It's no secret the level crossing and traffic lights in the centre of Riverstone is the focal point for traffic build ups. There are multiple factors affecting this including the train timetables and phasing of the lights but even more significant is the sheer number of long vehicles transiting from the housing developments to the East and South or from Windsor Rd to Richmond Rd. Many of these trucks also use some of the residential roads causing safety concerns. 

Blocking long vehicles (particularly B-doubles) from Riverstone CBD would have a dramatic affect on the delays and the accessibility of the town’s CBD.

With the underpass at South St. Schofields there is now dual lane access from Windsor Rd to Richmond Rd, roughly 4km to the South of Garfield Rd. Unlike the mostly residential roads in and around Riverstone, all these road are dual carriage way and suitable for long vehicles.

Many of these trucks are working on new estates on the fringes of town that can easily be access without cutting through Garfield Rd to either Windsor Rd or Richmond Rd. This proposal would produce an exclusion zone around the residential area of Riverstone that prevents long vehicles from spending more time than necessary on streets that are crumbling under their weight, lined with children walking home from school.

The boundary of the exclusion zone could be Crown Street to the north, Riverstone Parade/Railway Tce to the west, Schofields Rd to the South and Windsor Rd (or Edmund/Clark St) to the east. All of these roads provide access to the housing estates without transiting through the Riverstone residential area or CBD. Removing this traffic would provide a significant improvement to the current blockages at the crossing lights with virtually no infrastructure improvements. 

For this to really work it would require Riverstone Business Park to open the road that's already there off Garfield Rd West. This would allow RBP traffic heading to Richmond Rd to leave on Garfield Rd West and those travelling to Windsor Rd can either go up Crown St or (ideally) get there via Bandon Rd. Council has nothing to lose and everyone gets to see an immediate result.