Wollongong councillor Leigh Colacino has again raised fears about what will happen if there is a major emergency along Lawrence Hargrave Drive on a weekend.
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That is because the state government-owned thoroughfare connecting Helensburgh and Thirroul is gridlocked on a weekend or public holiday and he has no idea how emergency service vehicles gain access.
Cr Colacino got support from his colleagues at Monday's council meeting to ask Wollongong City Council staff to again write to the relevant ministers to fast track the investigation into traffic congestion along the 18-kilometre stretch of road.
"This issues has been going on for more than six years," he said.
"Nothing has been done to fix the problem. There has to be ways that enable better traffic flow."
Cr Colacino said the council had raised a number of concerns in the past with ministers including the confusing intersection at the top of Bald Hill, not enough pedestrian crossings on the road and that the road is heavily used to access the northern suburb beaches when the Royal National Park is closed because parking is full.
He said any investigation to consider traffic numbers needed to include a count on weekends and public holidays rather than just Monday to Friday.
Cr Colacino fears the problem will only get worse with the growth of the south western suburbs as more residents will use the road to access Wollongong.
"Residents along Lawrence Hargrave Drive are confined to their property because they cannot use their car along the road," he said.
"Residents can wait up to five hours for what should be a 20 minute trip. It is nothing more than a slow moving car park."
He wants council to actually receive a response from the ministers and details about the timeline for possible actions to ease the congestion.
Cr Mithra Cox said the increase in traffic congestion was not due to population growth in the northern suburbs but rather more tourists visiting Sea Cliff Bridge and that trains only stop at the stations along Lawrence Hargrave Drive every two hours on the weekend.
Lord Mayor Cr Gordon Bradbery said it would take the "best minds" to come up with a solution, which would probably cost billions of dollars and said councillors and residents should not "hold their breath" for a solution.
Cr Janice Kershaw said it was the responsibility of the state government to improve the conditions for residents living along the road and it was up to the state government to provide infrastructure to support the Sea Cliff Bridge.
"We (councillors) will not give up on residents even though the state government has," she said.
Cr Jenelle Rimmer said it was "clear the government has no solution" to ease traffic congestion on the road.
"It is bad for residents, bad for visitors and bad for the local amenity," she said.
"It is not an solution because it is a highly constrained road but that doesn't mean the state government should bury its head in the sand and think the road will be magically fixed."
Cr John Dorahy said it was the responsibility of state MPs Lee Evans and Ryan Park to lobby for funding from the government.
