The $7.4 million upgrade to the intersection of The Northern Road and Derby Street, Penrith has been completed.
Funded by the Federal Government’s Local Roads Package, the upgrade is set to reduce congestion and improve access to Nepean Hospital’s Emergency Department for ambulances.
Lindsay MP Melissa McIntosh met with Penrith Mayor Ross Fowler on Wednesday to inspect the project’s completion.
Cr Fowler said the upgrade was “money well spent”.
“We’ve completely re-made the intersection which was a very big bottleneck in terms of getting traffic movements around Penrith, particularly off Derby Street and onto The Northern Road,” he said.
“What we have now is a much more effective intersection which is working very well and from the Council’s point of view we’ve had a few compliments.”
The upgrade has seen the delivery of road widening for new dedicated left and right turning lanes, upgrades to the existing traffic lights, relocation of public utilities, a new stormwater drainage system as well as landscaping and new line markings.
Some on-street parking at the top of Derby Street has been lost as a result.
Cr Fowler said the small amount of parking lost is compensated with the new hospital car park.
“When you get infrastructure improvements in metropolitan areas, you’re always going to get some reduction of parking to make it work,” he said.
“There has been some [parking lost] but not significant and it’s compensated with hospital parking that has been put in.”
Ms McIntosh said the project was “a great example of the commonwealth collaborating with council that benefited the community in a positive way”.
“Investigations show there has been a significant number of crashes and traffic delays on The Northern Road, particularly at peak times,” she said.
“The project will give valuable time back to families and businesses and make the area an even better place in which to live and work. The Northern Road is such an important route for people going out into the new airport; this is an important step in that process.”
A graduate of Western Sydney University, Nicola Barton is a news journalist with the Western Weekender, primarily covering crime and politics.
