Port Stephens residents claim speed limit on notorious 7.8km stretch of road is a fatal mistake

As more than 8000 motorists travel a notorious 7.8km stretch of road between Tomago and Williamtown each day, residents and business owners have every reason to be apprehensive.

Already this year, there has been a man killed, a woman trapped and four people injured in two serious road accidents in the 90km/h speed zone where Tomago and Cabbage Tree roads meet.

The victims are the tragic face of an almost 18-month dispute between residents, backed by Port Stephens Council traffic committee and Port Stephens MP Kate Washington, and the Roads and Maritime Service (RMS) over the speed limit.

Residents have been campaigning to have the speed limit dropped to 80km/h because they fear more people will be killed.

A review of the speed limit conducted by RMS, obtained under freedom of information laws, reveals Tomago Rd is 12 times more dangerous than similar 90km/h rural roads in NSW and Cabbage Tree Rd is five times more dangerous.

The review, completed in November last year, recommends the speed limit be dropped to 80km/h from WesTrac's NSW headquarters, on Tomago Rd, to the corner of Cabbage Tree Rd and Barrie Crescent, but no action has been taken.

The drop in speed limit would add 39 seconds to the journey.

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Residents started publicly calling for a review of the speed limit in February last year and since then there has been two fatal crashes on the 7.8km stretch of road.

Ms Washington said she did not understand why action had not already been taken to improve safety.

"At our request, the government investigated how to make the road safer, they have a recommendation, they have the support of the local police, and yet the they've failed to take any action," she said.

"Every day that goes by is another day where someone could be seriously injured, or lose their life."

In March, a 75-year-old man was killed when two cars collided on Tomago Rd and the 32-year-old man had to be airlifted to hospital with serious injuries.

Three passengers, two women and a two-year-old boy, were also injured.

The accident was Port Stephens' first road fatality this year.

Last month, a woman in her 40s had to be cut from her car after a two-vehicle collision on the same stretch of road.

Tomago Rd resident Tony Formosa said his wife, Lea, had nearly been hit twice in recent years trying to turn into the couple's driveway.

"There have been two or three fatalities just down the road from me," he said.

"It's a 90km/h speed limit and everyone is doing 100km/h, it's far too dangerous.

"There is more and more traffic on the road everyday, we accept that, but they need to drop the speed limit down to 80km/h or more people will die."

Ms Washington said to prevent more tragedies, the government needed to "do its job, act on its own findings and make the road safe".

"Residents and workers raised their genuine safety concerns with me, I sought an investigation and the findings are clear," she said.

"But there's still no change. The road it still 12 times more dangerous than other similar roads and too many people have lost their lives."

According to the RMS review, there were nine accidents on Tomago Rd, including two fatalities and four crashes where nine people were injured, in the five years to November last year.

On Cabbage Tree Rd over the same time, there were 13 accidents, including nine crashes where 13 people were injured.

The casualty rate for both sections of road was described as "much higher" than typical crash rates on rural roads in 90km/h speed zones.

"For the full length of the 90km/h zone, there are three intersections (or less than one per kilometre) and 133 regularly used accesses (or an average of 17 per kilometre), which are conditions more suited to a 60km/h speed limit," the review reads.

"However, such a speed zone would be impractical in this instance and an 80km/h speed limit would be more appropriate."

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WesTrac NSW chief executive Greg Graham said the company's 650 employees were forced to use the 90km/h stretch of road coming to and from work.

Mr Graham said several employees had raised concerns about the speed limit and WesTrac, a distributor for Caterpillar machinery, supported the community push to have it reduced.

"We'd definitely like to see the speed limit lowered," he said.

"To make it as safe as possible for our employees and other road users...we're obviously keen to see them make their way to and from work in safety."

Cabbage Tree Rd resident Wayne Sampson said traffic had increased immensely over the past few years.

"It's a very busy road these days, there are a lot more trucks on the road and it's hard for them to pull up," he said.

"You have residents trying to get into driveways when it's 90km/h and there are trucks coming up behind you at speed, it's a bit of a worry to say the least."

Ms Washington applied in March to Transport for NSW under Government Information (Public Access) laws for a copy of the 'final' speed limit review report and its recommendations.

Her request was denied in April after Transport for NSW said "no information has been identified as falling within the scope of your application".

She then requested an internal review of the decision pointing out that her office had correspondence from the Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Roads and Infrastructure, Mr Christopher Gulaptis, stating the review had been completed and a recommendation made.

In May, Ms Washington was informed that her appeal was successful and she was granted a copy of the "completed" review.

"The government tried to hide this from us by playing silly semantic games and classifying the report as complete instead of final," she said.

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"That goes to show the dangerous arrogance they have towards this issue - after too many fatalities, and local families torn apart, the government wants to fight over whether the report is completed or finalised.

"We finally got our hands on this report, and now all the government needs to do is act."

A spokeswoman for Transport for NSW said the speed zone review was still underway.

"The speed zone review is assessing a number of factors including crash history, road geometry, road environment, traffic volumes and the number of access points," she said.

"The technical review has been completed, however the final speed zone report is yet to be finalised.

"We will notify the community of the outcomes of this speed zone review when it has been completed."

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