Near-miss sparks call for action
A Gore councillor is on a campaign to have trees at an intersection cut down after he nearly had an accident on Monday.
Councillor Graham Sharp has asked that the trees be cut down at a busy Gore intersection to avoid accidents.
At a Gore District Council Community Services meeting last night, Sharp proposed that trees at the intersection be removed so that drivers exiting Huron St could see approaching vehicles.
‘‘I’m still quite angry about it,’’ Sharp told the meeting.
He said if he’d had his tandem axle trailer on the back of his ute, there would have been an accident at the corner of Huron St and State Highway 1 in East Gore. He has discussed the intersection with a businessman in Gore and police since his near-miss.
But chief executive Steve Parry suggested council staff prepare a report into the intersection, in case cutting trees down did not fix the problem. Councillor Doug Grant said the biggest problem at the intersection was from cars coming off the Gore bridge heading north and thinking they were already in the 70km an hour area.
Sharp agreed that speed was also a problem.
Councillor Nicky Davis suggested feedback about the intersection be sought from police, and mayor Tracy Hicks said the report needed to involve the council’s roading department.
Councillors voted to have a report prepared into safety aspects at the intersection.