Local motorists say they deserve a fairer go after changes to long-standing traffic conditions near St Marys train station.
General traffic is now banned from the area at the bottom of Queen Street near the station, with only buses and taxis granted access.
St Clair resident Mark Gavin’s daughter got fined after accidentally driving through the no entry road recently to pick up a friend.
Like most fathers, he went to investigate the Queen Street and Station Street intersection just 30 minutes later. Mr Gavin was also caught out and fined and is now calling for better signage to warn motorists of the changed traffic conditions.
“My daughter, who is a red p-plater, got booked last Tuesday and rang me up hysterical so I went down to see what happened because I thought it was pretty straight forward but before I knew it I was at the pedestrian crossing that said I could not enter,” Mr Gavin said.
“I hesitated and thought if I should reverse back into the intersection which would be dangerous so went forward to turn straight around to go out but the highway patrol was right behind me.”
Mr Gavin said the officer was not open to him explaining the situation.
“I hadn’t been there since about February so apologised and tried to explain that I wasn’t familiar with it but he didn’t care and treated me like a second class citizen,” he said.
Mr Gavin was fined a total of $902 for ‘Disobey no entry sign’, ‘Drive in bus lane’ and ‘Drive contrary to direction of traffic lane arrow’.
“I can accept the monetary part and points but I do think there needs to be signage earlier to say that there is a bus lane coming up and you must turn left because there are lots of factors that can make it not visible,” he said.
“At least four people got caught that night and I know the police are sitting there targeting people which is wrong.”
A Transport for NSW spokesperson said information was provided to the community about the change when the bus interchange was relocated in March.
“Since then, signage and road markings have been updated, in consultation with Penrith City Council, to help motorists with the changes,” the spokesperson said.
“Transport for NSW will continue to monitor the changes. The kiss and drop was relocated in November, 2021 to a new area on the same side of the station in Nariel Street.”
A spokesperson for NSW Police confirmed the area is being “actively patrolled” to monitor compliance.
“That area has been actively patrolled by police in response to complaints of non-compliance with road signage and traffic related offences,” the spokesperson said.
“This area has had signage in place for a lengthy period of time and will continue to be regularly patrolled by NSW Police to ensure compliance.”
Emily Feszczuk
A graduate of Western Sydney University, Emily covers Local, State and Federal politics for the Weekender, as well as crime and general news.