Stop sign to be inspected

A stop sign at the bottom of the Lone Pine Ave hill will be inspected by councillors, politicians, police and the Roads and Traffic Authority.

Gosford councillors voted on Tuesday, July 6, to inspect the site after receiving a petition with 214 signatures opposing the sign.

A report by the Council's traffic committee found "the stop signs in Lone Pine Ave are operating effectively and should remain".

A resident of Lone Pine Ave, Ms Elizabeth Wright, told Tuesday's council meeting that she had collected the signatures in under a week from residents of the 190 homes on Lone Pine Hill who opposed to the stop sign.

She said she could have collected more.

"I've heard of no accidents in that intersection in 20 years," she said.

Chair of Council's Traffic Committee, Cr Chris Holstein, urged councillors to visit the intersection to see that the decision was made for safety reasons.

"Review it, go and have a look at it and see it for yourself," he said.

The petitioners wanted Council to put up a stop sign in Carpenter St or to close to Carpenter St at Lone Pine Ave.

The petitioners also wanted 25km/h advisory speed signs put back up in Lone Pine Ave and Kingsview Dr approaching Carpenter St, stop signs put up in Lone Pine Ave at the intersection with Glenn St and the removal the stop signs from Carpenter St.

However, the traffic committee found that doing so would not give the same traffic calming benefits for Lone Pine as the stop signs.

Their report stated that stop ahead warning signs have been installed on both approaches to the stop signs and arrangements had been made for the installation of stop ahead painted logos on both approaches to the intersection.

The petitioners claim that the stop signs cause increased wear and tear on vehicles which in turn creates additional engine noise and pollution.

The petitioners also told Council that the additional wear on brakes can cause failures and there is no run off area should a failure occur.

The committee also received a letter from a resident of Lone Pine Ave who reported that the stop signs had been beneficial in slowing traffic speeds and are in fact working better than the traffic calming device that was removed.

Alison Branley TR.04.105 Council Agenda, July 6