COMMUNITY PETITION

June 2026

 

Signalise the New Line Road / Shepherds Drive Roundabout, Cherrybrook Intersection of New Line Road, County Drive and Shepherds Drive, Cherrybrook NSW 2126

 

Addressed To

• The NSW Minister for Roads and Transport
• The Member for Hornsby, NSW Legislative Assembly
• The Federal Member for Berowra, House of Representatives
• Hornsby Shire Council, Mayor and General Manager
• Transport for NSW, Greater Sydney
 

 

1. The Problem We Are Asking You to Solve

We, the residents, commuters and visitors of Cherrybrook and surrounding suburbs, call on the NSW Government, Transport for NSW and Hornsby Shire Council to urgently install traffic signals at the roundabout at the intersection of New Line Road, County Drive and Shepherds Drive, Cherrybrook.

This roundabout is one of the busiest and most dangerous intersections in the Hills District. It serves as a critical junction connecting residential areas, two schools, a major shopping centre, a retirement village, and the Cherrybrook Metro station. Despite serving this volume and variety of road users, it remains a large, multi-lane roundabout that is intimidating, difficult to navigate, and demonstrably unsafe.

This is not a new problem. Community members have raised concerns about this intersection for several decades. We are now asking that this longstanding issue be treated with the urgency it deserves.

 

2. A History of Accidents and Near-Misses

This intersection has been the site of numerous recorded accidents. Transport for NSW's own crash data shows collision history at this location going back many years, including a multi-car incident recorded as recently as 2018 affecting traffic in all directions.

Residents and community advocates have repeatedly described the roundabout as:

• The site of numerous accidents that represent an unacceptable risk of a serious, fatal crash
• Extremely dangerous in wet weather conditions, where give-way sight lines are compromised
• Intimidating for many drivers, particularly those unfamiliar with large multi-lane roundabouts
• An unacceptable obstacle for pedestrians, cyclists and people using mobility aids
 

A Change.org petition launched in March 2021 by a local resident gathered hundreds of verified signatures calling for traffic signals at this exact intersection. Community consultation conducted by NSW Transport in 2022-2023 as part of the $70 million New Line Road upgrade assessment received a large number of requests specifically for traffic lights with a pedestrian crossing at the County Drive / Shepherds Drive intersection. The NSW Government acknowledged these submissions and stated the feedback would be considered in future planning. Years on, nothing has changed.

Former Hornsby Shire Independent Councillor Vince del Gallego publicly described the area around this roundabout as among the highest safety hazard contributors to pedestrians and commuters in the area, citing the danger of vehicles entering and exiting Cherrybrook Village shopping centre into an already congested Shepherds Drive during peak periods and school hours.

 

3. Who Is Most at Risk

The intersection sits at the centre of a catchment that includes:

• Two nearby schools whose students cross this intersection daily on foot and by bike
• A retirement village whose residents depend on safe pedestrian crossing facilities
• Commuters accessing the Cherrybrook Metro station, many of whom must cross New Line Road on foot
• Shoppers and workers at Cherrybrook Village Shopping Centre
• Bus passengers who must cross at or near the roundabout with no safe signalised crossing
 

Traffic engineers and Australian road design guidelines recognise that when an intersection is proximate to schools, aged-care facilities, and high pedestrian volumes, the risk calculus changes. This intersection meets every criterion for prioritised signalisation.

 

4. Traffic Signals Will Improve Efficiency, Not Just Safety

A common misconception is that roundabouts always outperform traffic signals for flow. In high-volume intersections with dominant traffic movements on one or more legs, roundabouts break down. Australian road design guidelines (Austroads) specify that when traffic volumes on any approach exceed 600 vehicles per hour, signalisation should be assessed. New Line Road at peak hours clearly meets and exceeds this threshold.

Traffic signals managed through Transport for NSW's Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System (SCATS) can dynamically adjust green phases to match real-time demand, reducing bottlenecks and balancing flow across all approaches. This is particularly valuable at this intersection, where congestion from the shopping centre, metro station, and schools creates competing peak demands at different times of day.

Community feedback from the NSW Transport consultation consistently identified this intersection as the number one congestion hotspot along the New Line Road corridor. Signalisation, combined with coordinated signal phasing with adjacent intersections, is the proven solution.

 

5. The Evidence Base Is Clear

Global and Australian research on intersections like this one is unambiguous. Where large roundabouts are converted to signals or signalised roundabouts at high-volume sites with mixed users:

• Injury crash rates drop significantly, often by 30 to 50 percent at comparable sites
• Pedestrian and cyclist safety improves, with cyclists facing substantially lower risk at signalised intersections than at roundabouts
• Traffic signals provide a safe, predictable gap for vulnerable road users that a roundabout cannot guarantee
• SCATS-managed signals can reduce peak hour delays by dynamically responding to traffic demand, unlike a fixed roundabout which has no adaptive capacity
 

The UK's Transport Research Laboratory found that roundabouts are 2 to 3 times more dangerous for cyclists than traffic signals. Australian research echoes this finding. Our intersection hosts significant school-age and elderly pedestrian traffic. We cannot accept a road design standard that statistical evidence tells us is measurably more dangerous for the people who depend on this crossing most.

 

6. This Has Been Done Before

Across greater Sydney and NSW, roundabouts at high-volume, high-risk intersections have been successfully converted to or replaced with traffic signals. The Hills Shire has itself benefited from Australian Government Black Spot Program funding to upgrade dangerous intersections in Box Hill and other locations. These upgrades demonstrate that the funding mechanisms exist and that the NSW and Federal governments recognise the need to act when community safety evidence is compelling.

The Australian Government Black Spot Program provides up to 100 percent funding for traffic safety infrastructure at locations with a record of casualty crashes or a demonstrated risk of occurring. For the 2026/27 round, approximately $41 million is available for NSW projects alone. Anyone, including community groups, can nominate a Black Spot location for consideration. We are calling on Hornsby Shire Council to formally nominate this intersection.

 

7. What We Are Asking For

We call on the NSW Government, Hornsby Shire Council and Transport for NSW to:

1. Commission an independent traffic safety audit of the New Line Road / County Drive / Shepherds Drive roundabout, with results made public within 90 days.
2. Direct Hornsby Shire Council to formally nominate this intersection to Transport for NSW under the Australian Government Black Spot Program for the next available funding round.
3. Commit to installing traffic signals at this intersection, including safe, signalised pedestrian crossings on all approaches, as part of the broader New Line Road upgrade funded under the NSW Government's existing $70 million commitment.
4. Provide the community with a clear timeline for when this work will be funded, designed and delivered, and establish a community liaison point for updates.
 

 

8. Our Community Deserves Better

Cherrybrook is a growing, connected community. Our suburb now has a metro station. Our children walk to school past this intersection. Our elderly residents need to cross it to reach the shops and their medical appointments. Our commuters need a safe way to reach the platform.

We are not asking for anything unreasonable. We are asking for the same standard of road safety infrastructure that is considered normal elsewhere in Sydney. Traffic signals at a busy intersection near schools, a metro station and a retirement village should not require decades of advocacy. But here we are.

The evidence is in. The community has spoken, year after year. The funding mechanisms exist. We are asking you to act.

 

Petition Signatures

By signing below, I support the call to signalise the intersection of New Line Road, County Drive and Shepherds Drive, Cherrybrook, and urge the NSW Government, Transport for NSW and Hornsby Shire Council to take immediate action