But you and I know it as the stretch of Oxley Highway between Wrights Road and Lake Road roundabouts.

The issue of traffic congestion was discussed at Port Macquarie-Hastings Council's meeting on December 12 when Cr Rob Turner raised the issue.

Long queues, delays and frustrated drivers have reached saturation point at the known congestion hot spots.

Works are currently being undertaken to upgrade the road network further south of the Wrights Road roundabout at the entrance to the new Bunnings store.

That work has further highlighted the potential for congestion, once the store begins trading in early 2019.

Lake Innes resident and member of the Lake Innes Orbital Road Action Group Debbie Purcell addressed the public forum section of Wednesday’s meeting on the congestion in the precinct.

She says residents on the Lake Innes peninsula have known for years that the stretch of Oxley Highway was notoriously congested.

"We are suggesting that the Sherwood Road and Lake Road intersection should include traffic lights and slip lanes," she told the meeting.

"This section is part of the congestion crisis.

"The main issue appears to be that you have a 100 kmh highway reducing to 70 kmh and then a couple of roundabouts.

"I think that is an immediate concern that needs to be addressed."

Cr Turner told the meeting that despite all the good work carried out by council on roads, the stretch of Oxley Highway is causing a congestion crisis here and now.

"The difference comes from the fact that the Oxley Highway is the responsibility of the Roads and Maritime Service and the state government and not council," he said.

"This means that whilst council has responsibility for the rest of our local road network, we must rely on the state to maintain the Oxley Highway.

"It's worth remembering that the Oxley Highway duplication has only been in existence for just over five years, but the intersection with Wrights Road has been problematic from day one. 

"At the time of construction, funding that was initially allocated to the Oxley Highway upgrade was diverted to other projects. Corners were cut – leaving our community with a vastly inferior solution for traffic management at the intersections with Wrights Road and Lake Road.  

"Indeed, the section of road between these two roundabouts is the busiest segment of road in the entire local government area," he said.

The partial signalisation at the Wrights Road roundabout have been "almost completely ineffective", Cr Turner said.

"The congestion crisis is happening right now and simple band aid solutions will not be enough," he added.

Cr Turner called for an urgent solution to solve the current congestion problems but also to cater for the expected decades of rapid growth west of the precinct.

He noted that the RMS had recommended that councillors not approve a rezoning for a new highway centre on the south western corner of the Oxley and Pacific highway intersection because the area is already exceeding capacity at key times throughout the day.

"So the poor planning and lack of action on the Oxley Highway is already having an economic impact on our region," he said.

Cr Turner said it was also worth noting that council had refused to rezone the land where the new Bunnings store is currently being built because of fears of further impacts on traffic movements in the area.

"But the minister for planning used his power to overrule the council decision. That allowed the development to proceed.

"Now the traffic from the school, hospital, university, local residential estates and commuter traffic will have the Bunnings traffic added to the whole mess.

"Our community will, rightly, be up in arms about the traffic chaos, and will demand a much more urgent response from the state government than we are currently getting."

Cr Lisa Intemann supported Cr Turner's notice adding: "The community looks to us as the ones responsible for all traffic issues in the local government area.

"But we need to inform the community about this shared responsibility."

Cr Geoff Hawkins described the issue as a "a crisis in the here and now".

Cr Turner said the RMS has done a tremendous job at Yippen Creek and Rawdon Island Road intersections.

Council resolved to write to the relevant state members and ministers seeking a response to the "impending traffic congestion crisis".

Those responses could come back to the February council meeting.

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