State Member for Wallsend, Ms Sonia Hornery MP, will today move a Notice of Motion in the NSW Parliament calling on the Minister for Roads to work to ease congestion in the Wallsend area.
With population growth in the Hunter Valley and the western suburbs of Newcastle, more and more traffic is being forced onto the M1 and Hunter Expressway and this is having a major impact on the arterial roads leading into Newcastle.
The Link Road, Thomas Street, Newcastle Road and Griffiths Road are overloaded and congested for significant periods throughout the day. There is a high crash rate during peak periods due to the increased traffic travelling along the road, although almost all of the accidents are occurring at low speed.
Quotes attributable to Member for Wallsend, Sonia Hornery
“My Notice of Motion today will call on the Minister to work with my office on helping to ease congestion in the Wallsend area.”
“People who are travelling from the western suburbs are experiencing long delays due to the congestion on the Link Road, Thomas Street, Newcastle Road and Griffiths Road.”
“There is increased traffic from the Hunter Valley travelling down to Newcastle and with suburbs such as Fletcher and Minmi continuing to expand at a rapid rate, the problem is only going to get worse.”
“With the decline in commuters using public transport, more and more cars are hitting the streets and this is only adding to the problem.”
“While the Newcastle Inner City Bypass Stage 5 will help ease some traffic issues, it won’t help the problems along this stretch of road in peaks times.”
“Speed limit reductions along the road have done little to ease the pain motorists are feeling with the number of minor accidents along the stretch of road continuing.”
“I look forward to debating this Notice of Motion in the coming months and hearing what the Minister has to say.”