In announcing the temporary measures, Palerang Mayor, Cr Peter Harrison, remarked that “As most people will understand, new facilities must be constructed to current standards, and this has necessitated the upgrading of lighting in the vicinity of the two new crossings before they can be marked to give pedestrians priority. With the projected delay, we felt it was better to open the crossings without pedestrian priority, rather than leave them closed until the required lighting upgrade was complete.” He went on to emphasise that “As soon as the lighting upgrade is complete, the crossings will be marked with ‘zebra’ stripes, once again giving priority to pedestrians.”

The final pavement correction and re-surfacing works in the vicinity of the new crossings should be completed this week, weather permitting. The crossings will then be opened, but without the new lighting and zebra markings, vehicles on the roadway will have right of way, although the narrowed street at the crossing points should make crossing much safer during this transition period regardless.

Cr Harrison also took the opportunity to reinforce the concerns voiced by RMS that regardless of the crossing type in place, it will always be necessary that pedestrians remain vigilant when using the crossing points. As marked crossing are phased out throughout NSW, drivers will not always be familiar with the special arrangements in place in Braidwood.

Council apologies for any inconvenience caused during these temporary arrangements.