Councillor Kenny McGrath has been pushing for a roundabout to be constructed at the East Street and Clarinda Street intersection for 20 years.
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He said the intersection is getting so congested these days, he believes now more than ever a roundabout is needed at the location.
And a large number of Parkes residents agree, so too does Cr McGrath’s fellow councillors.
Parkes women Tina Morrison and Shirley Murray are just some of the motorists who regularly get stuck at the intersection for long periods of time and both would love to see a roundabout.
“I hate this intersection of an afternoon,” Tina said.
“It’s mayhem.”
Cr McGrath took his latest request to Parkes Shire Council’s August 15 ordinary meeting.
“I would like council to undertake investigations to construct a roundabout at the intersection of East Street and Clarinda Street,” he told the meeting.
“This is due to the volume of traffic at that intersection which makes it difficult to get across safely and in reasonable time.
“People are saying they want a roundabout, I’ve been saying this for years.”
Cr McGrath said the debate and reports have been going back and forth with the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS).
“We should just make it, tell the RMS this is what we want instead of asking them,” he said.
“It’s just not right.”
Cr Billy Jayet agreed with Cr McGrath, saying more people were choosing to use East Street to cross the rail line because of the traffic congestion at the Newell Highway intersection.
“The worst times [for the East and Clarinda streets intersection] are mornings, lunchtime and afternoons,” he said.
He also said trucks were “flying” through the intersection, a hazard a roundabout would fix.
Cr Barbara Newton said the RMS survey was an old one and suggested it was time for an update.
“The last time the survey was done was before the hospital moved to its new location,” she said.
“Perhaps now the number of cars going through there has changed.”
The decision was left to the council but general manger Kent Boyd commented in the report tendered to the meeting that council had never previously invested its own revenue in a state road.
“[The RMS] just don’t see it as high priority,” Cr Ken Keith said.
“There’s a whole range of issues that have to be taken into consideration.”
Councillors unanimously agreed to investigate the construction of a roundabout at the intersection, including re-looking at traffic figures and updated costs.
