A car accident on the northern side of the Moruya Bridge along Mullenderree Flat on the Princes Highway this afternoon has bought south bound traffic to a near standstill with a queue going back to the Moruya Industrial area. Locals are once again scratching their heads at the fact that there is nothing at all proposed in the next twenty years for the bottleneck caused by the Moruya traffic lights and the increased traffic volumes that mixes semi-trailers, timber jinkers, caravans, holiday makers and commuters all together, rumbling along the main street of Moruya during peak shopping times to then have to navigate through three sets of traffic roundabouts. Today's accident just on the northern side of Moruya once again highlights the resultant of a traffic plan that is fragile to the randomness of incident. Though the accident today impacted traffic for nearly an hour it was well managed and a lane was kept open during the cleanup. Councilor Constable received a response from Council on Dec 13th outlining the proposed Highway Corridor works for the next twenty years. You can read that response here. To add to the discussion there are several letters to the editor worthy of a read here For many years now ideas have been floated and promises made about improving the Princes Highway not only for safety reasons but also economic benefits for all those living in the Eurobodalla Shire. The State Government has developed a 20 year Princes Highway upgrading plan or strategy now as a result of complaints and inefficiency’s about the Princes Highway as it is in the present Highway Corridor. Some of the improvements along the existing corridor through the Eurobodalla Shire are a new four lane bridge over the Clyde River at Batemans Bay and a roundabout access from the Princes Highway to the new Batemans Bay Link Rd that is presently under construction. These two items alone have been talked about for a couple of decades. It seems as though, at least for the time being, all those involved in the Princes Highway Corridor Strategy, as has been developed to date, have failed to think that far ahead, especially in regard to the Moruya bottleneck issue and the long term perfomance and capacity of the Narooma Bridge to increased tonnage and traffic volumes. The New Princes Highway plan makes no mention of any solution to the ever increasing highway traffic debacles of Moruya, eg. the traffic light problems in the main street at the intersection of Church St and the Princes Hwy nor the problem with the Right Turn off the Princes Highway onto North Head Drive that leads to the Shires airport and to the steadily growing townships of Broulee, Mossy Point and Tomakin. The Princes Highway Corridor Strategy, using the existing route, will be out dated in a few years time. A longer term plan 50 + years is required with a new highway provision that will service the residents and growth of the shire for a very long time, just like rail corridors across the country do and have for years . Readers and supporters of the Beagle Weekly including the local councillors and other politicians, might take a bit time to think about all this just a bit longer? Contributed Copy
