Letter to the Editor: Council, learn from your mistakes

DEAR News Of The Area,

I WOULD like to think the Port Macquarie Hastings Council learns from their mistakes, but they certainly did not when they built the roundabout at “Woodless Estate”.

While the developer named it Woodlands Estate, since they destroyed virtually every tree on the property in order to create more profit, many of us call it Woodless Estate.

The roundabout at the Kew intersection was the first mistake I noticed and it was major enough for them to have learned something.

It took months for the contract road workers to complete it and when they were finished, the roundabout was too large and the vehicle corridor too small for ordinary cars, much less the numerous commercial trucks that come off and onto the highway.

Within a month drivers were once again sitting in line, getting frustrated and burning unnecessary fuel while the council corrected their errors.

I got my exercise for the day many times, dancing beside my car, rather than sitting there waiting.

There is nothing like the Bee Gees, “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing”, at a road construction site.

Sometimes the crossing guards danced with me, but I was usually on my own.

The end result was a much smaller roundabout with no kerb, much closer to the ground.

Trucks can now go over it and cars can easily get around it, both with no damage to tires or vehicles.

It doesn’t take long to see they haven’t learned from their mistakes when you look at or go around the new roundabout at Woodless Estate.

The much too large obstacle not only took longer and cost more during construction, but it now creates slower than necessary traffic movement which wastes time, burns unnecessary fuel, and creates more wear on brakes.

And it will do that  year after year unless they correct it which means more months of construction on our road and more dancing opportunities for me.

In order to correct it, they have to take the entire lower portion off.

That is about a metre of concrete with a kerb leading up to it.

What would remain is a much higher kerb which, unless they change that level also, will potentially create damage to tires on both cars and trucks.

The work could take another few months of inconvenience, sitting in line while engines idle.

In a normal 70 km zone, a car should be able to complete a roundabout at 30 to 35 km per hour.

At Woodless if I go faster than 25, I am uncomfortable.

I have followed many commercial trucks through the roundabout and they typically go no faster than 20 km, often slower.

This means we use more brakes and then accelerate more after the roundabout.

So what shall it be, Council?

A month or two of inconvenience or years of waste?

Correct your mistakes. And learn from them this time.

Regards,
Maggie ADKINS,
Upsalls Creek.