I would have thought that Chatswood could ill-afford more congestion and parking from the alternative (cars)! I appreciate that cycle lanes might not be the answer here though...

We need fewer cars in the Chatswood CBD. More bikes & more pedestrians. More public transport users.

My apologies. I dont mean no cycling. I just dont see now cycle lanes could work in Chatswood CBD. Perhaps cycling to the fringe and walk the last 100-200 meters.

Yellow markings on the Pacific Highway/Albert Avenue intersection are sorely needed too. Cars frequently get stuck in the middle of the intersection for a variety of reasons, leaving pedestrians to thread their way through (difficult verging on dangerous with prams). I would request that Council views the Thomas St car park redevelopment as an opportunity to improve the road network around here. Cars from both sides of Albert Lane frustrate traffic and pedestrians alike. And yes, Adviser 169, there is a new car park mooted for the development, which has the potential to exacerbate the problems of this little section of Albert Avenue. There are a lot of pedestrians moving between the 2 schools and high density residential area on the western side of the Pacific Highway (locality 'J') and the train station/Chatswood. Lots of commuters, lots of people with prams, lots of school children. There needs to be significant improvement of both Centennial Avenue and Albert Avenue approaches to the Pacific Highway to reduce pedestrian / car conflict. The very first thing you can do is replace the big, shady trees on the eastern side of the Pacific Highway/Albert Avenue intersection. To avoid baking in the sun in front of 6 lanes of traffic, waiting for the green walk sign, I will often jump in my car for local errands - contributing to Chatswood's traffic woes. A big thank you for widening the pedestrian strip along the southern side of Albert Avenue. Looking forward to those trees maturing too. Moving the substation or whatever it is certainly reduced a very dangerous spot, though more needs to be done to slow down cars speeding up Albert Lane to that intersection. Again, Ive had some nasty near miss moments pushing a pram. Finally, I am grateful to be an able-bodied 30-something that can happily get around anywhere in sneakers or thongs, but a while back I had an eye-opening few months, heavily pregnant and pushing a pram. All of a sudden, the streets are that more difficult and dangerous to get around. Im not looking forward to old age, I tell you. The next time you walk down Albert Avenue towards Chatswood and go under the bridge, take a look at the steep gradient, the camber of the new footpath and where the handrail stops (a State Government project, not Council). It took a lot of effort to stop the pram from falling on to the road. This area needs a lot of attention. I would look forward to seeing some plans drawn up to encourage safe, efficient walking of our streets.

Hi Adviser169 Thanks for your post. Hopefully the information below can help answer some of your questions: ' The Roads & Maritime Services (formerly RTA) is responsible for the management of the Pacific Highway and for any signalised intersection. In the past Council has requested that cross-hatched markings be introduced at signalised intersections where there are problems with vehicles queuing across the intersection. The RMS does not however believe those markings are appropriate so does not install them. Council has raised concern about problems at the Pacific Highway/Centennial Avenue intersection with the RMS on a number of occasions. The RMS’s most recent advice is that the matter has been reviewed and the phasing optimised to allow for greatest throughput of traffic. The RMS acknowledges that the close spacing of the two sets of traffic signals (at Centennial Ave and Albert Ave) creates difficulties in efficiently managing traffic movements into and past the intersection but considers that it has done all it can to ensure the intersections operate efficiently. The redevelopment of the Thomas St Car Park will incorporate a 250 space public car park to be owned and operated by Council. It is noted that there are currently 151 spaces in the existing car park. Willoughby’s current population of approx 68,000 people reside in 28,000 households (dwellings). Our population is expected to increase by just over 6,600 people to 73,500 by 2021. This is based on an increase of almost 3,480 households during that period. This growth rate is consistent with the NSW Government’s Metro Strategy and Subregional Plan which provides a target for Willoughby of a an additional 6,800 dwellings by 2031.'

Yes I agree with better indications that drivers are doing something wrong at intersections. We have the same problem trying to either turn into Oliver Road from the north and when we enter Oliver Road from Albert Avenue.

Why do the same bike riders talk loudly as they ride past my house at 6 am in the morning?

Hmm.... building a separate cycleway is expensive and a road is not? Not the mention the continuous investment of public money into road maintenance each year, as oppose to cycleways which require little or no maintenance; a 12kg bicycle will always do less damage to the road compare with a 4 tonne car. And I'm sure that an old lady or a child will find it much safer to ride on dedicated cycleways; not all cyclists, or potential cyclists, are masculine racer cyclists and can ride at 60km/h speed.

A transparent and forward looking council will win support of ratepayers. The best way to remove doubt is providing evidence. Quite a lot of companies are going for open management, perhaps one day this should be applied to local council as well. At least we have the Open Forum in the meantime.

Hi Adviser169 Thanks for the comments on The Concourse and your thoughts on how Council should provide feedback to community members such as yourself - we will take this on board. You can find financial information on The Concourse in some of the later reports dealing with project expenditure which are listed below and available on Council’s website in the Council Meetings/Agendas and Minutes section. http://www.willoughby.nsw.gov.au/Council-Meetings/Agendas---Minutes/ In particular the report to the 2 May 2011 Corporate and Transport Committee detailed the variations to the Main Works Contract. In addition the report included details of other works required to complete the site prior to the opening, eg footpath works etc, that were outside the Main Works contract. You may also find the following reports of interest: Corporate and Transport Committee – 4 April 2011, Agenda Item 9.1, 2 May 2011 Agenda Item 9.1. General Council meeting 11 April 2011, Agenda Item 18.1 Thansk again for the feedback

Hi John F Thanks for letting us know. I have passed this info on to our webmaster and hopefully the problem will be fixed soon. We will let you know when this has been done. Thanks.

Hi JohnF Thanks again for alerting us to this issue. At this stage customers are able to lodge a service request through the website. Unfortunately the option of checking the status of a customer service request is no longer available through the website. Please feel free to call our customer service team on 9777 1000 or send us an email to email@willoughby.nsw.gov.au to check on the status of a request. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Hi laurel+squark Thansk for the feedback, we have passed on to our waste team for consideration.

Hi Charlie, Thanks for your feedback and for being part of the weekend. I can advise that the take up rate for the Cleanout weekend was very high. We had 1,323 households utilising the service over the weekend of 10 and 11 March. More than 56 tonnes of material was collected. We will make sure your comments are passed onto the team in charge!

Hi Charlie, Thanks for your comments I have passed your concerns onto our traffic section to advise further. We will get back to you back shortly!

Hi ashamazz Here is a repsonse from our Waste Co-ordinator: 'Yes, videos are a great way to educate, but they are also very costly to produce. Several years ago, we collaborated with a number of Councils to produce a recycling advertisement that was screened at Hoyts Cinemas. It featured the adventures of 'Steel Can Steve'. It was a successful campaign. One of the reasons we now have standard recycling lid colours is so that the State Government could start producing TV ads and educating our residents about recycling. I have not heard any updates from the Government about this recently. With regards to meat trays, these are made from polystyrene and are not acceptable in our recycling bins, please place them in the garbage bin. We also cannot recycle drinking straws or toothpaste tubes, these also must go in the garbage bin. Our recycling system is only designed to accept containers, such as bottles, jars and cans as well as paper and cardboard. Plastic lids removed from bottles and containers are not recyclable. They must be removed and placed into the garbage bin. I will suggest the idea of sharing the costs of producing recycling videos with other councils in this region to gauge their interest.'

Hi davidvsgoliath I can advise that the signs are being removed and should be gone by the end of the week.

Hi Grilled Bear Thanks for following this up and my apologies for not getting back to you earlier. Below is some information on Council's concrete grinding program: 'Concrete grinding or “trip grinding” is a solution to trip hazards where two adjacent slabs move between 10 mm to 30mm which could cause a pedestrian to trip and fall. Trip grinding will leave a 45mm thickness of the existing footpath which is originally built on average 75mm in overall thickness. But, any footpaths lifting over 30mm are not recommended to grind as the left over thickness is not sufficient to perform over the long term for two reasons: firstly, the thin section is likely to crack. Secondly, a larger grinding will introduce a ramp effect causing prams/trolleys or wheel chairs to move unsafely. When Council receives complaints from residents and the public about footpath condition failures such as joint lifted as steps, damaged or lifted due to tree roots, slabs with block cracks, bad surface texture due to aging and old asphalt or brick paved footpaths which require upgrades, Council will assess every individual situation independently and take necessary rectification actions. Also in some instances where major service authorities such as Ausgrid, Water Board or Telstra leave major footpath restorations to council, after their system upgrades, Council may expand the area of restoration to a larger footpath section by incorporating restorations and a number of other existing maintenance issues in the area. Records over previous years indicate that we receive between 200 to 300 requests directly from the residents and the public for various footpath failures in each financial year. Also, Council staff identify critical work whic is required as a pro-active approach. These requests are inspected and residents are consulted and then Council prioritise a program to rectify problems effectively and in a timely manner. ' Thanks for the feedback Grilled Bear.