Loreto Normanhurst School Redevelopment - Modification 1

I object the removal of the free left-hand turn from Osborn Road into Pennant Hills Road. Given that there are more than 150 home from Osborn, Currawong, Rivertop, Nepean, Wendy and Dunbar whose only exit point is via Osborn road, this will have a very significant negative impact.
This free left-hand turn after stopping assists the free flow of traffic and has been safely since at least the late 1980s. Please justify what safety concerns that need to be addressed by NOT allowing free left-hand turns?!
By stopping free left-hand turns it will only add to the long queue of traffic exiting Osborn during pick up and drop off and very significantly inconvenience all residents like me of this areas.
Please reconsider this decision, if you were a resident here and would you be happy to live with the traffic chaos during pick up and drop off?!

I support the project but I object to the removal of the free left turn from Osborn Rd to Pennant Hills Rd. This would significantly impact on residents of Osborn Rd, Currawong Av, Nepean Av. Traffic is already heavily congested and this would inhibit the flow of traffic out of Osborn Rd area, including connecting roads. This left turn on red is one of the traffic management systems that has alleviated congestion to date and should, as a minimum, not be removed. Council should look for alternative methods of safe carriage for pedestrians by creating a pedestrian crossing further down Osborn Rd. It would provide safety for students from Loreto and Normanhurst Public School who are currently crossing Osborn Rd at the lights and still allow the traffic to flow at the top of Osborn Rd.

I oppose the removal of the free left turn from Osborn road onto pennant hills road. This is because it makes no sense to remove it. Also I think entry into loreto should be opened on pennant hills road and they should stop using osborn road as much as they do, especially for buses.

I will not bother writing at length about the Loreto proposal as my constructive feedback was ignored in 2021.
However I ABSOLUTELY OBJECT to the left hand turn on red light being removed from the intersection of Osborn road and pennant hills road. Removing this would make the existing traffic issue even worse for both residential and school traffic. It is not unusual currently to take 10 minutes to move 200 metres up Osborn road, removing the turn would make this so much more worse and absolutely unbearable for residents in school times, let alone unsafe in an emergency.
The intersection has had no accidents I have witnessed in the years I have lived here. Since the Loreto proposal has gone ahead, I’ve personally had three near misses due to school traffic turning right out of the blind O3 exit onto Osborn Road and driving into my right of way going straight. THAT is a massive safety problem and should be addressed by making this gate an entry point only.

I support the project but I object to the removal of the left turn after stopping from Osborn Rd to Pennant Hills Rd. This would have a detrimental impact on traffic flow for all residents of Currawong Ave, Osborn Rd and surrounding streets and will have a direct impact on us as residents of Currawong Ave.

As a local resident I am objecting to the removal of the free left-hand turn from Osborn Road into Pennant Hills Road. The free left hand turn significantly assists traffic flow and makes the drop off and pick up times more manageable as well as generally assisting the traffic movement at this light. Every local resident has to use this traffic light on a regular basis and its honestly unthinkable not to have the ability to turn left freely when safe to do so. Removing this would make the traffic congestion very difficult and frustrating and therefore less safe.

I object to the proposed removal of the free left hand from Osborn Road into Pennant Hills Road. I would like to know the reason for this, as this arrangement has been operating successfully and safely for many years. Traffic is extremely heavy during drop off and pick up times and this will only exacerbate the situation, making it extremely difficult for residents and the school community to exit Osborn Road.

Our household has no objection to the overall project. Expansion of schools is inevitable.
What we do object to is the traffic management solutions being proposed. They are flawed and feel like they are designed 'from afar'.
By way of background I have lived in Osborn Road and Dunbar Close since 1986. My mother was the Boarding Mistress at Loreto in the 80's/90's and my sister attended the school. I have a strong understanding on the history of the relevant roads and the school.
It is a shame the old Department of Main Roads sold the two house block on the corner of Osborn and Pennant Hills Roads around 1990 because the left hand out of Osborn issue would be easily solved.
Our objections (and comments) to the Traffic management solutions are as follows:
* The removal of the "Left Turn Permitted After Stopping" sign at the corner of Osborn Road will make traffic worse not better. Safety cannot be cited as the reasoning because the ability to exit left from Osborn Road is not made more dangerous by more vehicles exiting. Few if any issues in the past decades have been caused by the existing signage. Removing the sign will without question make traffic worse in Osborn Road.
* Should the removal of the signage at Osborn Road go ahead, and again it will make traffic worse not better, consideration should be given to making the exiting right lane being a right turn only lane, with the left lane being a straight and left hand turn lane. This would mirror the lane flow exiting Normanhurst Road. Currently drivers turning right from Normanhurst Road get confused because vehicles wanting to go straight from Osborn Road need to move into the left lane to make the lights. To that end, right hand turn arrows should be considered for Osborn and Normanhurst Roads to assist traffic flow.
* Long term consideration should be given to the RMS/Council utilising the corner of Loreto's land at the corner of Osborn and Pennant Hills Roads to assist with inwards traffic and potentially allow space for a dedicated left hand turn lane exiting Osborn Road. The school will be causing additional traffic so should be made to utilise their land to solve the flow issues.
* More Loreto traffic could be made to exit via Mount Pleasant Avenue, with the logical solution being a set of traffic lights at that intersection. For the future it will really be a must. Loreto staff and parents, along with Mount Pleasant residents, are forced to enter Pennant Hills Road without traffic lights. This is certainly a traffic and safety issue and is really a logical solution for the growing school population being proposed and is more feasible in a low truck (North Connex) environment. Spreading the exiting traffic between Osborn and Mt Pleasant is a reasonable and logical proposal that will help the school and local residents.
* A true safety initiative for Loreto students and other local students is a Red Left Hand Turn Arrow for drivers turning from Pennant Hills Road into Osborn Road. Currently when the crossing is Green for pedestrians to cross there is no Red Arrow for the vehicles to obey. It is only a matter of time before a pedestrian is hit by a car that assumes the Green Light means they can turn left.

Thank you for your consideration and we hope logic trumps the flawed current suggestions.

I am objecting to the proposal by TfNSW to remove the free left hand turn from Osborn road into pennant hills road. This turn allows for some free flow of traffic and is vital to avoid even more significant congestion than there is currently during school drop off and pick up times stemming from loreto parents.

I have no belief the current congestion will ease when the development has been completed and in the meantime with this new proposed removal of the left hand turn, residents of Osborn, rivertop, nepean, Wendy and Dunbar will be significantly negatively impacted by this unnecessary change.

I would kindly suggest if TfNSW were concerned about safety they would have installed a red light camera years ago to stop the lorries barrelling through the red lights as I have witness numerous times over the 9yrs I have lived here.

To be clear, this proposal is unnecessary and any assessment that has been undertaken by TfNSW is flawed in its assumptions. I strongly object to this proposal. Sadly, it is another example of Loreto's quest for expansion negatively impacting the residents who live nearby.

We have lived in Osborn Rd for over 50 years and have no objection to Loreto expanding the school to include more students. From the latest plans we see that there is a proposal to eliminate the FREE left hand turn to exit the street. This will be a disaster for everyone who lives in Osborn and the surrounding streets. It is the only sensible traffic flow arrangement to assist us all. To make it even more usable and free flowing you should increase the area that is no stopping or parking back to past the second driveway. This would enable us to exit with greater efficiency. It is not just weekdays and pick up and drop off times that it is most effective but is most important for sensible traffic flow on most Saturdays when school sports are on the oval. This generally attracts large numbers of cars to the school and surrounding streets. The left hand turn MUST stay to enable us to at least have some flow from the street. It is very safe as vision up Pennant Hills road is very clear.

Removal of free left-hand turn (after stopping) from Osborn Road into Pennant Hills Road.
Page 10 of the latest TTW report in the new Modifications: https://majorprojects.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/prweb/PRRestService/mp/01/getContent?AttachRef=SSD-8996-MOD-1%2120231110T014523.841%20GMT

Previously when TTW responded to objections, the answer was that RMS had requested its removal due to “safety concerns”.
Original objections and responses from TTW::
https://majorprojects.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/prweb/PRRestService/mp/01/getContent?AttachRef=SSD-8996%2120210215T054627.018%20GMT (P33)

This free left turn has been in operation since we moved to Normanhurst in 1989 without any concerns on safety being raised.
It substantially assists the free flow of traffic ( a high percentage of which wish to turn left) and has done so safely since at least the late 1980s.
RMS need to spell out and justify what safety concerns that they now see from NOT allowing free LH turns which have not been a problem in the past and I don’t see how stopping them in future will in any way increase safety.
By stopping free LH turns it will add greatly to the queue of traffic exiting Osborn.
And very significantly inconvenience all residents of Osborn, Currawong, Nepean, Wendy, Rivertop and Dunbar travelling West to Thornleigh and beyond.

RMS citing "safety concerns" now, when this has never been an issue in the past, is not acceptable unless there is significant data to justify this which needs to be publicly shared with residents if it even exists.

If Loreto genuinely cared about the impact of their expansion, then they would advocate on behalf of the residents.