The Editor
Does anyone know what will occur when the new Batemans Bay Bridge is opened?
Will pedestrians and cyclists be able to use the existing bridge until it’s demolished and will it be left in the raised position so the tourist ferry can cruise up and down the river unimpeded ?
The new traffic light arrangements at the Princes Kings Highway intersection did nothing to improve traffic flows.
The political influences with the bridge building haven’t helped a bit ! Once the bridge is open we will continue to have exactly the same queues all the way back to Nelligen because there has been nothing done about the traffic lights on Vesper Street at North Street and Beach Road that will cause the incoming traffic to the town to continually back up. The same thing will happen when they all want to go home. Two lanes from Cranbrook Road to the Princes Highway Kings Highway Roundabout and then into a single lane bottle neck. Council has been saying for some years that the Link Rd just South of Batemans Bay, when it’s connected to the Princes Highway, will reduce the traffic volumes on Beach Rd from the Princes Highway through to Batehaven or Glenella Rd. Transport for NSW is responsible for the final stage of the work. The current proposal involves constructing a new roundabout on the Princes Highway and an extension of Glenella Road. Council has confirmed that Transport for NSW are indicating works will commence in late 2021. Nothing will happen on the Spine Road Bypass until at least the 2021-2022 State budget allocates funds so don't expect traffic to get any better on Beach Road and Vesper Street for some time. I have requested from Council an up to date traffic management plan of the Batemans Bay CBD area. It appears they do not have one. It also appears that they have not modelled the impact the new bridge will have on the Batemans Bay CBD area once the old off-ramp into Clyde Street is removed and the town CBD is effectively bypassed. It appears that they have no strategy for a traffic management plan to provide for public transport users, locally and for long haul and are simply putting in place knee jerk arrangements to remove traffic islands and put in a turning circle for buses at Clyde Street West? The latest directive is for all vehicles greater than 8.8m in length to exit the CBD area along the pedestrian friendly section of Orient Street. What say them to all of this? Nothing.
Allan Brown
Catalina
