22 June 2009

Nudurr Drive extension

| nanzan
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The second Nudurr Drive Extension Community Newsletter has just arrived in my letterbox.

For those who don’t know, Nudurr Drive will extend through Palmerston/Crace connecting Gundaroo Drive and Gungahlin Drive.

Apparently traffic lights are planned for the new intersection of Nudurr Drive and Gungahlin Drive, but I have to ask why? Do we really need or want another set of traffic lights on Gungahlin Drive? Why can’t a roundabout be built instead, as is the case at the current intersection of Nudurr Drive with Gundaroo Drive. If a roundabout can do the job there on Gundaroo Drive, then why not on Gungahlin Drive as well? Nudurr Drive will not carry that much traffic.

It seems to me that we are beginning to be overrun by traffic lights in this city which has previously prided itself on using non-signalisation options to control traffic – particularly roundabouts, which, after all, are much more environmentally-friendly and nicer to look at!

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I want to reply with no duh after every post that mentions Nudurr Drive, but it’s not as obvious as a written gag.

p1 said :

In Gungahlin it is a feeder road. No point having an express way then have no way to get on or off it. The same is true at the other end too. Tuggeranong Parkway clearly becomes a feeder road near Kambah.

Very true. So maybe if they made this intersection, then abolished the first set of lights at Mitchell?

Only problem is you don’t know what they are planning in the future. Maybe that first set will become a major road into Crace and is therefor needed.

One thing I liked about Gungahlin when they first started to build it was they built the major road intersections in advance taking into account new suburbs. Indeed the first two suburbs have roundabouts built with duplication in mind, though here we are amost 20 years later and said roundabout approach roads are still single lane. But what happens now is some clown will build a main road with no thought to future intersections (just what they need today), then as each piddly estate is built they will install a intersections and it ends up a mess. Guess a mess pretty well sums up the road network in Gungahlin. I hope in Molonglo they don’t make the same mistakes.

To address the OP’s question-

people forget that roundabouts on arterial roads are highly dangerous and time consuming for pedestrians and cyclists to negotiate- regardless of whether they are on-road or on paths, the issue is the same- no way to get across the arms of the roundabout in peak hour because there is never a safe gap in the traffic. Children in particular, who can safely use pedestrian crossings at traffic lights even on major roads, cannot get across these busy roundabouts. Good cycle routes are destroyed by putting roundabouts on them. Claims that roundabouts are a safe option only applies to motorists- most of that safety benefit comes from transferring the risk onto more vulnerable road users. This forces people to drive themselves and their children instead of walking and cycling.

So the answer is no, roundabouts on major roads are NOT environmentally friendly- they force more car use in place of sustainable transport alternatives.

In Gungahlin it is a feeder road. No point having an express way then have no way to get on or off it. The same is true at the other end too. Tuggeranong Parkway clearly becomes a feeder road near Kambah.

Very true. So maybe if they made this intersection, then abolished the first set of lights at Mitchell?

p1 said :

Seems a little stupid, considering that the GDE was supposed to be the great missing link in a quick trip from tuggs to gun-ga-lin, to then put more traffic lights on such a arterial road. If a feeder road is important enough to connect the Canberra equivalent of a cross town motorway, then they should pony up the cash and build a bridge over it. Or connect it with slip ways, without actually crossing and slowing traffic.

In Gungahlin it is a feeder road. No point having an express way then have no way to get on or off it. The same is true at the other end too. Tuggeranong Parkway clearly becomes a feeder road near Kambah.

But you do have a point with the number of connections though. Road planning in the past 15 years or so has been crap. When once there was a grand plan, now each development seems to do it’s own thing. So on new roads out Gungahlin way in particular you have a lot of side streets feeding developments, whereas before we used to have a main suburban road which then feed the developments.

R. Slicker said :

Nudurr Drive? How about Nudie Drive? That sounds a lot more interesting . . .

I thought it was nuh, durr.

You want to put the people who designed the new Glenloch interchange in charge of designing another interchange?

Someone designed that? I though it just kinda happened?

Nudurr Drive? How about Nudie Drive? That sounds a lot more interesting . . .

Steady Eddie3:24 pm 22 Jun 09

“New section of Nudurr Drive”? I wasn’t aware that there was an old section of Nudurr Drive.

Seems a little stupid, considering that the GDE was supposed to be the great missing link in a quick trip from tuggs to gun-ga-lin, to then put more traffic lights on such a arterial road. If a feeder road is important enough to connect the Canberra equivalent of a cross town motorway, then they should pony up the cash and build a bridge over it. Or connect it with slip ways, without actually crossing and slowing traffic.

A Nuddur traffic light!?

That’s a tally of 5 traffic lights on Gungahlin Dve between Barton Hwy junction and Gundaroo Rd intersection. They’ll probably also revise the speed limit (currently 80km/h) as it would be too dangerous to drive at that speed with that many number of traffic stoppers.

Very well explained by Spectra. I used to think roundabouts were always better, but since seeing what heavy flows did to the pialligo and parkes way roundabouts, I’ve realised that lights handle that better.. and where one direction dominates, it can be dangerous and involve a lengthy wait (and traffic buildup) before people can enter.

If people stuck to the legal roundabout speed limit of 40 km/hr and didn’t charge up to roundabouts assuming that htey have right of way because they’re on the right, roundabouts would work better.

I don’t know where this road is, but if it will have a heavy traffic flow, you definitely want traffic lights rather than a roundabout.

Try driving home from the city to Tuggeranong – all of the lights have a flow on through Kambah/Wanniassa which works well, and then you hit the roundabouts and the traffic is carp.

Roundabouts are good for suburban type intersections, but for a main road lights work better (imo). Just think about it – at the lights, a whole bunch of cars get through at full speed, then some have to stop. At a roundabout, every car has to at least slow to half their original speed, usually more, if not come to a complete stop.

Growling Ferret12:53 pm 22 Jun 09

BenMac

The Nudurr Drive extension will run along the back end of Palmerston along the easement, avoiding the protected grasslands.

The choice between a roundabout and traffic lights tends to be made based on prevailing traffic flow. Roundabouts are often preferable if there’s no one direction that has a huge amount of traffic, since obviously in general they produce shorter wait times (amongst other reasons). However, in the case where there’s a straight-through or right-turn traffic flow that’s going to have high volumes, it can starve access from other entrances. In these cases, traffic lights will produce a “fairer” flow and not have people held up for hours (just look at the intersection of Gundaroo Drive and the Barton Highway in the morning for an example – the high levels of traffic going along the Highway cause a huge backlog coming out of Gungahlin during peak hours, even though the relative volumes from each direction are probably similar).
The decision is generally made after consideration of traffic conditions and the appropriateness of the various options, rather than just going “well, we’ve got an awful lot of lights – let’s switch to putting in roundabouts for a while”.

Maybe cause Gundaroo drive is single lane and Gungahlin Drive is dual carridgeway. Just a thought. Where exactly will the intersection be on Gungahlin Drive?? If they could put it at either of the Mitchell traffic light, that would be good.

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