The Sunday
Telegraph can reveal Waverley Council is opposing a plan to fix traffic
congestion on Bondi Rd
because it acts as a filter in dissuading people from driving to Bondi.
While the
Cross City Tunnel has opened the way for more people from Sydney’s west to
drive to Bondi, the 1.5km stretch of Bondi Rd remains in gridlock most hours of
the day.
Attempts by
the RTA to introduce a clearway on Bondi
Rd on weekends or install a bus lane have been
repeatedly rejected by the council.
Waverley
Mayor George Newhouse said the congestion on Bondi Rd helps alleviate parking problems
at the beach by discouraging people from taking the car.
“If it
(Bondi Rd)
is busy, people elect to visit other places,” he said.
“Bondi Rd does, in
its own way, stop Bondi being overwhelmed.
“When
people are considering which beach to visit they will take the traffic factor
into account and that means that Bondi
Rd does in some ways assist with the parking
problems. It acts as a limiter.”
Coogee State MP Paul Pearce said 40 per cent of
motorists on Bondi Rd,
which is the boundary between Coogee and Vaucluse electorates, are from the
inner west and the inner city.
He said
turning the congested road into a clearway on weekends would encourage more
people to drive to Bondi
Beach.
“All
it would do in expanding the road capacity is increase the attraction of
driving into Bondi and (people) have nowhere to go when they get there,” he
said.
“All
you end up doing is to facilitate more vehicles coming into the Bondi basin
where there is already a shortage of parking.”
He said
installation of a clearway did not make sense.
“You
will then encourage people to bring vehicles from other areas into Bondi. So
the whole thing makes zero sense in terms of planning,” he said.
Mr Newhouse
pointed the finger at residents of new developments at Green Square, Redfern and Zetland.
He said
although they were in Sydney City Council’s area they were using Waverley’s libraries,
roads, beaches and parks and putting extra demands on services.
“We
have statistics that show that residents of Redfern, Green Square and Zetland are travelling
to Bondi Beach to swim.
“These
are thousands of additional cars on our roads that were not there before,” he
said.
“The
young people at Green Square
are travelling to Bondi and there is increasing use of roads, libraries, public
transport. We have to service those residents without the commensurate
contribution that the City of Sydney
is getting.”
Vaucluse MP
Peter Debnam said Bondi Rd
was a traffic nightmare and needed to be improved.
“You
get hard-core greenies and Labor who might want to lock people out of Bondi.
That’s just more of the wacky ideas that increase road rage,” he said.
http://www.news.com.au/sundaytelegraph/story/0,,21596749-5001021,00.html