In a letter to the Kiama Independent last week, Princes Highway Action for Safety (PHASE) member Jane Britten said she was disappointed that the Mayor was “unsympathetic to their circumstances”.

Ms Britten’s family property on the highway at Toolijooa would encounter access issues, most notably higher traffic volumes travelling at higher speeds, when Stage 1 of the upgrade between Mount Pleasant and Toolijooa Rd was undertaken.

“Worse, (the Mayor) is seemingly hostile to our quite natural and legitimate attempts to secure the safest and most workable arrangements possible…” she said.

Cr McCarthy said those seeking to have modifications made to the approved design, including PHASE’s desire to have a service road constructed from the Britten’s property to Baileys Rd to improve access, should be taken up with the RTA.

“My primary concern is for the work to proceed, because the community has waited long enough,” she said.

“Not every individual along that highway will be pleased (with the design), but the decision needs to be made in the public interest.

“These issues should be taken up individually with the RTA.”

Ms Britten also said PHASE had continued to lobby the RTA about issues affecting properties in the nearby area, including making a detailed submission from the majority of property owners on the highway frontage.

“So far, we have not had any indication (whether) there will be a service road… We want the RTA to give us a response, an indication they’ve really considered our arguments.”

Kiama Council South Precinct group member Wayne Wells also criticised the Mayor’s call for the Mount Pleasant merge lane to be moved further south, and not north as they had proposed as the preferable and more cost-effective solution.

Cr McCarthy said the movement of the merge lane further south was part of the overall, long-term approved plan for the highway upgrade and she was merely seeking to have the first stage of works begun.

• The RTA did not respond to questions at the time of going to press.