Traffic lights have been switched on at a busy Islington intersection in an effort to improve safety after eight crashes in five years.
The lights were installed at the junction of Chinchen and Clyde streets behind the Tighes Hill TAFE campus.
The $800,000 upgrade comes after eight crashes at the intersection between 2017 and 2021, including six that resulted in injury.
Ten-year-old Santiago Baumber was hit by a car while trying to cross the road in October 2022, stoking outrage from his father and Greens councillor John Mackenzie that the traffic lights had not been installed after being approved four years earlier.
Almost 1500 vehicles per hour on average use the intersection during the afternoon peak, while an average of 1224 vehicle movements occur during the morning commute.
City of Newcastle endorsed the traffic light works in 2018, but were stuck waiting for Transport for NSW to rubber-stamp the installation.
Lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said the accident was "shocking", particularly due to the delay in Transport approving the works.
"Hopefully we will never see an incident like that again," she said.
"You can see just standing here mid-morning on a Monday the amount of traffic coming through this intersection, there's a TAFE and Islington Public School, but also this is an arterial road that joins the city from south to north.
"So this is very important.
"This Islington intersection is heavily utilised by pedestrians and cyclists... and we are pleased to have been able to work with the community to improve safety and traffic flows in this area."
Cr Mackenzie said he was "thrilled to see this life-saving infrastructure finally installed".
"This is a key part of our cycleway connectivity, and we know safety is the number one impediment to getting people on to bikes," he said.
"For students and school kids and their parents especially, safe pedestrian and cycle way infrastructure is priceless."
The lights have been designed to manage traffic flow through the nearby level crossing on Clyde Street.
The upgrade also included new kerb and guttering and an extended shared footpath along both streets, while the next stage of works will create designated cycleways.
The NSW government has committed $950,000 to the new on-road cycleway connecting Mayfield with the existing Throsby Creek path at Islington Park.
The cycleway will start at the Scholey Street Bridge and continue along Chinchen Street to Maitland Road, passing Newcastle TAFE and Islington Public School.
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