Parramatta councillor calls for CBD bollards after horror bus crash
A councillor says there is “definitely a need” for bollards to better protect the public in the heart of rapidly growing Parramatta.
There is a call for major safety improvements to be made in Sydney’s second CBD following a horror crash at a busy interchange on Sunday night.
Parramatta councillor Pierre Esber said there was “definitely a need” for bollards to better protect thousands of commuters in the city each day, as he lamented it had to take a major incident to highlight the safety concerns.
“This is typical; we only act when something’s happened,” the Labor councillor said. “But there is definitely a need to get some bollards in place at these sort of locations, which are open and quite dangerous for many pedestrians.
“All arterial roads, where there are heavy vehicles, need bollards at the corners to better safeguard our residents and visitors. We really need to better protect the public in this day and age.”
His comments come after a 16-year-old girl was critically injured when she became trapped under a bus in a horrific crash on Sunday night.
Just before 10pm, a bus was travelling east on Argyle St when it mounted the footpath at the intersection of Church St and struck three pedestrians and a bus shelter.
It took emergency services an hour to free the teen, who was taken to Westmead Hospital with pelvic injuries after being trapped under a front wheel. She was in a serious but stable condition on Monday night. The two other women received minor injuries.
An Ambulance NSW spokesman told reporters it was an “extremely difficult rescue operation” as the bus was wedged under an awning, making it difficult to jack the vehicle up.
The bus was carrying passengers but none were injured. The 62-year-old bus driver was taken to hospital in shock and has undergone mandatory drug and alcohol testing. The Metropolitan Crash Investigation Unit is investigating the incident.
Parramatta police Inspector Darren Deamer declined to comment on whether the local command held any broader safety concerns for Parramatta CBD.
Cr Esber said he would be raising his concerns with the council’s traffic manager as a “matter of urgency”.
“This incident happened on a State Government road, but I think council should be doing its bit to improve safety,” he said.
Parramatta Lord Mayor Andrew Wilson said he was calling for a “holistic look” at the city’s transport hub two decades ago.
“Back then the government was going to put the bus/rail interchange where the Sydney Water building is now (at 1 Smith St),” the Our Local Community councillor said.
“The never did it like that, and they’ve done a lot of little Band-aid things since. But we really do need to have a holistic look at that area where the accident occurred.”
Parramatta State Liberal MP Geoff Lee said the bollards idea was a “good one”, but he did not want to elaborate on it due to an ongoing probe into the accident.
“I think we need to do everything possible to ensure the safety of our pedestrians in Parramatta,” Mr Lee said.
“The question of bollards is a good one but it would be inappropriate for me to comment because the incident is currently being investigated by police and it has been referred to the Office for Transport Safety Investigations.
“Transport for NSW will support any investigations and recommendations that may arise.”
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