IT'S one of Bathurst's busiest roads, yet it lacks basic infrastructure that you'll find in most residential streets.
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Resident Tim Williams has called upon Bathurst Regional Council to install street lights along Eglinton Road, which as it stands is mostly unlit.
He said the road needed to be upgraded to reflect that it was an arterial road.
"The road really needs to be done to the standard of what is at Vale Road, with proper markings on the road and perhaps even cats eyes, but definitely lighting," he said.
Mr Williams said that, with Eglinton alone forecast to grow by more than 60 per cent, there was only going to be more traffic using that road in years to come.
There are also safety risks posed by the layout of the road and wildlife. which could be minimised with lighting.
"There's no signposting that says kangaroos, but there are kangaroos. There's a paddock directly opposite the school and opposite Simplot and there are fairly regularly kangaroos there," Mr Williams said.
"They're there often enough that lighting would at least make it easier for people to see them."
He said he didn't want to see lighting installed in response to an accident, which was why he chose to raise the issue with council now.
Councillor Warren Aubin, a member of the traffic committee, said that the issue of lighting along Eglinton Road had come up before.
While there are reasons to justify there being little lighting along Eglinton Road, Cr Aubin does see the argument for adding more.
"The difference is Eglinton Road is becoming more popular, so yes I am leaning more towards that it does need lighting," he said.
The challenge, however, is that lighting does not come cheap.
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Cr Aubin said that council spent $120,000 just to put in lighting at the intersection of Bradwardine Road and Eglinton Road.
To ensure Eglinton Road was fully lit between Esrom Street and Rankens Bridge, it would require council to spend between $1 million and $2 million.
"We would love to be able to do it, but it's just not high enough of a priority," Cr Aubin said.
He said that, without significant support from other levels of government, council wouldn't have the money to put into the project for some time.
"Anything that comes along, grant money we can snap up and use for a project, we are always on the lookout for things like that," Cr Aubin said.
