A truck accident at Stanwell Park on Tuesday that closed Lawrence Hargrave Drive for several hours highlighted the importance of that route into the Illawarra, said Wollongong City Councillor Leigh Colacino.
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On Tuesday afternoon a 19-year-old P-plater rolled the truck he was driving along Lawrence Hargrave Drive.
The driver was trapped in the overturned truck and had to be cut out of the vehicle by firefighters.
The accident led to Lawrence Hargrave Drive being closed in both directions for four hours.
Cr Colacino, who represents the Illawarra's northern suburbs, has long been a campaigner for improvements to Lawrence Hargrave Drive - one of the few access routes down the escarpment and into the city.
"The accident just highlighted the fact that that road needs to have far more attention given to it than is currently," Cr Colacino said.
"This is a really critical road for the Illawarra. If there's an accident on it, Mt Ousley or Bulli Pass, Wollongong is in jeopardy of being closed off.
This is a really critical road for the Illawarra.
- Councillor Leigh Colacino on Lawrence Hargrave Drive
"I think what's been missed is just how important that road is. It's a real artery to the lands down below the escarpment."
Cr Colacino expressed concerns about how the road in the vicinity of the accident was designed, with a huge bend at the bottom, and suggested it could be better signposted.
He would also like to see the intersection with Otford Road at Bald Hill replaced with a roundabout to remove confusion about who has right of way.
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Cr Colacino suggested next year's pair of planned closures of Lawrence Hargrave Drive at Stanwell Park for slope stabilisation work could provide the option to address other issues on the road as well.
"During those proposed closures I think they need to look at what else could be done, not only on Bald Hill to stabilise the road surface, to make it a more user-friendly road," he said.
Part of that should include Roads and Maritime Services taking into account the dual purposes served by the road; a route used by local residents to get to and from work as well as a road for weekend daytrippers from out of town.
"There are so many opportunities along Lawrence Hargrave Drive so it can still work as a commuter corridor as well as being what it's become, this fantastic tourism opportunity," Cr Colacino said.
Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
