2 weeks ago
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The council behind a controversial diamond-shaped roundabout in Sydney's south-west has admitted the "benefit of hindsight" after spending $140,000 to install and remove it within a week.
The diamond-shaped roundabout in the south-western Sydney suburb of Austral caused mass confusion among drivers in navigating its unusual shape – as well as how to give way to, and interact with other vehicles – when it was installed in late June.
Liverpool City Council has revealed it cost $92,885 to install – a figure the council argues was reasonable, even though the design was never tested prior to implementation – according to a report reviewing the debacle.
The removal of the roundabout cost $47,052, more than half the installation price, which covers the cost of reverting the intersection to its original form, including 'Give Way' signs in the place of the 'diamondabout', and altering the footpath and pram ramp.
Other intersections in the area received new roundabouts, ranging from $38,296 (22nd and 5th Avenue) to $154,111 (Edmondson and 11th Avenue), but none required their removal a week after being installed, a Liverpool Council spokesperson assured Drive.
Liverpool City Council CEO Jason Breton told a council meeting this week that the roundabout was meant to be oval-shaped, not diamond-shaped, but admitted the local area body now has the "benefit of hindsight".
"The roundabout, even in its skewed oval design, [should] never have been constructed. The lesson learnt was swift, it was robust, and the actions in the lessons learnt are already underway," Breton said, in remarks quoted by The Sydney Morning Herald.
"It is clear I have labelled the whole process unsatisfactory," Breton said.
Breton said two telegraph poles at the intersection prevented the construction of an oval design, along with limitations of the contractor's machinery.
Independent Liverpool City councillor, Peter Ristevski, reflected on the embarrassment of the issue that made the suburb an "international laughing stock".
"That whole episode went viral all around the world, and has damaged the reputation of not only [the] council, but the entire city. The brand damage is probably irreversible.
"You have to spend ratepayers’ money like it’s your own."
The suburb of Austral – including Fifteenth Avenue – serves as a thoroughfare to and from the upcoming Western Sydney International Airport, which from its opening next year will be able to "service [up to] 10 million passengers a year".
Liverpool City Council already covers almost a quarter of a million residents, and that, combined with neighbouring areas and the expected rise in traffic to the airport, the need to fix Fifteenth Avenue has been deemed one of the council’s top priorities.
The council has assured the public of its acknowledgement of the controversy caused by the installation.
“The lessons learnt are already shaping improvements to how council plans and delivers future traffic projects,” a council spokesperson said.
In the past, Council has expressed concern over how to mediate traffic, and while the 'diamondabout' was not successful, it says it was an attempt to improve the situation.
Liverpool Council says it is awaiting the NSW Government’s $1 billion upgrade of Fifteenth Avenue from a rural road to a "state-owned Transit Corridor".
Ilana is a Melbourne-based journalist who was previously a copywriter in the Big Apple. Having moved to Melbourne for her Master of Journalism, she has written articles about food, farm machinery, fashion, and now the fast and furious. Her dream car has been a Mini Cooper since the fifth grade, eyeing its style and petite size.
