Mod 3 - Administrative Change

The hook road was put in for two reasons, only one of which is addressed in the Modification Reprt March 2012.

The omitted reason was that the hook road was to act as an escape route for south-bound (and/or west-bound) over-height vehicles that ignored or did'nt see the warning sign about the the low height bridge where the Bypass crosses Old illawarra Road. It was to allow them to continue on their way without having to perform a reversal along, or a multi-pint turn on old illawarra Road and get back to Menai Road.

An over-height dcurtain arm on old illawarra Road has been dismantled quite recently.

new Illawarra Road traffic, although permitted to travel at 80KPH must slow down in order to navigate the left-hand turn onto the East-West link of the Bypass. When safety is used as an issue to close the hook road, surel it would be better to have a slower speed limit for 200-300 metres or so before vehicles get to the left turn. this would allow the hook road to be kept open.

If weavin by large trucks is the concern, reposition the hook road further north to give the trucks more weving time.

during the original construction of the hook road a gap was left in the noise wall> This caused nearby residents to constantly argue with the RTA about the lack of noise protection. Will the gap be filled in iuf the hook road is closed?

As a long time resident (23 yrs) of the northern side of Barden Ridge, I object to this proposal to close the hook turn. As stated in your findings, our travel distance and time onto the bypass travelling east has increased dramatically; so much so that I am considering moving my family. We have been waiting for the turn to open (it has been closed since the project started) not close completely? Traffic in mornings on school days through Bangor is horrendous. My previous 10 minute trip to Kirrawee is now taking approx 25 minutes on a good day.

Dear David,

It's unfortunate that we woke up one morning to find access to the Bangor bypass via Marsden Road was closed and the hook turn from Old Illawarra as well. Like most good ideas this one is going by the way of the dust heap. I personally see no issue reducing the speed limit for that section of the road to 70kmh as the approach is towards traffic lights. The decision to close the hook road was made the day it was sealed to traffic. No amount of justification via community consultation will make it right. One has to live in this area to understand the impact and the frustration this causes.

Dear David,

It's unfortunate that we woke up one morning to find access to the Bangor bypass via Marsden Road was closed and the hook turn from Old Illawarra as well. Like most good ideas this one is going by the way of the dust heap. I personally see no issue reducing the speed limit for that section of the road to 70kmh as the approach is towards traffic lights. The decision to close the hook road was made the day it was sealed to traffic. No amount of justification via community consultation will make it right. One has to live in this area to understand the impact and the frustration this causes.

Seems like a case of catching up on paperwork? On the 17/3/2011 I wrote to Mr Smit raising issue with this hook turn as it had been paved/concreted at that time. His response was obviously what's contained in the modification report. I'm concerned it takes 13 months after making the modification to make an application to request the modification that has already been made?

Reading the report & the 5 proposals in dealing with the situation, clearly the easy option was taken resulting in a longer journey for local residents. Disappointing as you'd expect the frequent users to be the local residents. In fairness there would or should be little support for opening the Carter road bridge as whilst it would benefit local residents we don't want to turn Carter & Australia rds into a major thoroughfare. There should be more consideration given to the other three proposals. I disagree with the Pro of the permanent closure of the hook turn, it states "...Community in general has accepted closure of the hook turn...", it was never opened, had it been I'm sure local residents would be more vocal in the effect of closing it. I support Proposals 1 & 4, reducing the speed limit, which again I disagree with the Con as there are multiple speed zones along Alfords Pt Rd/New Illawarra Rd already or the extension of the start of the left turn lane in New Illawarra Rd north of preceding crest. If either were implemented & teh hook turn opened it would benefit local residents & other road users.

Thank you for the opportunity to express my opinion.

Where is the exhibition been show please. Thanks

I object to the removal of the hook turn from Old Illawarra road to the Bangor Bypass.

I would like to object to having the hook road taken away. This hook road makes it easier for my family to access the Bangor Bypass east.

I would also like to object to the opening of Carter Road. This will increase traffic, traffic noise and pollution to my premises. There are already issues with traffic speed on Australia Road.

I object to the removal of the connection (hook turn) from Old Illawarra Road to the Bangor Bypass east-west link via New Illawarra Road as this makes it easier for me to get to Sutherland and faster. I think the hook road should be open to enable access to the bypass.

Opening up the Hook Turn on Illawarra road to allow resident access to the East would improve congestion and reduce unnecessary traffic flow through the local area. This would also provide an alternate Eastern exit in emergency situations and allow faster access to Sutherland Hospital in case of a medical emergency.

I am disappointed that the people in charge of the planning and management of this project have shown so little concern to the issue of access for the local residents and their friends to their homes, child care centres, schools, parks and shops. Resident access should have been given greater importance before the project began and access provided directly onto the Bypass from New Illawarra Road.

I admit that I should have paid more attention to the newspaper articles and pamphlets' etc, but to me they were confusing and changing and I unfortunately believed that the people in charge would do the best for the local residents.

I do not understand why Hook Turns, turn left with care, etc were not used anywhere on the new road to provide access into and out of the area. How could the managers of the project have believed that channelling thousands of residents through one intersection (or round about that hasn't been built) would not cause problems.

Consequently modifications were made, leaving Illawarra road open and building the bridge/tunnel and leaving the access heading West from the bypass open, still do not resolve all the access problems.

I find it hard to understand how a Hook Turn can be considered necessary, designed and installed and then closed because the engineers never had the foresight to factor into their designs that speed limits could ever change.

On behalf of my family and friends who have complained to me, I request that the Hook Turn constructed at Illawarra road be reopened (modified) to provide eastern access to the local residents.

If the hook road is to be permanently closed an alternative option needs to be found. Currently Barden Ridge residents, particuarly those living between Barden Rd and David Rd, have no access to the Bangor Bypass travelling to Sutherland except to go all the way down to the Old Illawarra/New Illawarra intersection and then come all the way back again. Apart from the time that has been added to the journey, and having to go through 4 sets of lights just to get onto the Bypass, the extra traffic is added to an already busy intersection that could be filtered in by some other option. Also if there is the need for evacuation from the area we only have the 1 exit via the same intersection.
This needs to be fixed or else reopen the hook rd.

Dear Sir/Madam

The proposal to remove the hook turn from Old Illawarra Road to the Bangor Bypass is not acceptable. For residents in the NE of Barden Ridge, the travel times to Sutherland are considerably longer than before the north south link was contructed, there is an increase in local road traffic to go via alternative paths,

Support for the project from NE Barden Ridge residents originally was on the basis of this access being provided, now should this access be removed, such support would not have been forthcoming.

I would like see what part of the impact assessment report demostrates clearly that changing the speed on New Illwarra Rd from 70 to 80kmh, renders this hook turn dangerous. Revised line markings on New Illawarra Rd to prescribe access to the left hand turn lane after the hook turn merge would solve the problem.

It is no different to the on/off from Barden Rd to E-W link at 80kmh which has been deemed safe!

The fact that Barden Rd has neeen blocked to through traffic for over a year exacerbates these access issues for NE residents and I would like to know when this is due to be unblocked.

I ask that you overturn the proposal to remove the hook turn.

Kind Regards
Glenn Osborne

Hook turn is,even though not used, is a good access/egress point in the event of a chemical spill/vehicular accident/bushfire threat. Hook turn would allow a quick access point for emergency vehicles to reach site via Old Illawarra Rd during peak traffic times (which would hinder access via North/South Bangor Bypass)

The proposed hook turn was included in the project at the request of the community to provide suitable access to the east west link from all areas of the surrounding residential catchment. Council does not accept that it should be removed for the simple reason that the original design did not take into account the possibility of an 80km/hr speed limit on the north south link. Furthermore, it would seem apparent that the existing left slip lane is also inadequate for an 80km/hr speed zone. Whilst it is acknowledged that addition costs are involved, Council believes that the left slip lane should be extended to provide appropriate deceleration length and to facility the provision of the hook turn arrangement

I live in the northern section of Barden Ridge and almost all of my trips when leaving home are in a easterly direction along the Bangor Bypass (east-west link). By not opening the subject hook turn I and other residents who live in the northern section of Barden Ridge are forced to make a 2 kilometre (approx.) detour south via the traffic lights at Old Illawarra and New Illawarra Roads to gain access the Bangor Bypass (east-west) link.
The RTA advised (see attached file) that the subject hook turn will be closed because safety audits have indicated that the hook turn cannot operate safely now that the posted speed has been increased from 70km/h to 80km/h. It was also advised that there were concerns about "traffic lane weaving" with vehicles wishing to travel south.
To overcome these safety issues I suggested to the RTA (see attached file) that the traffic island at the traffic lights could be extended north past the hook turn location so that vehicles using the hook turn can only turn left onto the bypass east-west link, and by sign posting the speed limit of that turning lane at 70km/h it will meet the previously assessed safe speed limit.
I have not received a response from the RTA in regard to the above suggestion.
Please accept the above as my submission to Application No. 74-12-2008 (Mod 3).

See Attachment

see attachment