Residents are calling for improved safety around Military Road and Hill 60. Photo: Region.
Improved traffic safety measures are being explored around Port Kembla to deter late-night hooning and reduce risk to pedestrians after hundreds from the community expressed concern about motorist behaviour and insufficient infrastructure.
Ebony Vurangunes is one of the many Port Kembla residents being plagued by hooning disruptions and reckless behaviour almost every night.
“This is engines revving and racing up and down the hill sometimes at 1, 2, 3 in the morning, night after night,” Ebony told Wollongong councillors.
“I’m sending my kids to school exhausted and I’m going off to work myself, fatigued, overwhelmed and sometimes feeling unsafe to drive.
“I’ve had near head-on collisions with six unregistered motorbikes coming down the hill across both lanes with my children in the car.
“I’ve witnessed multiple crashes, cars losing control, ending up in the bushes and hit and runs of parked vehicles, including my own.”
Many dangers on the road don’t disappear once the sun comes up.
“I’m a parent of three children and like many families, I’m at the stage where I’m starting to give my kids a bit more independence – letting them explore the neighbourhood, walk to school and spend time at local spaces like the pool and the skatepark,” Port Kembla resident Shelley Casey said.
“But that independence only works if the environment is safe and right now it isn’t.
“Just three weeks ago, a young child was hit by a car in this area. When I heard the news my heart sank – it was the very first day I had let my own son walk himself to school.
“That moment brought home just how vulnerable our children are on these roads.”
It’s not just those who live on the road being impacted, with some feeling that popular facilities aren’t supported with the appropriate safety infrastructure.
“There is still no safe crossing from the carpark to the pool and the beach and every summer and winter I watch families try to navigate this road with cars going quite quickly along it,” Shelley said.
“Children and families are also regularly crossing Military Road just to access facilities that are meant to serve them. Kids are going to the skatepark, often without their parents, which I’ve let my kids do the same; they’re having to navigate that traffic on their own without having enough safe crossing points.
“There are also some smaller but other important issues that reflect a lack of follow-through. The bus stop down near the pool blew over over a year ago and it hasn’t been replaced. I’ve seen students, families, members of the public sitting there in the heat and the rain with no shelter.”
Three hundred and eighty-seven people signed a petition to push for safety improvements and regulation in the area, including a temporary increase in police presence, which was presented to Wollongong City Council.
“I am asking for specific action,” Ebony said.
“Lock the Hill 60 carparks by 9 pm at the latest … I understand the main entrance must remain accessible for emergency services, but the carparks themselves should be closed.
“Install speed humps on the road descending behind the lookout to Fishermans Beach – this area is away from residential homes, but would make it far less attractive for riders to hoon up and down.
“Implement CCTV and/or speed cameras on Military Road near Five Islands Secondary College.
“Introducing enforcement measures at this point would serve a dual purpose, reducing speeding and dangerous riding in the evenings while also improving safety for students, families and the broader community during the day.”
Councillor Ann Martin put forward a motion for council to formally investigate strategies to improve road safety and promote positive driver behaviours in Port Kembla and more broadly across the local government area.
Some safety measures in the suburb, such as speed humps at Church and Wentworth streets and an extension of the bike path on Military Road, are already in the works, but now more options will be explored including requesting increased presence by NSW Police, requesting Transport for NSW (TfNSW) utilise speed cameras in the area, improving education for the local community of road safety, advocating for enforcement around hooning activities and writing to TfNSW seeking proactive funding for the upgrade of Darcy and Military roads.
A report will also be provided to councillors on the potential benefits and costs for the installation of traffic calming devices such as chicanes, planting of verges with native grasses, small trees and the use of speed humps as well as an exploration of pedestrian crossing adjoining both carparks adjacent to the Port Kembla Beach and swimming pool.
“It’s about doing physical work; it’s about doing investigations of work,” Cr Martin said. “But it’s also about developing an education program within our council’s resources to help our communities understand how their behaviours may be impacting on others.”
