The developers behind the massive West Byron housing project are back for round two in their bid to install a pedestrian crossing on Ewingsdale Road, just weeks after councillors rejected a traffic-light version of the proposal.
But this time there’s a twist.
Rather than installing traffic lights immediately, developer Site R & D Pty Ltd is proposing a two-stage approach: a zebra crossing and central pedestrian refuge would go in first, with the traffic lights returning later as the development fills with residents.
The proposal would again place a pedestrian crossing near Banksia Drive on Byron’s busiest and most congested road, where even relatively small changes have the potential to drammatically affect traffic flows.
The original proposal came before Byron councillors earlier this year after Transport for NSW told the developer that Council needed to endorse the traffic signals before the state agency would progress its approval process.
Council staff supported the crossing, saying it was the most suitable option for satisfying a condition imposed when the West Byron subdivision was approved by the Land and Environment Court.
Councillors were considerably less enthusiastic.
They voted not to approve the lights, with the proposed location described during the debate as a crossing ‘from nowhere to nowhere’. The Echo reported at the time that councillors overwhelmingly rejected the proposal and instead called for a long-overdue masterplan for the increasingly congested Ewingsdale Road corridor.
Council also backed investigating median crossings near the proposed roundabout and noted that ‘very few residents are currently living in the WBURA’, arguing that broader masterplanning should inform pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure before commitments were made to Transport for NSW.
The developer has now responded with a formal modification application.
Under the revised plan, Stage One would see a marked zebra crossing and refuge built near Banksia Drive.
The applicant’s planning statement describes this as an ‘acceptable interim solution’ while West Byron remains relatively lightly populated, saying it would provide safe pedestrian and cyclist access before later stages of the development are occupied.
At Stage Two, that crossing would be removed and replaced in roughly the same location with the previously proposed signalised crossing.
The developer says the staged approach responds to Council’s concerns, with the eventual lights timed to coincide with a larger West Byron population.
It says it ‘may be between another 3 to 4 years before Stage 1 is developed and occupied by future residents’.
Traffic consultants engaged by the developer say the zebra crossing would produce less vehicle delay and queuing than immediately installing lights, while the eventual signalised option would provide the best pedestrian and cyclist safety outcome, with peak-period queues remaining at an ‘acceptable level of service’.
Alternatives above or below the road have effectively been ruled out.
A consultant’s report says an underpass would sit below the water table, encounter acid sulphate soils and require constant pumping.
It says construction difficulties would be significant, costs ‘prohibitive’ and traffic disruption during the works ‘massive’.
An overpass fared little better, with the report saying it would stand around 10 metres high, require ramps roughly 100 metres long and be ‘unsightly’ on the flat landscape.
TfNSW has not approved the eventual traffic lights, saying Council endorsement is required before its formal approval process can begin.
The modification is now before Byron Council for assessment.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
