Emergency meeting called after 48-hours of chaos caused by changes to Frenchs Forest road network
AN EMERGENCY meeting will be held at Parliament House today to find a solution to traffic chaos caused by changes to the road network in Frenchs Forest.
Manly
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AN EMERGENCY meeting will be held at Parliament House on Wednesday to find a solution to traffic chaos caused by changes to the road network in Frenchs Forest.
Less than 48 hours after Roads and Maritime Services put one-way restrictions on Frenchs Forest and Naree roads, state MP for Wakehurst Brad Hazzard demanded better from the organisation.
Mr Hazzard said he and Northern Beaches Mayor Michael Regan would “try to work out how we can get all the public servants on the same page and get good outcomes for locals”.
It comes as the council, RMS and Mr Hazzard were inundated with calls and emails about lengthy delays.
“The council tell me they haven't been consulted and that’s more than infuriating and it’s time the RMS sorted the problem,” Mr Hazzard said.
On Tuesday, Narrabeen ward councillor Rory Amon took aim at the RMS.
“The decision of the RMS to make Frenchs Forest Rd open to westbound-only traffic is a disaster,” he said
‘This ill-thought out plan has been dreamed up by inner-city dwelling traffic engineer overlords with no appreciation of our local roads or traffic flows.
“How a billion-dollar project can fall so short on this simple metric is beyond belief and in breach of any lesson in politics and community representation 101.”
Cr Amon said he had been inundated with calls by residents complaining about increased travel times.
He called on the RMS to install temporary traffic lights on the corner of Oxford Falls Rd and Iris St. He said a right-turn arrow should be installed on the corner of Adams St and Forest Way (westbound) and the lane widened so cars could turn right and go straight at the same time.
Cr Regan said the council had been in regular contact with Mr Hazzard and would continue to make representations. “We share the residents’ concerns,” he said.
“Staff and our councillors are directly affected by it. We are living it like they are.”
A spokeswoman for the RMS said it was monitoring traffic impacts caused by changed conditions.
“Roads and Maritime carried out extensive consultation before the change including newspaper and radio adverts, residential door knocking, bus stop posters, letters, email notifications, social media and stakeholder briefings,” she said.
“More than 1700 emails were sent, more than 400 residents and businesses doorknocked, around 30 phone calls made as well as 50,000 postcards and 1500 notification letters distributed through the local area.
“Other stakeholders including local businesses and schools were also advised.”
She said the Transport Management Centre was monitoring and adjusting network traffic lights to help ease congestion in the area and would continue to do so.
Mr Hazzard, who is also Health Minister, said the delays caused by roadworks for the under-construction Northern Beaches Hospital were unacceptable.
“After experiencing it on two drives (on Monday and Tuesday mornings), I was well equipped to let the RMS know how absolutely appalling the traffic was,” he said.
“I have made it clear that I think the RMS needs to fix it, and fast.”
Kelvin Morton, 51, contacted the Manly Daily in frustration after what he said was usually a seven-minute trip to St Augustine’s school from his Frenchs Forest Rd West home took more than 40 minutes yesterday.
“It was like hell on Earth,” he said. “Just to get out of Frenchs Forest Rd West took me 30 minutes – it’s (normally) a two-minute drive. It took me 40 minutes.
“My eldest son was 30 minutes late to his school.”
Frustrated residents vented their fury on social media, with a community page telling the stories of people who had more than an hour added to their commutes.
Kirsten De Forest sent a letter to the RMS, blasting the roadworks, particularly as workers were directing cars up Rabbett St to Forest Way before 10am when it was supposed to be restricted to bus access only.
She said it meant her children were late to school at St Luke’s in Dee Why.
“The buses cannot get through as your workers are directing cars through that street illegally, backing up the traffic,” she wrote.
“Because of your incompetence, my children, along with dozens of others have been waiting at that bus stop since 7.40am waiting for their 7.45am bus.`
“The bus finally got through at 8.30am (when the school bell rings to start the day) and the kids are now sitting on the bus trying to get through this traffic that you have created.”