Old Bangalow Road was once a quiet, leafy backwater – the kind of place where the arrival of a car was greeted with mild surprise.
These days the road is, to use a local phrase, ‘like flamin’ Pitt Street’.
Significant increases in traffic have seen the narrow, winding, pock-marked thoroughfare become a rat run for motorists travelling between Bangalow, Coopers Shoot, and Byron.
With late model Range Rovers and Teslas rocketing around the corners, the pedestrians, cyclists, horse-riders, and echidnas who once used the road for recreation are now doing so at their own peril.
‘We’ve all just been horrified by the danger to life and limb of human residents, but there’s now also been increasing carnage to wild life that’s happening on a regular basis,’ long-time resident, John Hertzberg, told a recent Council meeting.
‘We’re now seeing possums, carpet snakes, wallabies, echidnas… . And they’re all being victims on that road because people are increasingly using it as a dodge… trying to cut the line of traffic during the morning peak.’
Action needed
Some action is afoot to at least slow and possibly divert the stream of Beamers.
Byron Council’s Transport Forum (previously the traffic advisory committee) has voted to install ‘Local Traffic Only’ signs.
But Mr Hertzberg and dozens of others who live on the road say this is not enough.
‘If people had obeyed the signs that are there now we wouldn’t have all the carnage,’ he said.
‘There actually needs to be something constructed. There needs to be physical barriers in place to stop the traffic.’
They are also calling for a significant reduction in the speed limit on the road.
It is not deemed to be appropriate for speed bumps, but there is talk of making the road one way and cutting it off at one end.
‘What I’d like to ask is if you could facilitate for us… a meeting with the residents of the traffic committee and any other councillors who are interested on site,’ Mr Hertzberg told the Council.
Empathetic ears
His call appeared to reach the empathetic ears of Greens Councillors Michelle Lowe and Delta Kay.
They successfully moved a motion at the meeting which will see Council staff hold an on-site meeting with community representatives to discuss their concerns.
A safety audit will also be conducted to identify any ‘additional possible solutions to community concerns,’ with the results to be reported to Council’s February meeting.
It seems unlikely that Old Bangalow Road will ever be returned to its former quietude.
But perhaps one day John Hertzberg will be able to get back on his bicycle and ride down his street safely.
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