Gillieston Heights residents are calling for action after two crashes on Cessnock Road in one morning, near the intersection of Gillieston Road.
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The first two-car crash occurred about 6.30am, before the second took place about two hours later, while a tow truck operator was still collecting cars involved in the first incident.
The Mercury understands that nobody was seriously injured during the crashes.
But it has prompted renewed calls for Cessnock Road, which connects Cessnock and the booming Gillieston Heights residential area to Maitland, to be made safer for motorists.
Gillieston Road is a popular route for parents who drop off and pick up their children from Gillieston Public School.
However, traffic travelling away from Maitland on Cessnock Road gets held up when motorists stop to turn into Gillieston Road.
Several Gillieston Heights residents told The Mercury they believed a turning lane needed to be installed on Cessnock Road to allow vehicles to pass motorists who were waiting to turn across oncoming traffic, into Gillieston Road.
Daphne Heatherill has done the school run from Maitland to Gillieston Public School for her child for the past four years.
She said she would be one of the motorists who would benefit from a turning lane from Cessnock Road into Gillieston Road.
“Sometimes you wait up there forever to get around,” Ms Heatherill said.
“A turning lane would make it much safer. There are always close calls up there.”
Richard Crouch, whose two children also go to school at Gillieston Public, said a turning lane for traffic coming from the Maitland direction would be significant.
He said he wasn’t surprised to hear that two crashes had occurred on the same stretch of road on Wednesday morning.
“The traffic is getting worse and worse,” Mr Crouch said.
“A lot of people have been wanting this road [Gillieston Road] done up for years now. The state of it is a disgrace.”
Gillieston Heights resident Michelle Adams said upgrades to Cessnock Road had been “neglectfully overlooked”.
“As an arterial and now major road to the Hunter Expressway, the state government needs to examine and put in place upgrades – something that should have been done in the construction stage,” she said.
9 AM
A middle-aged man is being transported to hospital after being involved in a two-car crash at Gillieston Heights.
Traffic is banked up on Cessnock Road as emergency services remove the vehicles from the crash site.
8.30 AM
There has reportedly been a two-car accident on Cessnock Road at Gillieston Heights.
Emergency services are at the scene.
Traffic is backed up to Testers Hollow.
More to come.