Coogee locals demand council ‘wake up’ and remove road obstacle causing chaos

Residents in a ritzy beach side suburb have been left frustrated over an usual road feature they say is ‘damaging cars’ and creating a ‘gridlock’ in an already busy area.

A set of concrete blocks on a busy beachside street has drawn the ire of locals in Sydney’s east who are demanding it be removed.

Coogee residents have taken to social media to share their frustration with the “ludicrous” concrete blocks on the corner of Arden St and Coogee Bay Rd, which they believe are responsible for “destroying” cars and causing “congestion” in the busy street.

Images shared online show two concrete blocks jutting out from the gutter on either side of a metal grate with a hole where a tree was once planted.

Unpopular feature on Coogee Bay road has sparked outrage among locals who are demanding it be removed. Picture: Supplied.

One local man took aim at Randwick Council, insisting the council “wake up” to the tree surrounds located at the end of a row of car parks.

“This is some of Coogee’s finest architecture,” he said in a post to Facebook.

“When is Randwick Council going to pull their finger out of their bum and do something about this?

“Daily we watch cars destroy themselves on this, and the traffic congestion from not having a left turning lane is third world! Wake up Randwick Council!”

Fired up locals agreed with the man and called for the tree surrounds to be removed “altogether”, with one woman commenting the concrete blocks are a “great waste of (her) rates”.

“The congestion that is caused is ludicrous, let alone the damage to cars, Coogee Bay Road becomes gridlocked,” another said.

A second post shared by the man pictured two council workers replanting a tree between the concrete blocks but a fed up local said it “still would have been better to extend the left turn lane” to help reduce congestion in the area.

Randwick Council workers have replanted a tree between an unpopular road obstacle despite calls for it to be removed altogether. Picture: Supplied

But Randwick Council said the concrete blocks serve a purpose and won’t be removed.

A council spokesman said there are a number of tree surrounds located along the street.

“These tree surrounds are designed to provide some protection for the street trees from parked cars,” they said.

“The tree at the location you refer to near the Arden St intersection was recently damaged and Council replaced the tree on 24 January.

“There are no plans to remove the tree surrounds or trees from Coogee Bay Road.”

Originally published as Coogee locals demand council ‘wake up’ and remove road obstacle causing chaos