Fury as nation’s ‘worst roundabout’ goes viral

Liverpool Council in June opened a diamond roundabout at the intersection of Twenty Eighth Avenue and Fifteenth Avenue in Austral, south-west of Sydney.

Drivers were immediately stunned by the sight, with aerial vision showing confused motorists struggling to navigate the roundabout.

In one instance, a ute attempted to follow the marking but it was too tight and the driver was forced to do a three-point turn to be able to exit.

Other commuters simply drove over it while some did not bother and cut through, with video showing a near collision between two vehicles.

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A week after opening it was painted over and give-way signs erected.

The total cost of the bungled project was $139,937.

The price to install the diamond roundabout was $92,885 and then another $53,914 for it to be painted over.

According to council papers, the initial shape was meant to be an oval.

The council and Transport for NSW were aware of its “non-standard” shape and non-compliance from as early as October.

However, they made amendments to the roundabout and it was approved in February.

It was also never tested prior to being installed.

Speaking to news.com.au, independent Liverpool councillor Peter Ristevski said ratepayers would be fuming knowing how much money had been wasted.

“We’ve just raised council rates and I was the only councillor that voted against that... I don’t understand how people can spend $140k like ‘oh it’s no big deal, it’s $140,000’,” he said.

“I’ve been raised where if you are in charge of someone else’s money you need to spend it like it’s your own and in my opinion, $140,000 is a lot of money and it’s unacceptable.”

Mr Ristevski said he will raise questions at Wednesday’s council meeting and he wants to know “line-by-line, exactly to the cents” how six figures was spent.

“The numbers I’ve been presented with just do not make sense,” he added.

‘What have we done? Whose suffered? Have we blackballed the contractor? Has anyone been sacked in council as a result of this? It’s not good enough.

“The ratepayers are out there screaming, the international brand damage done to Liverpool, especially with the second airport opening up — we’ve become a laughing stock.”

The councillor insisted “someone had to fall on their sword”, whether that be a person inside council or the contractor hired to complete the project.

“From what we’ve been told, the contractor actually went out and used the wrong equipment and delivered a diamond shape which was not designed by council,” Mr Ristevski said.

“So the contractor in my opinion is to blame and that’s why I’m not a big fan of using contractors. We should be using internal council staff to do these where we have better control and systems and ensure these things don’t occur.

“I’ll be asking for who their name is, the whole world needs to know who this contractor is... that delivered this product.”

He believes action was only taken after he spoke to Nine’s Today show in June where Karl Stefanovic congratulated the council for building “Australia’s worst roundabout”.

In a statement to news.com.au, a Liverpool Council spokesman said the diamond roundabout was “one of several temporary measures” implemented to ease heavy traffic “caused by the road’s current capacity not meeting demand”.

“While five of the six roundabouts are operating effectively and have improved traffic flow, Council acknowledges the issue that arose in this instance and has taken steps to avoid a repeat,” the statement said.

“The incident has been fully and transparently investigated, with the finding reported to Council at the upcoming August meeting this Wednesday. The lessons learned are already shaping improvements on how Council will plan and deliver future projects.

“Council has long advocated for the long-promised upgrade of Fifteenth Avenue and shares the frustration of Austral residents as they await delivery of this essential project.”

The council confirmed during the planning process, the roundabout design it modelled, and approved by Transport for NSW, was not what was delivered.

Council installed a handful of roundabouts after it lobbied the state government for “urgent upgrades” to fix “chronically congested” Fifteenth Ave.

The thoroughfare is set to be one of the key roads that will funnell some five million passengers to the Western Sydney Airport due to open in late 2026.

More than 22,000 vehicles use the two-lane road each day, including 1760 trucks.

The federal and New South Wales governments have agreed to invest $1 billion in upgrades to Fifthteenth Avenue, but work is not expected to begin until 2027.

‘Clearly not a roundabout’

Prior to being painted over, it was dubbed “diamondabout”.

It went viral online after an aerial clip of drivers trying to navigate it was shared.

“What in god’s name is that?” one TikTok user asked.

“We don’t have... whatever this is. Can someone please explain what is supposed to happen?” a Canadian man also asked.

“This is the one time you can’t fault the drivers,” another joked.

“Whoever in council designed and or approved this should be sacked,” a comment read.

“Worse than a hook turn in Melbourne,” a TikTok user added.

The video has been seen more than 10 million times worldwide.