There has been no rest for Liz Tooley over the summer holiday period, a Vincentia resident spearheading the campaign for a flyover at the Princes Highway and Jervis Bay Road intersection.
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Mrs Tooley and her band of Vincentia Matters volunteers were manning an information tent for tourists to Vincentia from Boxing Day to January 6.
Residents are saying, let’s go for the possible rather than aiming for the deluxe version that will never happen. In this community, most people are saying we need a flyover as soon as possible
- Liz Tooley
The marquee, supplied by Shoalhaven City Council, was a popular port of call for visitors.
Volunteers handed out flyers on the area’s must-see attractions, and took full advantage of the opportunity to talk about the dangerous intersection.
“They’re just as annoyed as the residents,” Mrs Tooley said.
“The queues have been very, very long, someone counted 200 cars lined up.”
Roads and Maritime Services have used counters and cameras to compile data on traffic at the intersection, both before and during the peak holiday period. Data is yet to be released.
Less than three months out from the state election, the Vincentia Matters president wants an election promise from at least one state candidate.
“We have a very limited window of opportunity, we have to try and keep the pressure on,” Mrs Tooley said.
She hopes to present the petition for an overpass, with thousands of signatures on it, in person to Kiama MP Gareth Ward and South Coast MP Shelley Hancock.
“A lot of visitors were signing it,” Mrs Tooley said.
“Five-thousand signatures is just a number, but when you see the signatures and the comments spread out in front of you, it’s incredible.”
Meanwhile Mrs Tooley said she was thrilled by Shoalhaven City Council’s leadership on the issue at the December meeting.
Council will strongly endorse the construction of a grade-separated intersection at the now T-intersection.
“I’m delighted they moved that motion,” she said.
“Residents are saying, let’s go for the possible rather than aiming for the deluxe version that will never happen. In this community, most people are saying we need a flyover as soon as possible.”
She thanked Councillor John Wells for driving the cause via local government.
A South Coast Register poll commissioned in mid-December revealed the bulk of readers supported concept one – the most expensive and the safest option for traffic. Of 221 voters, 68 per cent said the most flash design appealed to them.
Respondents were also open to concept two, the more affordable of long-term intersection solutions, with 27 per cent saying concept two appealed most to them.
Remaining five per cent of respondents said either none of the designs, or concept three appealed to them.
