Pressure from concerned residents has paid off, with traffic calming measures to be investigated to address their concerns with Trevallyn and Gorge roads.
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The City of Launceston council will investigate traffic calming measures on the two roads and will develop implementation strategies to make them happen.
Councillor Andrea Dawkins put forward the motion after residents aired their concerns and frustrations with the number of crashes, near misses and unsafe conditions for cyclists and walkers with her.
She said the last time traffic calming measures were introduced in the city, it gave residents some hope that the issue would be addressed in a year or two but there was still a long way to go with those.
"My community in Trevallyn could not wait anymore to find out what those traffic calming measures might be, and if they can be extrapolated widely into our communities," Cr Dawkins said.
"I've seen dashcam footage and it chilled me, the mere millimetres cars are being missed. We talked to people this week, 10, 15, 20 accidents they've attended outside their homes.
"We don't want people sitting in their home, wondering if someone's going to crash through a barricade into their lounge room. That's how some people feel in that area."
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Residents had called for a speed reduction of 40km/h, speed humps and visual cues to ensure motorists slowed down to improve road safety.
Cr Dawkins said the motion would explore all options to calm traffic on the two roads, including new innovative ways.
"Forty [km/h] is the new 50 [km/h]," she said.
Cr Alan Harris said due to the suburb's layout, there were issues but traffic calming measures should be implemented in the short term.
"The trouble we have with Trevallyn is that there's no real logical alternative access, and that is something that we perhaps need to consider," he said.
"I think its really time, for not only a short term review, but a long term review of how Trevallyn is connected to the rest of the city."
Three residents at the meeting asked the council to address the issues and shared personal anecdotes of their own troubles with the roads. Before the motion was passed unanimously.
The vision is for the traffic calming measures to be investigated for the two roads and looked at for other areas with similar traffic issues.
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Isobel Cootes
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
