"Enough's enough" say residents of Jerrabomberra accident hot spot

Residents of Brudenell Drive in Jerrabomberra say it will only be a matter of time before someone is killed or seriously injured on the street if motorists don’t slow down or permanent speed reduction measures aren’t put in place.

The calls came after an article published by Region Media on Monday (7 September) highlighted the plight of resident Jim Holmes (aka ‘Jerra Jim’) who has taken the Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) to task over two fines for illegally parking one of his two vehicles on the kerb to avoid accidents on the busy street.

Mr Holmes finished more than $3000 out of pocket after the legal battle over the parking fines.

He also says he has been made a scapegoat and there are many examples of other residents parking cars, trailers and caravans on the verge of the street.

“It just gets me off the busy road a little. There have been many accidents along my section of road – all side-swipes or rear-enders,” he said.

Resident David Boucaut said there have been six accidents in the last year, including an accident on Monday evening (7 September) when the driver of a four-wheel-drive crashed into a tree while travelling too fast along Brudenell Drive.

“I was standing outside when it happened and was about to walk my dogs,” Mr Boucaut said. “An off-duty ambulance officer helped out and soon the street was blocked off with police and firies. The car was a write-off.”

Mr Boucaut said he has lived at Brudenell Drive for just over a year and has seen at least five accidents from cars travelling too fast on the street where the speed limit is 60 km/h. Council also recently extended the 40 km/h school zone speed limit into Brudenell Drive to improve safety for road users during school time.

“People use the road as a speedway and after the last accident, I’m about to write to the council and say enough’s enough. I’ve seen people doing 100 km/h along that road, easily.

“There’s been a couple of accidents where people are pulling out of their driveway and someone was coming down the hill too fast. Somebody could get killed,” he said.

“The street needs a chicane or speed humps or a roundabout or something. No wonder Jim doesn’t want to park on the road.”

Mr Holmes said he wasn’t surprised another accident occurred on Monday night.

“In the morning and particularly of an evening, it gets very bad,” he said. “It’s about a 100 metre section of the street that’s a real black spot.”

Mr Holmes has also written to police in Queanbeyan and says he would be more than happy to discuss the matter with somebody from the council.

A QPRC spokesperson said some residents had raised concerns about motorists speeding on Brudenell Drive and that Mr Holmes is welcome to have any fines reviewed by the NSW Revenue department.

A QPRC spokesperson told Region Media it is not currently considering any measures such as speed humps or chicanes beyond deployment of a speed trailer that provides a visual reminder to drivers of their speed and encourages them to keep below the speed limit.

“The speed trailer has had 12 deployments in Jerrabomberra, at sites including Brudenell Drive, Edwin Land Parkway, Bicentennial Drive, Waterfall Drive, Stringybark Drive and Halloran Drive,” the council spokesperson said.

“All 12 sites achieved a reduction in the 85th percentile, which is the speed that 85 per cent of drivers choose in the absence of any interventions.

“Speed reductions have ranged between 2 km/h and 8 km/h and a reduction in the percentage of vehicles exceeding the speed limit ranging from 10 per cent up to 35 per cent.”

The spokesperson also said their speed safety project for local roads was a category winner at the 2020 National Awards for Local Government and achieved a reduction in excess speeding at 51 sites in the Queanbeyan-Palerang shire.