Business owner Tom Adam at the Phillip corner in question. Photo: Ian Bushnell.
Two ACT Government signs say ‘no entry’, but signage fixed to the business point to ‘parking at rear’ down the one-way street in Phillip.
It’s been that way for years, with only the occasional mishap, but Bharat International’s recent expansion has led to an increase in customers and delivery drivers seeking access to the booming Indian grocer and restaurant on the corner of Townshend Street and Grenville Court.
Neighbour and Phillip Business Community president Tom Adam has become alarmed at the daily traffic chaos unfolding next door, having experienced a near-miss himself, followed by a volatile exchange with an unrepentant driver.
A delivery truck turning into the Grenville Court exit was the final straw. He called Access Canberra, who advised I’m to call the police, but the police won’t act until there is an accident, and they told him to call Access Canberra.
The buck-passing among drivers continuing to disobey the road signs has Mr Adam at his wits’ end.
“It’s an accident waiting to happen,” said Mr Adam, who operates his martial arts business from the top floor of the building next door.
From there he can see clearly the number of vehicles making illegal turns into Grenville Court, mostly out of convenience.
“Considering that pedestrians are looking down the one-way street when crossing the road, and not for people doing illegal turns into Grenville, there have already been dozens of near-misses, almost collisions, with the idiots who can’t read the no-entry signs,” Mr Adam said.
Mr Adams congratulated Bharat on being a prospering business, but it had also created this traffic problem.
He said that since Bharat expanded a couple of months ago, Bharat’s main entrance to the grocery shop was now located at the rear, instead of at the front through the restaurant on Townshend Street.
“It’s been hectic, like constantly driving the wrong way down the street, parking willy-nilly everywhere and it’s just gotten out of hand. It’s every single day,” he said.
Mr Adam said he had approached Bharat, but his complaint fell on deaf ears.
However, when Region contacted the business, a Bharat spokesperson stated that the sign directing drivers to the rear parking would be adjusted to make it clear where they needed to turn into Grenville Court, a block further on, and they would also email suppliers.
He said 95 per cent of customers did the right thing, but new ones might not realise where to enter Grenville Court.
Most delivery drivers knew where to go, but one could make a mistake, he said.
Mr Adam welcomed Bharat’s acknowledgment of the issue but would wait and see if there was any change.
In the meantime, he would await a response to his Fix My Street submission, but he was not optimistic.
