Hills Shire Mayor Michelle Byrne hits out at lack of upgrades for busy Baulkham Hills junction
CONSTANT gridlock in Baulkham Hills town centre has sparked calls for urgent infrastructure upgrades as our population is set to skyrocket. Mayor Michelle Byrne has hit out at the lack of upgrades.
Hills Shire
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CONSTANT gridlock in Baulkham Hills town centre has sparked calls for urgent infrastructure upgrades as our population is set to skyrocket.
Hills Mayor Michelle Byrne has hit out at a lack of plans to upgrade major arterial roads, including Old Northern, Seven Hills and Windsor roads in the heart of Baulkham Hills CBD.
“Baulkham Hills town centre is at a complete standstill, with local and regional traffic using the Baulkham Hills junction to access the M2 and Parramatta,” Cr Byrne told the Hills Shire Times.
“Our Census data revealed more than 9350 employed residents travel to Parramatta — the second-highest destination for our travelling workforce — each day for work.”
NSW Planning requirements will result in an extra 1500 to 2000 dwellings built within Baulkham Hills town centre over the next 30 years as well as additional growth in Box Hill, Kellyville and Castle Hill.
The calls for upgrades come as Baulkham Hills state Liberal MP David Elliott announced his opposition against a proposal to raze the landmark Bull ’n’ Bush hotel site to build 200 apartments.
READ MORE:
Hills Shire Council stripped of planning authority over Bull’n’Bush
Mayor questions infrastructure around Bull and Bush site plans
Cr Byrne said the State Government’s demands for increased housing would only result in traffic becoming even worse, “unless solutions are found now to manage the traffic along Windsor Rd and through to Baulkham Hills”.
“Residents are frustrated that they can’t move through the town centre without being delayed by gridlock and some days the traffic can be so bad that it literally moves at a snail’s pace,” she said.
Cr Byrne called for a grade separation, similar to the one at Norwest Blvd and Old Windsor Rd, to be constructed at the intersection of Windsor and Seven Hills roads to improve traffic performance.
“This would free up a lot of the traffic and allow those travelling into and out of our shire to move through this major thoroughfare with ease,” she said.
“This concept has been on our agenda for more than a decade and we cannot get any traction with the Roads and Maritime Services and we would ask the RMS to reconsider this idea.”
An RMS spokeswoman said there were no plans to upgrade the intersection.
“As part of the Baulkham Hills town centre redevelopment, The Hills Shire Council carried out a number of feasibility studies and traffic modelling at this intersection to determine the need for future intersection improvements to support council’s redevelopment proposals,” she said.