Some of the new bus information panels are endangering cyclists and pedestrians, says an Illawarra cycling group.
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Transport for NSW has installed hundreds of bus timetable panels, called plinths, at bus stops across the Illawarra. Most do not yet contain any timetable information.
Illawarra Bicycle Users Group (iBUG) chairman Werner Steyer said a number of these plinths around Wollongong and Shellharbour were an obstruction because they had been installed on shared paths for cyclists and pedestrians.
‘‘It’s easy for them to locate them somewhere where it’s not going to interfere with the flow of traffic,’’ Mr Steyer said.
He identified three plinths in Wollongong that obstructed paths: on the Princes Highway at Kembla Grange, near Canterbury Road; Corrimal St near Wollongong Golf Club; and one near the Springhill Road/Bridge Street intersection in Coniston. IBUG members had found others in Shellharbour.
Transport for NSW said it had already moved the Corrimal Street plinth and would also move one on Springhill Road.
Under the Australian Standards, signs near kerbed roads in urban areas had to be at least 600 millimetres back from the face of the kerb.
Mr Steyer said the government should not be building new infrastructure that contradicts the guidelines and obstructs pedestrians, cyclists and mobility scooter riders.
‘‘All of our shared path network is being more heavily used,’’ he said.
‘‘You have to worry about people stepping out the bus stop to read the timetable ... every obstruction we put there is another potential accident.’’
A Transport for NSW spokesman said the plinth sites were identified by a joint site inspection group involving city councils, bus operators and Transport for NSW.
‘‘If a plinth is found to obstruct a cycleway, it is relocated by Transport for NSW,’’ he said.
Residents who are concerned about the placement of plinths should call Asset Projects, Transport for NSW on 82022821 or email: plinth.maintenance@transport.nsw. gov.au.