Residents want a pedestrian underpass at the Narooma Bridge

Eurobodalla council’s North Narooma pedestrian and mobility plan (PAMP) was completed three years ago in 2011. Following extensive consultation with the local community, it recommended a number of improvements for pedestrian access in the local area.

Safe crossing of the Princes Highway at Narooma Bridge was listed as a high priority. The plan recommended council and RMS work together to fund the construction of a pedestrian underpass at the northern end of the bridge to provide safe access from North Narooma to the shared pathway on the eastern side of the bridge.

North Narooma resident Greg Watts said the junction of Riverview Drive at the highway/bridge/fish-mongers intersection was notoriously dangerous.

“It is unsafe to cross the highway here, particularly for the elderly and young,” Mr Watts said.

“I use this intersection half a dozen times a day and have witnessed numerous near-misses between cars, trucks, cyclists and pedestrians. My aged mother nearly got skittled crossing the highway here once when she missed seeing a car approaching from the bridge. There is a big blind spot for pedestrians.” he said.

He said council’s recently completed $200,000 stairway to link Hillcrest Avenue was a great asset for the local community. Unfortunately, it now deposited pedestrians at a notoriously unsafe intersection without a safe means of crossing the highway.

“The underpass is the missing link in the North Narooma pedestrian strategy. We need a pedestrian underpass now” Mr Watts said.

Concerned North Narooma residents have formed a lobby group called SPANN - Safe Pedestrian Access North Narooma - to agitate state government and council to prioritise construction of the underpass.

“The underpass plan has been on the table for nearly four years now, and in that time we’ve seen some wonderful improvements to the pedestrian amenity in Narooma,” Mr Watts said.

“It’s time to share that pedestrian love with people who live north of the Bridge.”