Golden Highway intersection. Council requires an understanding of traffic conditions at all locations to determine if such a road closure will in fact cause other undesirable safety issues to motorists elsewhere.”

Dubbo Council's infrastructure director Stephen Colliver. Picture: Dubbo Regional Council

Now council has traffic statistics and the road safety audit report, Mr Colliver says it will let residents who live around the black spot know about “the next steps associated with the road closure process” and intersection realignment.

“Council will invite residents of the area to provide feedback from early next year,” he said.

“Once council receives formal feedback from residents, a detailed design of a new intersection will be prepared, subject to funding arrangements, environmental studies and land acquisition.”

The council was not able to estimate how much realigning the intersection and closing the road would cost because a “final detailed design had not been determined”, Mr Colliver said.

Where the money will come from for the work to be carried out also remains unclear, although Mr Colliver said the council received a $6000 grant in September from Transport for NSW, which it chose to spend on other interim road safety measures.

“Council used this money to install advanced give way signs, extra-large size C give way signs and white lateral rumble strips,” he advised.

“The new signage was installed on the northern leg of the Old Mendooran Rd (and) Boothenba Rd intersection. Signage was installed on both sides of the carriageway for improved visibility.

“These upgrades … are a significant improvement as the arrangement provides both visual and audible quest for motorists approaching the intersection. The signage is in place currently and is a significant improvement over what was previously installed.”

The NSW government recently spent $39 million replacing roundabouts with traffic lights at intersections in Dubbo’s CBD, while the federal government chipped in $20 million after the project budgets blew out by millions.