By GEORGIA WESTGARTH
A DAILY five-minute trip down the road for one Lyndhurst mum takes on average 45 minutes due to the Evans road closure.
Carrie McKerlie-Gregson’s sons, four-year-old Parker and one-year-old Preston, spend an extra 40 minutes at their childcare centre because their mum is stuck in traffic.
“We chose that childcare centre close to five years ago because we had been told Evans Road was going to open. All they needed to do was to put in a train crossing and we were all celebrating,” Carrie said.
“Then we got told otherwise and centres much closer to us have opened up but my children are settled in and we don’t want to move them now.”
Choosing not to illegally drive through the blocked off road like many of her neighbours, Carrie said the round trip to pick up her sons from an address off Evans Road is “just a mess”.
“Something needs to be decided as soon as possible – we all have the same concerns about the bottleneck on Thompsons Road because three lanes go down to one,” she said.
“And that’s where I spend the majority of my time stuck in traffic and the feelings among other residents are that someone’s going to get seriously injured by illegally crossing because of the train.”
Carrie said the road closure is a hot topic on the Marriott Waters Residents’ Facebook page with feelings of isolation being another problem.
“Lyndhurst residents do feel segregated from the wider community because there is a road to get us into Lynbrook which would be quick and easy that we can’t use and Lynbrook has so many facilities we don’t,” she said.
Carrie said drivers who are cutting through the Merinda Park train station car park are adding to the traffic chaos.
“They make it worse for people who are doing the right thing because it causes more of a bottleneck and if Evans Road was opened they wouldn’t do it,” she said.
