Lack of understanding of roundabout problem

Regarding the proposed roundabout for Picnic Parade Ettalong; when reading a previously published letter regarding the proposed roundabout, I was surprised that there was no understanding of the real problem.

The difficulty lies with access when turning right out of Picnic Pde into the straight through route along Maitland Bay Dr toward the Rip Bridge.

In the reverse direction towards Woy Woy, there are usually no problems.

Frustration and serious risks are experienced when exiting Picnic Pde to turn right - always with queuing and backups depending on the day or time of day.

To a lesser extent drivers turning right from Woy Woy into Picnic Pde need to exert caution in the filter lane.

A project design proposal was circulated to nearby residents in October outlining the project.

The design provides for substantial work in addition to the roundabout construction including extra and improved parking and pedestrian walkways.

Drainage does not appear to be a factor.

To my mind, none of these add-ons are justified, which will be underutilised and add considerable project costs.

The project hand-out sheets made no mention of an estimated cost of $7 million which would include all the embellishments over and above the cost of constructing a simple T-junction roundabout.

While recognising the need for the roundabout in the interests of safety and time saving, I would seriously challenge the cost estimate in the circumstances.

Whatever the project brief, council designers have never been known to sharpen their pencils on such projects.

The $20M cost for the Empire Bay Dr-Cullens Rd scheme comes to mind.

Email, 14 Dec 2019

John Laing, Ettalong