‘It’s dangerous’: Melville Terrace residents say their street is too narrow

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Peter Stevens is concerned.

The retired fitter and turner is likely the longest-tenured resident of Melville Terrace, Murray Bridge, an extension of the road which leads down past the golf club.

That road has become narrower than ever since a recent housing development, making navigation difficult for residents, rubbish trucks and – most worryingly – emergency services.

In fact, residents believe Melville Terrace is now narrower than the minimum width required by law.

The word “terrace” conjures up a mental image of an historic, tree-lined street, perhaps not quite as broad as Adelaide’s four main boulevards but something quite nice, anyway.

For most of the past 45 years, Mr Stevens enjoyed a peaceful outlook onto Murray Bridge’s old racecourse, half-hidden behind a chain-link fence.

When the racing club moved and the Newbridge housing development got started, of course, he knew that view would change.

But he did not realise that a new footpath would be built along the opposite side of the street, narrowing it to less than the standard width prescribed by national regulations.

According to Austroads, the organisation which enforces road design standards, a standard two-way street should have a width of seven metres, gutter to gutter.

There are exceptions to that rule, but a minimum width of 6.6m should still apply.

Murray Bridge News measured the width of Melville Terrace, between Sturt Street and Gray Street, at approximately six metres: 5.7m of bitumen, plus the kerbing on each side.

The Australian road rules prohibit anyone from parking a car on a footpath or nature strip, even in part; and the Murray Bridge council’s own advice is that doing so “could cause a serious accident”.

But nobody parked with two wheels up on the kerb, it would be hard to get through.

“I’ve paid $45,000 in council rates over the years … and the other day I couldn’t get out of my driveway,” Mr Stevens said.

“It’s a joke.”

It wouldn’t take much to fix the problem, he suggested – the Murray Bridge council could just shift the gutter on the western side of the street back to the edge of a newly installed footpath.

That would give drivers an extra metre or so to work with.

“They can do it,” he said.

“They’ve just got to do it.”

Another resident, who declined to be named, said she planned on presenting a petition to the council about the issue.

“When cars park on the road, you can’t get through,” she said.

“It’s actually dangerous.”

Murray Bridge News has sought comment from the council.