Wall Park Avenue, Seven Hills

Transport proposed changes to on-street parking on the north and south end of Wall Park Avenue, Seven Hills. The proposal also included the suggestion to formalise existing bus stops to bus zones. These changes would improve traffic flow and address concerns about parked cars along the street near the vertical crest.

This proposal was presented to the community in December 2018 to gather feedback before any works began. A community consultation report was developed in April 2019 to summarise the comments received and our responses.

However, due to COVID-19 restrictions, the proposed changes could not be implemented. 

Transport restarted the project and carried out a parking survey, site investigation and a Have Your Say community consultation (PDF, 279.06 KB) for Wall Park Avenue in 2023. The community consultation took place between 24 May and 7 June 2023, with late submissions accepted until July 2023. Transport has released a Community Consultation Report to summarise the comments and our responses to feedback received in the consultation that took place in 2023.

Following this consultation, Transport received further feedback from the community and met with residents to address their concerns. Transport thanks the community for the feedback and has considered all the feedback received and the concerns of the residents. As a result, we have revised the project to address the community’s key concerns while keeping safety as a priority. Please see the map for more details.

Work to change the bus zone and ‘No Stopping’ signs along Wall Park Avenue is expected to commence on Monday 9 December 2024. For more details, please see the Notification (PDF, 485.74 KB). 

The key benefits to the community include:

• improve safety for all road users and residents 
• reduce vehicle weaving due to parked vehicles on the road and improve view and line of sight at the vertical crest curve
• provide better sight lines for residents exiting and entering their driveways near the crest
• improve traffic capacity and flow at signalised intersections
• keeping 72 potential on-street parking spaces during the day peak hours
• keeping 80 potential on-street parking spaces at night
• increase visibility when vehicles turn out of intersections and provide minimum length for left turn lanes.

The key features of the new amended project improvements include:

• full time ‘No Stopping’ extended at the intersections to meet minimum sight lines
• full time ‘No Stopping’ at the vertical crest curve to meet minimum sight lines for residents exiting and entering their driveways
• full time ‘No Stopping’ extended at the school side to ensure safety at all times.
• no change to the existing part-time and full-time ‘No Stopping’ zones opposite to the school, to always ensure safety near the school
• keeping 72 potential on-street parking spaces during the day peak hours
• keeping 80 potential on-street parking spaces at night
• include right turn arrows at the existing right turn bays from Wall Park Avenue onto the side roads.

During December 2018, Transport invited the community and stakeholders to provide feedback on the proposal. A community consultation report was developed in April 2019 to summarise the comments received and our responses.

However, due to COVID-19 restrictions, the proposed changes could not be implemented. 

Transport has restarted the project and carried out a parking survey, site investigation and a Have Your Say community consultation (PDF, 279.06 KB) for Wall Park Avenue in 2023. The community consultation took place between 24 May and 7 June 2023, with late submissions accepted until July 2023. Transport has released a Community Consultation Report to summarise the comments and our responses to feedback received in the consultation that took place in 2023.

What was the original proposal from May 2023? 

In response to community concerns about cars parked on the northern and southern sides of Wall Park Avenue, Transport proposed:  

• Installing a full-time ‘No Stopping’ zone along the northern and southern sides of Wall Park Avenue between Blacktown Road and Prospect Highway, Seven Hills 
• Changing bus stops to bus zones which would include bus zone signs at the start and end of the zones to increase driver awareness of the locations. 
• These changes were proposed to improve safety and reduce the number of crashes occurring on the corridor. This was identified as an issue pre-COVID and was becoming more of an issue again as traffic has picked up post COVID. 

Were any investigations or studies carried out to inform the proposal from May 2023?  

Parking studies and surveys were carried out to inform this proposal. Transport also looked at crash data history and traffic volume studies. 

Parking surveys found that low number of vehicles were parking on Wall Park Avenue.  

However, vehicle weaving movements in and out of the parking lane were impacting the safety of other motorists and residents, forcing motorists to weave and swerve around. 

The bus operators advised of concerns about the existing arrangements, flagging concerns about the safety, performance and reliability of services along Wall Park Avenue.  

Recorded traffic volumes remain high throughout each day.  

What safety issues were identified on the corridor? 

Crash data from Wall Park Avenue collected over the past six years (July 2017- June 2023) shows there have been 10 reported crashes.  

Of these reported crashes seven were crashes resulting in injuries - one was a serious injury crash, two were moderate injury crashes, and four minor injury crashes. 

Parked cars along Wall Park Avenue increases the risk of these types of crashes. 

What were residents’ main feedback on the original proposal? 

The main feedback received during the consultation process included: 

• removal of on-street parking for residents and visitors, especially during weekend periods 
• reduced visibility and sight lines for residents when moving in and out of driveways 
• motorists speeding when the parking in the first lane is removed 
• changes to the way residents were able to park including, having to stack cars in their driveways 
• inadequate and lack of communication 
• how the proposed changes were a result of older studies and consultation that did not consider current traffic trends  

This feedback was formally received during the consultation process that took place between May-June 2023 with additional feedback accepted in July 2023. Transport received 42 submissions from the ‘Have your say’ process. The Consultation Report was released in April 2024 and Transport received further feedback after the release of the report.  

What did residents say that supported the original proposal? 

Residents indicated that:  

• buses cannot pickup or set down people because of the cars parked full time on the street 
• the project will help fix the congestion in the area 
• there are difficulties seeing approaching traffic from their driveway because of the vehicles parked on the road 
• notes there are parked cars, trailers and boats parked semi-permanently on the road as well as parents doing U-turns in Oldfield Road once their child has been picked up or dropped off 
• they want the removal of the bus stop at 99 Wall Park Avenue. 

What does the amended scope achieve?  

The amended scope considers community feedback while keeping safety a priority and helping to reduce congestion at intersections on the road. The ‘No Stopping’ will reduce weaving manoeuvres by motorists attempting to move past parked vehicles which is a dangerous driving behaviour. 

The amended project includes the following changes to address key concerns:  

• full time ‘No Stopping’ extended only to the intersections to meet minimum sight lines   
• full time ‘No Stopping’ only at the vertical crest curve to meet minimum sight lines for drivers as well as residents exiting and entering their driveways  
• full time ‘No Stopping’ extended at the school site to ensure safety at all times   
• no change to the existing part-time and full-time ‘No Stopping’ zones opposite to the school  
• include right turn arrows at the existing right turn bays from Wall Park Avenue onto the side roads. 

The full time ‘No Stopping’ has been extended in the vicinity of the Bert Oldfield Primary school on Wall Park Avenue which is crucial to ensure road safety for all road users before and after the midblock pedestrian traffic lights particularly by improving sightlines between school children and other pedestrians with oncoming vehicles near the school. 

Crashes did not happen at any particular location and were not exclusive to peak hours or weekdays. The current ‘No Stopping’ zones covers all current crash sites. 

In Transport’s original proposal there was no on-street parking, following the residents feedback the amended project scope has retained 72 potential on-street parking spaces during the day peak hours, and 80 potential on-street parking spaces outside of school zone times. There is existing spare capacity in all adjoining streets to cater for any small additional parking demand from Wall Park Avenue. 

What consultation was done on this project?  

As this project aligns with Transport’s commitment to provide safe roads for motorists, community consultation was not required to make this change. However, Transport wanted to understand the potential impacts to the community.  

May 2023 

As a result, a community consultation was carried out in May 2023, following meetings with Blacktown City Council and the project team. A notification with the project information and the opportunity for the community to ‘Have your say’ was distributed to 2,700 households along and around Wall Park Avenue. Residents were encouraged to submit feedback via email, phone or mail. Transport received 42 submissions from this consultation. 

The consultation period started on 24 May 2023 and closed on 7 June 2023; however this period was extended until 28 July 2023 in response to requests from the community and key stakeholders. Transport did not receive further submissions during the extended period. 

April 2024 

Once Transport reviewed and considered all the submissions received, a Consultation Report was released in April 2024 that responded to feedback received and outlined that work would be carried out in line with the original proposal.  

A notification with this information was distributed to the same 2,700 properties that were invited to provide feedback as part of the consultation process. All Transport notifications include a translator service phone number for non-English speakers who want to know more or provide feedback. 

Following the release of the Consultation Report, further feedback from the community was received and an online meeting with Wall Park Avenue resident, was set up to listen to feedback and address key concerns.  

At the same time, Transport received a petition signed by households along Wall Park Avenue against the proposed ‘No Stopping’ zones.  

Transport representatives had an on-site meeting with a group of residents. After this meeting, a revised scope was developed by the project team that addressed the community’s key concerns.

 

• November 2024 community update (PDF, 485.74 KB)
  
  Changes to parking to improve safety along Wall Park Avenue, Seven Hills
• December 2018 community update

  Have Your Say – Proposed improvements along Wall Park Avenue, Seven Hills.

• May/June 2023 community update (PDF, 446.8 KB)
  
  Have Your Say – Proposed improvements along Wall Park Avenue, Seven Hills.

• April 2024 community update (PDF, 279.06 KB)
  
  Have Your Say – Proposed improvements along Wall Park Avenue, Seven Hills.

• April 2020 Community Consultation Report

  Proposed improvements along Wall Park Avenue, Seven Hills.

• April 2024 Community Consultation Report (PDF, 1.43 MB)

  Proposed improvements along Wall Park Avenue, Seven Hills.