Council Frustrated by RMS

THE Upper Hunter Shire Council has described the bypass and rail bridge options presented by the Roads and Maritime Services as frustrating and are preparing an alternative.

They believe a round-about at each approach, with a road from the northern round-about connecting heavy vehicles directly to Muffett Street would solve the current design flaws.

Mr Waid Crockett, general manager of the Upper Hunter Shire Council, said the RMS had so far rejected most of the recommendations put forward by Council and their designs have created problems.

Waid Crockett, general manager of Upper Hunter Shire Council, shows where a road from the New England Highway could join with Muffett Street.

“We’ve talked about matters and they’ve gone away and thought about it and then come back and said yes or no and most of the time that’s been no,” Mr Crockett said.

“It’s probably over budget and they’re looking at ways to try and get it back within budget but from our point of view the Scone township should not be compromised..,” he said.

“We only get it once and if we don’t get it right people will simply just go straight past and there won’t be any opportunity to bring them back in at all,” he said.

“There’s no point in doing something really nice in terms of the CBD revitalisation and creating alfresco dining and doing all of those wonderful things if you’ve got a smelly truck driving still past while you are having a nice flat white…” said Waid Crockett.

The one-way connection at the southern approach of the Scone bypass. Click to enlarge.

The Council’s main concern with the bypass are the approaches which restrict traffic movement, forcing heavy vehicles accessing the saleyards and abattoir to continue to use Kelly Street and reducing the opportunity for visitors to enter the township.

At the southern approach, traffic from the township can not turn right onto the bypass due to the one way connection.

At the northern approach, also due to a one way connection, traffic on the bypass can not turn right to go back into the township.

The current bypass design also means heavy vehicles from the south must continue to use Kelly Street to reach the abattoir and stockyards.

The one-way connection at the northern approach of the Scone bypass. Click to enlarge.

“The connections at both ends have only just altered in the last versions of the plans that have been released,” Mr Crockett said.

“The last time that we had seen them and we had always had the expectation that you could get into Scone it didn’t matter which way you were driving you had an opportunity to get in at both the north and the south end of town,” he said.

“And we fought hard make sure there was a connection at the west and so it looks like we’ve got the connection at the west, although not quite how we would have liked it, but then north and south has suffered as a result of that,” said Waid Crockett.

Alternative: a road connecting to Muffett Street for heavy vehicles. Click to enlarge.

In the last financial year there were an additional 10,000 head of cattle sold at the Scone saleyards, a trend Council hopes will continue, but without increasing numbers of heavy vehicles on Kelly Street.

“If you make it a whole lot more accessible then there’s the opportunity to generate far more growth in that part of the business and potentially opportunity in this subdivision and the industrial estate,” said Mr Crockett.

The Council are also critical of the origin destination surveys conducted by the RMS.

The surveys used cameras in town to record number plates and trace traffic movements.

However Council says the surveys did not include periods of major truck movements for the saleyards and believe the RMS do not have a realistic understanding of heavy vehicle impacts in the township.