At the age of 74, the day before he was due to start chemotherapy for stomach cancer, Colin Dalton had had enough.
Or more precisely: "I'd had an absolute gutful".
The retired carpenter from Harrison had been trying for almost a year to get the ACT government to address what he felt was a potentially lethal situation in a street that feeds into one of Gungahlin's busiest thoroughfares, Flemington Road.
With no joy, he staged his own one-man protest, parking his car horizontally across the road in question, Sapling Street, blocking traffic and prompting the police to attend.
Mr Dalton said he was more than happy to be arrested to get some action.
"When I blocked the traffic, one guy got on his mobile phone saying he was ringing the police. I said, 'That's good, get them out here'," he said.
The usually mild-mannered pensioner is someone who takes pride in his neighbourhood and notices when things are not right.
He felt this time, someone's life was in danger.
"I've had family members involved in accidents through no fault of their own and it's taken them years to recover," he said.
The basic issue was that drivers were illegally parking their cars along Sapling Street and not giving traffic enough room to pass safely.
It meant that traffic moving westwards on Sapling Street was being forced on to the opposite side of the road and into the path of traffic exiting off Flemington Road.
A situation ready-made for a head-on collision.
The road rules state there needs to be a minimum three-metre clearance between a vehicle and the centre line.
Mr Dalton said he believed at least some of the parked cars were overflow from units on the street and "No Parking"" signs should be erected - a very simple solution.
As far back as December last year, Mr Dalton contacted federal and territory representatives. Opposition urban services spokesman Alistair Coe came out and did a tour of the area with Mr Dalton and referred the matter to the government.
Roads ACT sent a letter to residents of Sapling Street in May reminding them they were illegally parking on the street.
Mr Dalton also met with a Roads ACT official and lodged an inquiry with Access Canberra on September 22.
With no action, he staged his one-man protest on October 3, holding a "Fix My Street" sign. Police did not press charges. Mr Dalton said many motorists beeped their horn in support. This week, almost two months after the protest, he was still waiting for something to happen.
"I'm pretty fed up about it," he said. "I've been banging on about it for a long time."
When contacted by The Canberra Times this week, a Transport Canberra and City Services spokesperson promised there would be action.
"The ACT government has scheduled works for the installation of 'No Stopping' signs to prevent vehicles from parking along a small section of Sapling Street, Harrison, opposite Felix Lane," they said.
"This is a low-volume residential road with a 50km/h speed limit. Roads ACT will have these minor works completed in December 2016."
They might be "minor works" to Roads ACT - to Mr Dalton, they are major.