In the past three weeks I’ve had to pop down a few times to Picton, the capital of Wollondilly Shire .
Driving down from Campbelltown, we took the Picton exit at Menangle Road and after a few minutes hit the famous T-section with Argyle Street – or the old Hume Highway as some people still call it.
On our right was the old post office, now the visitor information centre, and we got to look at it for quite a while.
Those with local knowledge will know without me telling them what the problem was; as for the rest of you, wait till you have to turn right into Argyle Street from Menangle Road!
Turning left is bad enough because the constant south bound traffic means there is rarely a gap you could sneak into.
Turning right – trying to turn right that is – requires enormous amounts of patience.
So I am there sitting behind the wheel thinking it just beggars belief Wollondilly Shire Council – or the Mexicans (south of the border) as their local government colleagues in Camden and Campbelltown refer to them – have not yet had the gumption to install traffic lights at this awfully dangerous T-section.
It is even dangerous crossing it on foot on Menangle Road, as we found out later, when we headed for lunch.
I recall that nearly 20 years ago the then councillors came really close to voting for traffic lights but finally decided they didn’t want such high falutin’ technology right next to their most historic asset – the old post office on the corner.
Yes, it’s a lovely old building – it went up in 1892 – but as I pointed out in a comment piece in the Macarthur Advertiser at the time, European cities with much older heritage have allowed traffic lights to be installed alongside some of their monuments.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]Picton is a lovely old town, and the Shire is also a wonderful part of our region, but for goodness sake, get some traffic lights installed.[/social_quote]
All they will do is make this T-section much, much safer for motorists and pedestrians.
And the old post office will still be a wonderful landmark – trust me.
