Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council (CGRC) will implement one-way streets in Parker Lane Cootamundra and First Avenue Gundagai when planning stages are completed. Council resolved to approve the proposals put forward by the local traffic committee at the August meeting.
Parker Lane will become one way from Bourke Street to Wallendoon Street, and First Avenue’s one-way traffic flow will be from Kitchener Street to Homer Street as resolved at the Ordinary Meeting held 25th August 2020.
CGRC engineers are now formulating a plan which will include further consultation with other affected businesses and with Woolworths in Cootamundra, to direct traffic through their carpark. Plans for First Avenue will be prepared to ensure that this change is implemented in accordance with relevant Australian design standards and meets the needs of residents and road users. Further investigation of extending the one-way option for First Avenue to continue easterly to Virgil Street will be undertaken by the Local Area Traffic Committee at its November 2020 Meeting.
Both sites have been identified as having high traffic flow, being a narrow thoroughfare, and having increased pedestrian activity. Businesses in Cootamundra who have Parker Lane access have lobbied Council over several years, citing the difficulty for deliveries to their businesses. The implementation of the one-way traffic flow will see more efficient deliveries to businesses and increase safety for motorists and pedestrians navigating Parker Lane.
High pedestrian activity area (HPAA), which includes young children using First Avenue has seen the proposal prove popular with parents and staff at both the Gundagai Pre-School and St Patricks Primary School. Local Gundagai school bus operators have also welcomed the move, stating the changes to the traffic flow will ease congestion and improve safety for children in the area.
CGRC mayor Cr Abb McAlister said safety of children is the priority.
“Our priority is for a safer environment. Both these streets are very narrow and have a lot of traffic traversing through them along with high volumes of pedestrians, the one-way option is far safer for all,” Cr McAlister said.
Photo and caption – Its tight in Gundagai’s First Avenue, particularly when school buses are negotiating the narrow street.