A Traffic Emergency !

The fire emergency which caused holidaymakers to climb into their cars and leave the south coast highlighted the poor condition of the Princes highway which serves the region between Wollongong and the Victorian border.  For much of its length it is simply one lane of traffic each way.

A twin divided road system is pushing south from Wollongong and the notorious bottleneck of Albion Park is months away from a by-pass completion but the further you drive south you find that little has changed, and that is the area where the people of New South Wales congregate for their summer holidays.

The death and destruction  created up and down the coast brought an evacuation order because of a repeat scenario expected today when a new heat front is due to arrive.  The television news showed an almost unending line of cars creeping at snail like pace up this escape route.  Taking to the road is the only option because the rail line ends at Nowra.

The other escape limitation is the fuel supply.  The towns and villages of the south coast cope well when the population surges in summer but the demand for fuel during this evacuation was overwhelming.  Long lines of cars queued at every selling point and it was quickly evident that stocks on hand were being exhausted.   Drivers were confronted with " out of service " tags on many pump hoses.

The politicians seem reluctant to blame this fire crisis on global warming but we haver been breaking heat records year after year and the forests are tinder dry because of the drought.  There is the expectation that the bushfire season will enlarge to an all year basis and there is no doubt that this fire season was not only out of control, but it brought fire right onto our doorsteps.  Even water bombers and the valiant efforts of the RFS volunteers could not bring it under control.

We appear to be on a cusp of replacing oil based fuels with electric cars and it should be noted that much of the fire area is without electric power and restoration is probably days away.  That is a sobering thought if fire emergencies are to become a regular event in our future.   One of the first casualties in a forest fire is the electricity supply and without that such an exodus would not be possible in the electric car age.

It is obvious that the Princes Highway needs a higher priority on the road renewal plan because it is the main way of access and exit from the entire coastal strip to the Victorian border.  The volume of traffic is far in excess of the safe loading of just a single lane each way and it is totally inadequate in any sort of emergency.

In this interim many motorists may become more prudent and cease simply buying car fuel when it runs low.  It would restore confidence to know that the tank was full and able to handle the run home at all times.  Such a precaution is becoming a necessity in this bushfire age !