More than 137 people have signed the petition since early April to plead with Port Macquarie-Hastings Council for relief from the estate's only exit via a roundabout on Ocean Drive near Lighthouse Beach.

They say the intersection of upper Crestwood Drive and lower Crestwood Drive becomes so congested with traffic each morning from 7am to 9am it accumulates a 10 minute wait.

Local resident David Irving, who has lived in the area for 22 years, said the delays are frustrating, presented a safety risk and relied on other drivers allowing residents to exit against right of way rules.

"There's two issues there, the first one highlighted in the survey is that it's a safety issue because if anything happens here you've got no way to leave the estate," he said.

"The second issue is the traffic, if you come here between 7am and 9am the cars are backed up all the way along both streets."

Mr Irving said residents needed an alternative exit point from the estate for use by regular vehicular traffic.

"Originally there was an exit from Yaluma Drive but council closed that in 1998. At that point in time they said the roundabout would cater for all the cars," he said.

"Well it doesn't and it's as simple as that.

"Even if we could just get a one-way turn out onto Ocean Drive that would stop the cars becoming stuck here, it's not rocket science."

The Crestwood Drive exit is connected to a planned Ocean Drive Duplication project, in which dual lanes on Ocean Drive between Matthew Flinders Drive to Greenmeadows Drive will be replicated.

As part of the project, council is planning to upgrade 3.4 kilometres of Ocean Drive from two lanes to four lanes with the help of $10 million of state government funding.

"A lot of people here have said it's unsafe because if you have a look around the estate there are tree lines and national park down the bottom," said Mr Irving.

"We have never had fires here but that's not to say we couldn't have one.

"If there is only one exit to get out of, then everyone's trapped."

The petition is running until May 31 and will then be presented to council.

Council was contacted for comment. A council spokesperson said if a petition or formal submission is presented to council it will be reviewed.

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