READ THE FULL REPORT: 9.1 Mowbray Road West Traffic Study (1)
OFFICER’S RECOMMENDATION That Council:
1. Endorses the Mowbray Road West Traffic Study Addendum Report, with the exception of items 4a and 5.
2. Implements the high and medium priority recommendations listed in this report, subject to Traffic Committee and Council approval of the individual recommendations and appropriate community notification, with the exception of item 6, which will require a further report to the Traffic Committee, those high and medium priority recommendations being;
Item 1 Mowbray Rd/Pacific Hwy – Lobby RMS to investigate improvements to intersection efficiency (High)
Item 13 Mowbray Rd West/Hatfield St/Kullah St – Introduce traffic signals (High)
Item 3 Mowbray Rd West/Centennial Ave – Introduce dedicated right turn phase on Mowbray Rd West (High)
Item 2 Mowbray Rd West/Beaconsfield Ave – Re-introduce right turn and through movements at traffic signals (High)
Item 4b Coolaroo Rd/Greenlands Rd – Upgrade lighting, clear vegetation and extend BB lines (Medium)
Item 7 Mowbray Rd West at Dalrymple Ave, Felton Ave & Mooney St – Install ‗No Stopping‘ restrictions on north side of Mowbray Rd West (Medium)Item 14 Mowbray Rd West/Willandra St – support option 2 from SMEC proposals to improve operation and safety of intersection (Medium)
Item 4c Coolaroo Rd/Dalrymple Ave – upgrade signage and linemarking, extend BB lines (Medium)
Item 8 Mowbray Rd West, westbound departing Pacific Hwy – Form 1 Lane signage (Medium)
Item 9 Mowbray Rd West/Dalrymple Ave – Install ‗No Stopping‘ on south side of Mowbray Rd West (Medium)
3. Advises Lane Cove Council that Willoughby City Council gives qualified support to the recommendations made in the SMEC Study along the lines of the commentary in this report.
4. Provides Lane Cove Council with a copy of the PeopleTrans study and advised of the additional recommendations made in that report regarding Felton Avenue, Dalrymple Avenue and Pacific Highway and their support requested for the implementation of those measures.
Chatswood West Ward History 
At the Transport Committee Meeting on the 7th September 2015 there was general consensus among the community and Councilors to adopt the Officer’s Recommendations.
From a local resident:
Hi Everyone,
I have good news to report. The revised traffic report went to the traffic committee a week ago, where the committee unanimously adopted the council officers’ recommendations. Last night, at the full council meeting, the minutes of the traffic committee meeting were approved, which makes it official.
Well done to everyone who showed up in support of the matter at the committee meeting on the 7th. We had a great showing with over 100 people in the gallery, and the message was overwhelmingly one in support of the recommendations– especially in support of fixing the Beaconsfield lights. Many of you spoke and spoke well, and it made a big impression on the councillors, culminating in the adoption of the recommendations. Do not underestimate how much impact this had—everyone did a fantastic job. Even if you didn’t speak, your attendance made a big difference and underscored the high level of support in the community for coming up with a workable solution to our traffic problems.
You can download the traffic committee minutes here (www.willoughby.nsw.gov.au/DownloadDocument.ashx?DocumentID=11444), which contain the specific details of what was adopted.
For those of you who don’t really enjoy parsing tedious council documents, here’s a high level snapshot of what was approved:
1. The Beaconsfield lights are to be fixed to allow both a right turn and a through movement into Ralston.
2. A dedicated right turn from eastbound Mowbray into southbound Centennial in Lane Cove will be added. This is already planned to be funded by Lane Cove Council in the 2016/17 financial year, but our mayor has agreed to meet with Lane Cove to try to speed this up.
3. A traffic light is to be installed at Mowbray and Hatfield, planned for this financial year.
4. Traffic calming is to be installed in Dalrymple and Coolaroo. This will probably require another community feedback phase, but council are aware of the time pressure to make these streets safer, so it should hopefully be expedited as much as possible.
5. Adjustments to no stopping areas are to be made on Mowbray to allow traffic to better flow around right turners (you can see the details in the report) as well as some enhanced signage to improve safety.
6. Some adjustments to signage, parking restrictions, enhanced lighting, and vegetation clearing on both ends of Coolaroo are to be made to improve line of sight and safety (details in the report).
7. Council will lobby the RMS on fixing the Mowbray / Pacific Highway intersection, which is a cause of a lot of problems. This is a long term thing, but it needs to be addressed.
Of note, the proposals around the partial or total blocking off of Coolaroo were not adopted, so the intent is to keep Coolaroo open with the hope that the other changes will bring volumes and speeds back into an acceptable range.
The battle now shifts to holding the council’s feet to the fire on all of this, so please don’t be shy in communicating with them to express your support of what they’ve decided and your excitement that it will all be done as quickly as possible.
I will keep you all appraised of developments and timelines as I become aware of them.
I want to thank you all for your support and encouragement—job well done to all.
All the best,