21 February 2012

Bus stops for Adelaide Avenue

| johnboy
Join the conversation
21

Simon Corbell has put forth word that he is thinking about putting more bus stops on Adelaide Avenue:

The ACT Labor Government is investigating options for several new bus stops along Adelaide Avenue which would make public transport more available to residents of Canberra’s inner south, including Deakin, Yarralumla and Curtin, Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development, Simon Corbell announced today.

“Currently residents in the suburbs along Adelaide Avenue, between Woden and Civic, see regular bus services pass through, but there are no stops that allow passengers to join services into the Civic and Woden Town Centres and this study will look at options to fix this problem,” Mr Corbell said.

“There is no reason why residents in Curtin, Deakin and Yarralumla should have to travel to the Civic and Woden Town Centres on a suburban service, before taking a further journey, which can often take a lot longer than a direct service up Adelaide Avenue.”

Mr Corbell said the government’s plan with this investigation is to make public transport more accessible on one of Canberra’s busiest transport corridors in and out of the city centre.

“The investigation is looking at three locations along Adelaide Avenue, including Hopetoun Circuit in Deakin/Yarralumla, Kent/Novar Street in Deakin and Carruthers Street in Curtin,” Mr Corbell said.

Apparently these cogitations will cost us $200,000.

UPDATE 21/02/12 15:47: Alistair Coe is not impressed by spending this much money on a study.

Join the conversation

21
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest

As if the Yarralumla elite are going to catch a bus.

pikiran_keruh1:12 pm 13 Aug 12

what is the problem with the bus stops if only limited serves stop…can maintain the express

Wow the problem i have with the buses is they are too slow. so lets add more bus stops onto the express route to slow more buses down. Yes I realise not all buses would have to use them, but still all this does is slow the network down.

thy_dungeonman said :

It would be nice if they put a bus stop somewhere between where hind-marsh drive goes under the parkway and cooleman court. That way in addition the 27 to warmanga I would be able to catch any bus to cooleman court and be able to get home instead of riding past my suburb, getting of at cooleman court and then walking back up the hill in the direction I just came from. I’ve ridden the bus on similar roads in sydney and they have bus bays along them so it’s easy for the buss to simply pull out of traffic and pick up passengers along the way rather than wasting time looping around the suburbs. I really hate the way some roads in Canberra are huge dead zones sourrounded by mounds, walls and hedges that are hostile to pedestrians or any kind of other traffic moving around the edges.

I agree. A few extra (but not excessive) stops along major corridors would introduce a few more bus transfer points rather than forcing people to go all the way into interchanges. It would also provide more park and ride points rather than having to drive or cycle out of the way to the current ones.

The service in and out of Weston Creek is a prime example. A stop on Hindmarsh would be good but it still suffers from forcing everyone to go through Woden to get anywhere. Hopefully Molonglo will help but already I can see the need for regular park and ride routes/stops along Cotter Road and the Parkway. I reckon a lot of people would pull their car over at the first park and ride stop on these roads if it was cheaper and just as quick to travel the rest of the distance by bus.

thy_dungeonman6:07 pm 12 Aug 12

It would be nice if they put a bus stop somewhere between where hind-marsh drive goes under the parkway and cooleman court. That way in addition the 27 to warmanga I would be able to catch any bus to cooleman court and be able to get home instead of riding past my suburb, getting of at cooleman court and then walking back up the hill in the direction I just came from. I’ve ridden the bus on similar roads in sydney and they have bus bays along them so it’s easy for the buss to simply pull out of traffic and pick up passengers along the way rather than wasting time looping around the suburbs. I really hate the way some roads in Canberra are huge dead zones sourrounded by mounds, walls and hedges that are hostile to pedestrians or any kind of other traffic moving around the edges.

Does anyone know how far this has progressed. I couldn’t get the link in the OP to work but according to http://www.transport.act.gov.au/studies_projects/AdelaideAveStudy.html they were supposed to have put out a preferred option for more consultation by early June 2012.

Another deadline missed! Is it perhaps that they are trying to delay having a position on these things until after the election.

they don’t need rams and stairs as there are off and on ramps crossing those intersections. They just have to put the bus stop there and move the bus lane to the left side of the road. Thankyou I’ll have that 200k please.

BicycleCanberra4:33 pm 21 Feb 12

Kim F said :

They would not be able to modify the bridges with stairs plus associated roadworks for the pull in bay for $200k

This is a consultants study fee only, of course this wont be paying for the Bus stops, ramps,and stairs. The Kambah shared path Bridge is costing $ 5 million. But then we have spent billions on Roads in the last twenty years.

Canberra needs international expertise on this……….http://t.co/HqXihMog

FFS Corbel. Stop trying to put lipstick on the pig that is ACTION.

Wake up and give us a true public transport service – instead of runnign it down to the point where you can justify selling off another asset to the private sector (and yes I know we are talking about a labor govt here) – but the state of our public transport system here has got to a point where this seems to be the only motive behind their strategy of mismanaging it so badly.

How about inviting members of the public to have a true say in how our public transport system is to be redesigned (instead of these ‘consultation papers that they promptly ignore). Have a community-based committee with some real say in how the system shoudl be run now and into the future perhaps?

You can see some of the design options at a community information session at the Curtin shops on Saturday 25 February.
It’s outside Coles at Curtin Shops – corner Carruthers and Theodore Streets, Curtin between 12pm and 2pm.

To find out more about the feasibility study, visit http://www.transport.act.gov.au

I think buses are a more realistic, cheaper, and faster option than light rail (for now) along this corridor. Keep the bus lane in the middle, and have stairs from the overpasses (a la M2 in Sydney). You can still have your express routes, but you will also have non-express buses able to pull into a bus stop.

One or two bus stops would be a good idea but three – really!

They forgot to mention that, as well as inner South residents, at least one bus stop (between Cotter Road and the Parliamentary Triangle will benefit:
1/ commuters to and from Weston Creek and Molonglo who can park and ride at a more convenient point (if they fix up the Cotter Road overpass they might even be able to justify a direct bus through to the City from Weston Creek instead of via Woden);
2/ commuters from Tuggeranong and Woden (especially North Woden – such as Curtin, Garran and Hughes) including those who currently park and ride from Woden, Mawson or Curtin;
3/ patrons of the medical facilities at Deakin including John James Hospital;
4/ office workers in the Deakin Office precinct including the new and not yet full Equinox Business Park and the Mint;
5/ current bus passengers who park and ride from the Albert Hall bus stops;
6/ parliamentary triangle office workers including those who can’t get a carpark because of 5/ above

Will the review also consider whether these bus stops are going to be temporary bus stops or does this mean that the Gov’t will also put a fourth bus stop (or even a mini bus station) in when the Cotter Road/Adelaide Avenue/Yarra Glen intersection is revamped to deal with the backlog of traffic to and from Weston Creek. This is only going to get worse when Molonglo gets underway and if 900 + residences are built at the brickworks.

The Government has already flagged the possibility of a bus station on Adelaide Avenue as one option (the adaptation model) if they redevelop the brickworks (http://www.lda.act.gov.au/?/canberra_brickworks/consultation) – although that idea sounds like it is too far away to deal with the existing and worsening problem and many people think it will never happen (http://the-riotact.com/brickworks-dreaming/26341#comments).

I agree that it would be pretty exciting if the buses have to cross three lanes of Adelaide Avenue. Building ramps from the bridges to the middle would cost a fortune, would require complicated designs (ie to pick up passengers on the left hand side) and, as the Gov’t has just flagged in their T2 review (http://the-riotact.com/on-bus-lanes-with-katy-gallagher/65812), means the buses have to merge with traffic (even if it is only buses) on their blindspot on the left. It is also pretty ironic given the Government has just spent a bomb putting up barriers on all of the overpasses which now would have to be modified (http://the-riotact.com/cages-go-up-on-the-kent-street-bridge/52061#comments).

Another option might be to move the Bus Lane to the left hand side of the road. This might slow them down a little at State Circle, Hopetoun, Kent and Carruthers but might help keep the buses speed under control, give traffic more time to merge into the middle lanes and create a better barrier for on road cyclists. The PM might even be pleased that the main traffic is a couple of metres further away from her place…….

Did someone say “light rail”???

(Fast, efficient, multi-stops along the transit corridors – this is what Adelaide Avenue, Northbourne Avenue, Canberra Avenue were designed for FFS!)

If they want to put in more bus stops, how about one on Athlon drive in between Wanniassa and Kambah? There is a massive stretch there with no stops between Greenway and Mawson / Torrens area.

Kim F said :

They would not be able to modify the bridges with stairs plus associated roadworks for the pull in bay for $200k

If I understand correctly, the $200k is just to talk about it.

Oh come off it! Yarra Glen/Adelaide Ave is a major arterial road and was designed to provide rapid transit between the City and Woden, the first satellite town in Canberra. Similarly public transport along the route was originally designed as an express intertown service with no stops. To put bus stops along the route would be like the Athllon Drive/Drakeford Drive disaster of 20 or so years ago when bus stops suddenly appeared in the middle of the road and the left lane and drivers suddenly had to brake in order to avoid a rear-end collision.

Another case of trying to promote public transport at the expense of the PBM (Poor Bloody Motorist).

Erg0 said :

If you’re not familiar with the three streets mentioned, they all run either under or over Adelaide Ave. I would imagine that the bus stops would be on the centre median, with pedestrian access via the bridges.

They would not be able to modify the bridges with stairs plus associated roadworks for the pull in bay for $200k

Unless there are extra buses running from Woden to Civic during peak hours this won’t work as the last stop before Adelaide Av (Melrose Drive) the buses are usually full and don’t stop.

Kim F said :

Does this mean busses chortling along in the express lane will have to cut across 2 lanes of traffic to pull up at bus stop then repeat to rejoin express lane ? That will be fun in peak hour !

If you’re not familiar with the three streets mentioned, they all run either under or over Adelaide Ave. I would imagine that the bus stops would be on the centre median, with pedestrian access via the bridges.

Does this mean busses chortling along in the express lane will have to cut across 2 lanes of traffic to pull up at bus stop then repeat to rejoin express lane ? That will be fun in peak hour !

Bus routes between town centres are supposed to be express, the Woden/Cityroute is the only one left without signaficant stops along the way. Belconnen/city takes forever as you meander through Bruce and Tuggers to Woden stops along Athlon.

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.