GILGAI’S homes and all its services and amenities are bisected by a road, and residents say the division is the root of one key issue: safety.
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Long-time Gilgai resident Diane Marlow said the problem has become historical and related a neighbour’s account.
“She’s up in her 60s and she said when she went to school there, and when she knew other parents that had kids there, they argued the same point about that road, and it’s still going on to this day,” Diane said.
Gilgai Shop has a petition to change the speed limit in the town limits of Gilgai on Thunderbolt’s Way to increase the safety and decrease the number of people struck, and sometimes killed, by drivers.
People lined up to sign the document on Monday afternoon during school hours when drivers outside seemed not to heed the 40kph limit.
The issue has flared again after an account of a child struck on his bicycle last week on the road which has been determined to be the busiest access into Inverell.
“While nobody wants to impede the traffic, we just think that perhaps bigger signage, even painted on the road, or those rumble strips across the road so that people realise once they hit those, slow down, keep your eye out,” Gilgai Shop owner Donna Thomas said.
Diane said the road is crossed constantly.
“We argued about that point six to five years ago when my two older girls were at Gilgai Public, and there was no crossing then, and someone got hit then,” she said.
Gilgai had flashing lights installed to alert drivers to the 40kph limit during school hours this year, but Diane said that is not enough.
“When I come in and out of town, you see about six people going across, (and) the kids are always in a bunch together, and they’re always crossing,” she said.
Diane said, though the speed limit is only 60, she is still routinely overtaken in the middle of town when she slows to turn left into her road.
We argued about that point six to five years ago when my two older girls were at Gilgai Public, and there was no crossing then, and someone got hit then.
- Diane Marlow
Inverell council general manager Paul Henry said the petition was a good way to start.
He said Delungra residents were equally concerned about their 60kph limit, approached council, who in turn took the issue to NSW Roads and Maritime Service (RMS).
The limit changed to 50kph after review by the RMS. Mr Henry said it sounded as though Gilgai was on the right track for change.
Meanwhile, Donna hopes for a solution to the unending stream of speeding cars outside her shop.
“If the state government were to put a speeding camera in Gilgai, my goodness would they make some money,” she said.
“They would make an absolute fortune.”