Lawson – How it Came to This
The following is an account of how Lawson has arrived at the situation it faces today - where the village may lose the majority of its highway history. The issues that have been part of that process are extremely complex – the following explanation aims to simply outline basic facts and identify key problem areas. A step by step chronology can also be found here (click to link).Highway Widening Background
The Great Western Highway (GWH) is the main road transport route between Sydney and the West of NSW. It crosses the Blue Mountains on a narrow ridge and travels, mostly, alongside the main east/west rail line. Original highway townships grew up and spread around the road and in yesteryear it provided the focus for community activities as well as commerce. Naturally, as our dependence on the vehicle grew so did traffic volumes and, what was once the lifeblood of the Mountains’ communities became a high speed dividing line through communities, and a problem. Somehow authorities had to find a way to provide a high traffic volume crossing across the Mountains.Although discussion for a route which would avoid the picturesque and historic communities of the Mountains has raged for many years, the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority has stuck with an anachronistic 1967 plan to widen the present highway to four lanes (two in each direction) between the foot and the top of the Mountains, with a promise to do so by 2010. Much of this project is now complete but Lawson presents particular problems.
Why is highway widening at Lawson considered a problem?
Of all the villages on the highway Lawson has the narrowest highway corridor. As the development of Lawson naturally occurred along the rail and highway, historic shops and community buildings are now on one side of the highway and the rail line on the other – the highway jammed between. The problem lies in the fact that the available space between buildings (click here to find out what and where these are – link to map) and the rail line is narrow, thus challenging road designers to meet their requirements and preserve the historic streetscape.
For the purposes of highway widening the RTA has divided Lawson into three sections, Lawson 2, Lawson 1B and Lawson 1A. We deal with each of these separately:-
Section 2
Lawson Shops – Honour Avenue to Ridge Street
This has been the toughest and most controversial of any section of highway widening through the Mountains. The biggest problems Lawson has faced are the result of how the project has been approached. The following are its major problems:-
1. The unsubstantiated insistence that a service road for parking is required in addition to the four highway lanes. This entails so much space that the majority of Lawson’s historic highway shops must be demolished to make way for that service road;
2. The building of a wider highway, a service road and a new shopping village following demolition of its historic buildings that involves the complicated cooperation of the RTA (as road builders), BMCC (as planners and developers) and private investors (in new shops). This scenario is already causing many problems.
In proposing to demolish the historic highway shops, BMCC has committed to the complete redevelopment of Lawson, known as the Lawson Master Plan. This process, which has been carried out separately from the RTA’s process, is outlined in our chronology section (click here) and has been fraught with problems related to Council’s failure to establish the heritage status of the village and its flawed community consultation process.
The Service Road problem
The widening option for this section of highway is known as the Preferred Option. It was selected by BMCC in 1999 and agreed to by the RTA in 2001. This option sees the RTA provide four highway lanes and a service road for parking in front of highway shops. It was an option selected on the following premises:
- a four lane highway could not fit into the current road corridor and retain highway parking;
- without highway parking Lawson would lose so much passing trade that the shops would die;
- the historic highway shops had to be sacrificed (demolished) to make way for parking arrangements.
However, there are significant flaws in this argument:-
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A four lane highway and highway parking can be achieved by widening the highway into rail land (already purchased by the RTA recently). ACMMR has put forward a plan known as the ACMMR Alternative Plan which accomplishes exactly this. It has been examined by the RTA who were at pains to find fault with it. Their objections are easily refuted (click here to find out more). This plan does not provide for a service lane but rather an on-highway parking arrangement wide enough for vehicles to reverse park into a parallel parking arrangement without conflicting with highway traffic. This arrangement has been proven highly successful locally in Blaxland. (click here for plan).
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A service road would be more difficult to access than parallel highway parking.
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The demolition of shops will force Lawson’s retail centre into a situation where both shops businesses and buildings have to be regenerated from scratch during a period of construction, estimated by authorities to be a minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years. During this time passing trade, wishing to visit businesses already struggling to trade in this environment, will be significantly disadvantaged by multiple construction sites, complete removal of on-highway parking and a lack of basic amenities.
- Most of the trade in Lawson is in fact local, yet no effective plans have been made to facilitate access to the village centre for locals, especially from the other side of the highway. Instead, all attention has been placed on a small percentage of highway passing trade.
Ferguson Avenue to Bass Street, Lawson
This section is at the entrance to Lawson. Following
significant opposition from the community to an earlier RTA proposal to
provide a towering ‘flyover’-style overpass solution to widening the
highway at Lawson’s entrance, the RTA is currently in the process of
preparing a Review of Environmental Factors (REF) for its alternative
option for this section. The main feature of this would be to
avoid such a visually invasive structure as that earlier proposed, by
building a viaduct across a short valley and constructing a small land
bridge (like a very short tunnel) in front of the Catholic Church thus
allowing local traffic to pass over the top of highway traffic and
neatly providing a series of local roads connecting both sides of the
highway. (click here for pictures and latest update on this
section).
Section 1B
Bass Street to Honour Avenue, Lawson
This section links up both Section 1A and Section 2 and has been the subject of controversy due to the need to widen the road through the area currently occupied by the Mid Mountains most historic and important building, the 101 year old Mechanics’ Institute . The final decision as to the fate of this building has been left up to BMCC, which is currently dragging its heels on the matter. Council is seemingly tending towards its total demolition because this is the cheapest option and it would provide an opportunity to reclassify and sell the land for development. At present the matter of the Hall seems to have stalled as does the highway widening – although this section’s plans have been approved by the RTA, funding for its commencement (was to have started Mid 2005) has not been approved by the State Government. A final decision on the fate of the Hall has been requested by the RTA by mid 2006, telling us that nothing will happen before this time. (click her for road design and pictures plus latest update on this section.)
Ferguson Avenue to Bass Street, Lawson
This section is at the entrance to Lawson. Following significant opposition from the community to an earlier RTA proposal to provide a towering ‘flyover’-style overpass solution to widening the highway at Lawson’s entrance, the RTA is currently in the process of preparing a Review of Environmental Factors (REF) for its alternative option for this section. The main feature of this would be to avoid such a visually invasive structure as that earlier proposed, by building a viaduct across a short valley and constructing a small land bridge (like a very short tunnel) in front of the Catholic Church thus allowing local traffic to pass over the top of highway traffic and neatly providing a series of local roads connecting both sides of the highway. (click here for pictures and latest update on this section).
Section 1B
Bass Street to Honour Avenue, Lawson
This section links up both Section 1A and Section 2 and has been the subject of controversy due to the need to widen the road through the area currently occupied by the Mid Mountains most historic and important building, the 101 year old Mechanics’ Institute . The final decision as to the fate of this building has been left up to BMCC, which is currently dragging its heels on the matter. Council is seemingly tending towards its total demolition because this is the cheapest option and it would provide an opportunity to reclassify and sell the land for development. At present the matter of the Hall seems to have stalled as does the highway widening – although this section’s plans have been approved by the RTA, funding for its commencement (was to have started Mid 2005) has not been approved by the State Government. A final decision on the fate of the Hall has been requested by the RTA by mid 2006, telling us that nothing will happen before this time. (click her for road design and pictures plus latest update on this section.)