Hopefully, action on the long awaited improvements for pedestrian safety will be carried out at an early date.

The CBD and Settlement City shopping precincts, with new stores over recent years, such as; Dan Murphy’s, Coles and Kmart, together with associated food shops, have with increased vehicular traffic caused much confusion and increased danger for pedestrians by the lack of marked safety crossings and lower speed limit for vehicles. 

Vehicles coming in and out of Dan Murphy’s and Coles, crossing pedestrian footpaths, turning into high traffic areas, are a nightmare for pedestrians.

It would seem with the high traffic congestion and lack of safe pedestrian access at the corner of Gordon and Horton Streets, as well as Hayward Street, that development plans passed by council for Dan Murphy’s, and Coles did not include sufficient consideration for pedestrians’ safety.

I suppose it is ‘better late than never’ but surely the council must have learnt by now that better planning of the effect on all the community, particularly pedestrians, must be taken into account with new developments.

Also, one only has to walk just over a kilometre southeast, or west, of Port’s CBD, to find pedestrians walking on the road or dangerous nature strips; including children going to and from school, families to the club, beach areas, and medical facilities.

It is apparent that new areas of Port city have received pedestrian paved footpaths, whereas the earlier areas, such as east Port, in the main has only had paved footpaths laid by developers.

Because of past neglect, council has a huge task to correct the past policy of concentration on motor transport, without sufficient consideration of pedestrians.

Hopefully, in the not too distant future, Port Macquarie will be able to be seen as a ‘Pedestrian Safety’ town.

Tom Cornforth, Port Macquarie