The proposed three platforms of sporting fields will bring an enormous increase in traffic to the local area. They will also potentially expose the Thornleigh Reservoir, classified as critical infrastructure, to the public eye.
The Sefton Rd link was initially proposed as an emergency exit, however traffic studies have revealed that should the complete three platforms of sporting fields go ahead a full blown public road will be required. Sefton Rd is already exceeding capacity yet council want to add another 1500 vehicles per day to this road.
- This will put significant pressure on the intersection of Sefton Rd and Chilvers Ave.
- Traffic lights are proposed for this intersection which will cause bumper to bumper traffic queues.
- Business vehicles near the intersection, like the Boral cement trucks which already have difficulty getting onto Sefton Rd in the morning, will find it difficult to get out into the traffic queues.
- Turning right out of the Thornleigh Recycling Centre or the Men’s Shed will be almost impossible as the traffic lights will create queues that currently don’t exist.
- An additional set of traffic lights on this alternative route between Hornsby and Pennant Hills will slow down this route even more.
There should only be an emergency egress link between Quarter Sessions Rd and Sefton Rd, not a full blown new road link that will transfer the traffic congestion from the Duffy Ave intersection to the Sefton Rd T-intersection.
Hornsby Council plans:
- New road link from Quarter Sessions Rd to Sefton Rd / Chilvers Rd intersection
- 1,500 extra cars per day
- Bumper to bumper traffic
- Long intersection waits
- Traffic bottlenecks
- Significant impacts on businesses, residents and motorists
THERE GOES THE NEIGHBOURHOOD !!
Thanks Hornsby Shire Council
Council’s latest traffic studies have looked at the impact of the proposed Westleigh Park development, for the purpose of the study it was assumed that the Park will be developed in two stages:
▪ Stage 1: The sports field on the southern side of the Park will be completed first (Precinct 3 by 2027)
▪ Stage 2: The remaining sports fields will be completed (by 2032).
The Traffic Study revealed that if all of the three platforms are approved in Stage 2 then a full public access road limited by 30km and traffic calming measures will be required. This will add an extra 1500 vehicle per day to the already overloaded Sefton Rd.
- In Stage 1 (only Precinct 3, 1 platform and 2 playing fields), the Sefton Road Link (extension) is not essential to reduce other network congestion.
- Sefton Road is already exceeding capacity, eastbound capacity is 500 vehicles/hr but the study shows 594 vehicles/hr AM demand, 594 vehicles/hr PM demand and 594 vehicles/hr weekend demand). Westbound capacity is 500 vehicles/hr but the study shows 720 vehicles/hr AM demand, 720 vehicles/hr PM demand and 720 vehicles/hr weekend demand. (This information is available in the full Traffic Study provided by HSC.)
- With Stage 2 (Precinct 1 and 2, 2 more platforms which includes 2 playing fields and 1 athletics track), the Sefton Road Link (extension) is required to provide an additional local alternative east west traffic route to address traffic congestion.
- The Sefton Road Link will carry about 1,500 vehicles per day. So when fully developed, Westleigh Park is expected to generate 176 vehicles during the PM peak one hour, and about 360 vehicles during the Weekend peak one hour.
- Council is planning to upgrade the Chilvers Road / Sefton Road intersection from a priority-controlled intersection to traffic signals. This may require the banning of right turns into and out of Larool Crescent due to the close proximity of Larool Crescent to the signalised intersection, subject to the outcome of community consultation. It was assumed that the new signalised intersection would run a three-phase cycle with a cycle time of 120s.
Latest Traffic Study Presentation
