Police may be put on traffic duties during rush periods at the busy Collectors Hill junction in Smiths, Works and Engineering Minister Ashfield Devent said last night.

Responding to a suggestion at the end of a residents? meeting to discuss ways to alleviate problems at the dangerous junction, he said: ?I will try to get a Police presence for the rush periods.?

He said he would raise with the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs the possibility of putting Police on the road in the morning and evening.

As if to illustrate the dangers of speeding in the area, there was a crash between a car and a motorcycle on Collectors Hill just minutes before the meeting started. The busy meeting at Stephenson Memorial Hall was held by Works and Engineering to allow residents and local businesses to comment on four suggested plans to deal with the problems of congestion, speeding and access in and out of the shops.

Residents were also invited to submit their plans to deal with the problems. Plans include a diverted purpose built junction at AP Owen Road, a road from Pampas Road down to the car parks behind the shops, a new link between Collectors Hill and South Road, and a road linking the car parks behind the A1 Fine Food Mart and shops behind North Rock bar.

Suggestions made at the meeting included speed lights, a pedestrian crossing, a Police presence and lower speed limits.

The first speaker Vernette Dorian said: ?Everything should stay as it is or if there is change it should be minor. When you change the roads you are catering to the lawless road-users.?

Another woman said: ?I am 100 percent against anyone?s valuable property being touched. We work hard to keep our properties up and there must be other ways than taking people?s property from them.?

Sue Lusher of Collectors Hill said: ?Collectors Hill from Hermitage Road to South Road is a death trap. Cars, buses, trucks and motorbikes speed both up and down the hill.

?There are more than 66 homes accessed from Collectors Hill between Hermitage Road and South Road alone and just getting our of our driveways is a nightmare.?

She proposed an alternative plan restricting Collectors Hill to residential traffic with a sidewalk, and a one way traffic road running behind the shops.

Works and Engineering consultant Peter Havlicek said Police didn?t provide accurate enough information about accidents in the area. And, in response to a suggestion that there be a pedestrian crossing in front of the shops, he said there needed to be a sidewalk but Government had had difficulty getting land from the Centenary Methodist Church.

Mr. DeVent said any solution would involve compromises in the neighbourhood and the final plan might be an amalgamation of ideas. ?It is obvious this is an issue that concerns the neighbours. We need to come to a consensus and I want you to talk to the engineers,? said Mr. DeVent.

?A number of people don?t use the roads as courteously, wisely and lawfully as they should.?

Further meetings are planned to discuss the options.