Tender out for Gables Intersection Traffic Lights

Residents of Box Hill and the Gables have gladly welcomed the news that the Terry Road, Old Pitt Town Road and Fontana Road intersection is well on the path to receive traffic lights, with The Hills Shire Council currently accepting tenders until November 1st for the project’s construction.

On top of traffic lights, the upgraded intersection will also be made more pedestrianfriendly with signalled crossings and new shared paths and landscaping, as well as additional landscaping and curb construction.

The intersection upgrade follows many years of campaigning from both members of the community and Council to implement traffic lights for the intersection due to an extremely high number of crashes on the road.

Hills Shire Mayor Dr Peter Gangemi has been advocating for the lights since 2017, with Council having submitted numerous applications to Transport for NSW in that six-year period; all of which were rejected.

Though the news was welcomed by the community, some are still concerned about the upgrade’s timeline, including crash victim Stacey Kent. A critical care nurse and RFS volunteer, Stacey was in a major collision at the intersection in May 2021, where two cars collided with significant force on a Friday night and spun into hers.

All three vehicles in the incident were eventually written off. Stacey says: “Even now, I get very stressed when I’m driving through that intersection. I won’t go straight through it because I don’t think it’s worth the risk, and I think the response to the accidents that have happened has not been adequate at all.”

Stacey is glad to hear that the tender for the lights is underway, but is still feeling cautious. “I do feel a sense of relief that they’ve been properly announced, but this process has taken absolutely way too long.

I can see there potentially being future stalls and problems to delay the project, and I hope there are no injuries or losses of life between now and then. I won’t necessarily be completely relieved until they’re there – I’m waiting to see it to believe it.”

Mayor Gangemi commented on the new developments for the intersection: “TfNSW approved the warrants for traffic lights last year, after our many submissions, together with the accident history, were finally heeded, enabling the design work to progress further. The final design approvals for the intersection have been given, allowing the project to proceed to seeking tenders for construction.

“Residents can once again be assured that, as we have since 2017, Council is doing everything we can to assure the construction of the traffic signals as soon as possible. In the meantime, please continue to drive safely through this intersection.” Locals thanked Mayor Gangemi on Facebook for his work in continually advocating for the upgrade of the increasingly busy road.

Tender submissions for the intersection are open until the 1st of November – after that, it’s expected a contract will be awarded in December 2023 with construction to follow in the first quarter of 2024.