This issue has been dragging on for at least a decade and was again highlighted yesterday when a truck jack-knifed and blocked Ducks Lane for up to two hours.

Ducks Lane is still the only road in and out of there, so what happens if there is a fire or other emergency and for some reason the road is blocked again?

Residents of Carr St have been very vocal in their objection to re-opening their roadway as a secondary access to the estate.

There are well-documented concerns about the rising incline into the street, as accessed from Ducks Lane, as well as whether the street's narrow width is suitable for the increase in traffic that would result from re-opening it.

But whatever happens with Carr St - whether it ever gets opened up again, fully or not - there still needs to be another access road to the estate.

As Deputy Mayor Bob Kirk says in today's story, there needs to be a separate road linking to the back of Run-O-Waters estate to West Goulburn.

"Even having Carr St open would not have solved the problem of this truck jack-knifing this morning because even if Carr St was open, it occurred beyond the exit, so the residents would not have had an exit out that way," Cr Kirk said.

"I would rather see another exit open towards the back of Run-O-Waters. It would be a worry if there was a real emergency today. It is a big problem."

AN alternative route to Ducks Lane is not the only much-needed construction that's the talk of the town.

The fate of the Performing Arts Centre continues to fascinate us alongside the city's theatrical fraternity.

Is $8 million really sufficient to makeover the McDermott Centre into a first-class facility? We don't know.

It's heartening that the architects, who've shown significant achievement in this area, think it can be done.

It's also reassuring the council's general manager has green-lit a 10 per cent contingency costing, just in case.

No matter the cost, we can't afford to get this wrong. For first-rate shows, we need a first-rate theatre.

The building won't just attract touring shows and tourism to the city. It will house our reputation for the arts.

That's important. Our economy has long lived and ridden on the back of industry, manufacturing and agriculture.

But the 21st century demands less of us in this way, so we must look to other skills and talents to show.

A viable performing arts centre won't just show off our theatre companies; it'll mark us on the cultural map.

Anything less than the first-class PAC we're all hoping for will just be another bypass for Goulburn.