Decision details

Moved by Councillor Chung, seconded by Councillor Forster -

It is resolved that Council:

(A)      note, in relation to Maddox Street Alexandria between Euston Road and Mitchell Road:

(i)       the street is predominantly a residential street containing low density housing and which has a maximum weight limit of 3 tonnes for vehicles entering the street to pass through;

(ii)      there have been significant breaches of the weight limits on the street, many of which have been reported to the City of Sydney. There is photographic evidence of some of the breaches;

(iii)     over 300 people have signed a petition which was tabled at Council's meeting of 19 February 2018 protesting at the volume of heavy vehicles breaching the weight limit in Maddox Street and imploring the City of Sydney to prevent this illegal activity; and

(iv)     the staff have reported to Councillors that, even if they had the power to enforce overweight restrictions on Maddox Street, the City would be seeking to do so by way of photographic evidence; and

(B)      request that the Chief Executive Officer:

(i)       give Councillors detailed advice in the next CEO Update as to the status of the discussions with Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) about Council being in a position to enforce weight limits on Maddox Street;

(ii)      request City of Sydney Rangers to proactively collect photographic material and write letters of warning to each registered owner of heavy vehicles that breach the weight restrictions in Maddox Street;

(iii)     coordinate with NSW Police and RMS the local enforcement activity to ensure that there is maximum presence of personnel to act as a deterrence to drivers of overweight vehicles; and

(iv)     report back to Councillors via the CEO Update on a monthly basis the number of heavy vehicle owners who are given written warnings by Council Rangers.

Note. The above motion was not carried. The resolution as follows was carried.

It is resolved that Council note that, in relation to Maddox Street, Alexandria between Euston Road and Mitchell Road:

(A)      the City of Sydney has installed traffic calming measures in Maddox Street including three roundabouts at the intersections with Mitchell Road, Belmont Street and Lawrence Street, traffic signals at the intersection with Euston Road, road narrowing and in-road street trees along the southern kerb between Belmont Street and Belmont Lane, and a raised threshold just east of the intersection with Mitchell Road;

(B)      City of Sydney staff have asked Roads and Maritime Services and the Police, who are equipped to conduct roadside intercepts for overweight vehicles, to increase enforcement;

(C)      the Lord Mayor has responded to residents numerous times since October 2017 about the actions City of Sydney staff are taking to address weight limit breaches on Maddox Street;

(D)      already gridlocked, Alexandria residents face the destruction of the NSW Government's WestConnex toll motorway, which will funnel tens of thousands more vehicles through the area;

(E)      traffic will increase by as much as 2,290 cars an hour in the AM peak on Euston Road, just South of Sydney Park Road, and the St Peters interchange will induce an extra 120,000 cars to the City a day;

(F)       Roads and Maritime Services is currently constructing a dedicated left turn lane straight into Maddox Street from Euston Road as part of the WestConnex motorway; and

(G)      City of Sydney staff are undertaking a public consultation on a study of the impacts of WestConnex on local traffic in this area, including Maddox Street, and will be considering all measures to help project the community, including road closures and traffic calming, which will need to be negotiated with the Roads and Maritime Services.

Motion carried.

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