IT’S 7.15am on Tuesday morning, 16 December, and cars are lined up behind the stop sign at the intersection of Houston Mitchell Drive and the Pacific Highway, as a work truck and other cars wait in the turning lane opposite, and semi-trailers and a cement truck fly past at 110kmph.
This is the nerve wracking morning commute for many Camden Haven and Port Macquarie residents – and it’s about to get worse.
The Bonny Hill Progress Association (BHPA) is reminding locals that the school holidays mean this intersection will be the entry and exit point for thousands of visitors, along with their convoy of camper trailers, motorhomes, caravans and boats.
“We just want to reach out to the community to remind them to be careful,” BHPA Vice President Kathy Regan told News Of The Area.
“We know it’s getting busier at the moment and a lot more traffic is turning in there.”
There have been no recent fatalities at the intersection, however Ms Regan regularly receives reports of accidents and near misses.
“Unfortunately, none of that information is considered data. The only time it [becomes] data is when police are called and the accident is registered.”
As NOTA reported in April, the state government has allocated half a million dollars towards long-term strategic planning and “short-term solutions” to improve safety at the end of the dangerous “Ghost Road” – so-named because of the lives it has claimed.
Options and concept designs were meant to be ready by the end of September, to go out to the community for feedback.
That hasn’t happened.
“All our efforts have been stalled,” Ms Regan said.
“We’ve had a great relationship with the [Regional Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison] in the past, but now we’re being told to wait.
“We’ve waited years.”
An overpass has long been acknowledged as the best solution for the busy intersection, with 16,000 people signing a petition that was tabled in State Parliament in September 2023.
Houston Mitchell Drive is one of several hot spots in the Port Macquarie electorate in need of urgent funding to cope with the surge in population.
At the same time the Minister helped cut the ribbon for the “all-but” completed Ocean Drive duplication, traffic at the Wrights Road and Oxley Highway intersection in Port Macquarie was at its usual crawl.
“We’re not trying to detract in any way from the importance of upgrading that intersection,” Ms Regan said.
“But Houston Mitchell Drive is a different type of intersection.
“It involves speed and heavy vehicles.”
Member for Port Macquarie Robert Dwyer told NOTA that he is actively pursuing meetings with the Minister and an update on the promised planning and safety upgrades.
“The important thing is to make sure we are not forgotten,” he said.
By Sue STEPHENSON
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