A ring road for Canberra?

A ring road? Who needs to drive around Canberra?

If you people think the buses suck, try being a shift worker. I guarantee this will NEVER happen at the time and location I finish work:

“30 minute frequency public transport services within a 5-10 minute walk of everyone by 2021”

Wow 30 minute service by 2021. I seem to recall when I was much younger and going to school (back in the 80’s) that more or less every suburban route had 30 minute frequencies. Half were timed to leave the interchange at (I think) 03 and 33 past the hour and the other half at 18 and 48 past the hour. I was lucky in that I lived within easy walking distance of the MacGregor terminus so could get either a 455 or a 454, so in reality had a bus every 15 minutes.

Now days the same area is subjected to a stupid one way loop service every 40 minutes which takes about 1.5 times as long to get to Belconnen. And they wonder why people don’t use buses all that much.

EvanJames said :

And yeah, putting traffic lights on incoming major roads like the Monaro, I’ll see you and raise the Harman lights on Canberra Avenue, or worse, the Fairbairn Base lights on Pialligo, which have the traffic every morning backed up to the Red Rooster in Queanbeyan.

The Glenora Drive / Pialligo Avenue lights were absolutely necessary – without them it was impossible to turn out of Glenora Drive at certain times of day, and with people taking chancy right turns out of there coupled with drivers hooning down the hill from Queanbeyan it was downright dangerous.

PM said :

Simon_Corbell said :

steveu said :

I hope they dont expect us to believe that the two in the picture regularly use our public transport system…

Just responding to one of the comments on this thread about my use of public transport. In fact I am a regular passenger on the ACTION Bus network and regularly catch a bus from my home to the Legislative Assembly.

This year I have made 58 bus journeys to and from work. I find it a convenient service and travelling by bus is valuable in understanding some of the issues that need to be addressed in public transport policy and service delivery. I know that the Chief Minister, Katy Gallagher, is also a regular user of public transport.

I encourage everyone to have a look at the Transport for Canberra Strategy and welcome any feedback.

AND responding to threads, including the number of times he caught a bus! Most definitely an election year 🙂

I hear that Tuggeranong is being mothballed.

RedDogInCan said :

The foundations of a ring road are already present. If you just connect the bottom of Drakeford Drive to the Monaro Highway, and then built the Majura Parkway and connected it through to Gungahlin Drive, you would have a ring road.

even better a ring road around Canberra does exist:

Monaro Highway – Majura Road – Horsepark Drive – Gundaroo Drive – William Slim Drive – Ginnanderra Drive – Kingsford Smith Drive – William Hovell Drive – Coppins Crossing Road – Uriarra Road – Brindabella Road – Paddys River Road – Tidbinbilla Road – North Street – Naas Road – Tharwa Drive – Monaro Highway

Wow, this hasn’t become a car vs cyclist bashing thread…yet.

Page 48 of the Strategy is quite telling: “Motor vehicle parking provision rates will be reduced in areas of higher density where other transport options (public transport, walking and cycling) are available.

and

“Pricing of government provided motor vehicle parking will, over time, increase to a level that encourages private sector investment in parking facilities.”

The result may be, that ACTION buses becomes a viable business with a profit in its future and potentially light rail becomes a viable option due to the increased number in commuters.

dtc said :

Keijidosha said :

The plans for the Barry Drive to Civic section of the Belconnen to City Transitway project shows the new ANU exchange station and road/intersection changes.

Yay, a new set of traffic lights on Barry Drive

I think it will be two new sets. One on the end of Clunies Ross and the other on Marcus Clarke.

I’m sure the loss of traffic flow from those two lights will largely offset any increase arising from improved public transport.

Yay! A ring road. After all, the M25 (aka The World’s Biggest Parking Lot) worked out so well in London.

PM said :

steveu said :

I hope they dont expect us to believe that the two in the picture regularly use our public transport system…

I’ve not previously seen them in Belconnen, either… Must be an election year!

We got a flyer in the mail this afternoon from Joy Burch proudly announcing stage 1 of the duplication of Ashley Drive. Gonna cost $7 million and consists of the following:
– traffic lights at the corner of Ashley Drive and Bugden Ave and Ashley Drive and Sternberg Cres
– traffic lights at the intersection of Sternberg Cres and Bugden Ave
– duplication of Sternberg Cres between Ashley Drive and Erindale Drive.

no timeframes quoted for completion and no link to further information on Stages 2 and 3.

only 7 months until the election……….

If you exclude everything north of the (dirty but now ok to do anything with) lake. The southside has several ring roads and fairly much a triangle that includes queanbeyan.

Some of the roundabouts really should be changed to overpasses and traffic lights and merging on and off the main roads should be minimised.
For instance whats the deal with the yarra glen roundabout. Doesn’t 99% of the traffic coming from melrose drive goto Yarra Glen and 50% of Yarra Glen traffic split evently between east and west.

Why not ditch the roundabout and make an overpass for southbound Yarra Glen over north bound Yamba drive. This would mean that people comming from west to east would have to use Launcestion.. but thats pretty much the same or less distancefor everyone!

Perhaps overpasses on Sulwood drive and athllon drive and the two Athllon Drive Dragford drive traffic lights!

We should get a monorail like in Sydney – it worked so well for them.

The strategy isn’t in a format accessible to the vision-impaired.

What happened to the ACT Government’s commitment to disabled access?

FAIL!

Shouldn’t they be more focused on building long term infrastructure like a light rail system? Canberra’s traffic at peak hour is disgusting, sure it’s not as bad as Sydney but it’s not too far off. For a city that is growing at a rapid pace they need to start looking at building an effective network that will allow people to travel from outer areas direct to the city or from one end of the city to another. I catch a bus only because I would rather that than pay for parking in the city and when I don’t, I’ll ride and it takes almost exactly the same amount of time. In saying that, there is only one “rapid” bus I can catch which is generally late or early and occasionally never arrives. Increasing bus frequency won’t be enough to drive people from cars to buses.

Simon_Corbell said :

steveu said :

I hope they dont expect us to believe that the two in the picture regularly use our public transport system…

Just responding to one of the comments on this thread about my use of public transport. In fact I am a regular passenger on the ACTION Bus network and regularly catch a bus from my home to the Legislative Assembly.

This year I have made 58 bus journeys to and from work. I find it a convenient service and travelling by bus is valuable in understanding some of the issues that need to be addressed in public transport policy and service delivery. I know that the Chief Minister, Katy Gallagher, is also a regular user of public transport.

I encourage everyone to have a look at the Transport for Canberra Strategy and welcome any feedback.

AND responding to threads, including the number of times he caught a bus! Most definitely an election year 🙂

steveu said :

I hope they dont expect us to believe that the two in the picture regularly use our public transport system…

Just responding to one of the comments on this thread about my use of public transport. In fact I am a regular passenger on the ACTION Bus network and regularly catch a bus from my home to the Legislative Assembly.

This year I have made 58 bus journeys to and from work. I find it a convenient service and travelling by bus is valuable in understanding some of the issues that need to be addressed in public transport policy and service delivery. I know that the Chief Minister, Katy Gallagher, is also a regular user of public transport.

I encourage everyone to have a look at the Transport for Canberra Strategy and welcome any feedback.

steveu said :

I hope they dont expect us to believe that the two in the picture regularly use our public transport system…

I’ve not previously seen them in Belconnen, either… Must be an election year!

It just occured to me that a ring road would turn Canberra into a giant roundabout. How very apt.

VYBerlinaV8_is_back said :

RedDogInCan said :

The foundations of a ring road are already present. If you just connect the bottom of Drakeford Drive to the Monaro Highway, and then built the Majura Parkway and connected it through to Gungahlin Drive, you would have a ring road.

Doing this, and upgrading everything to 3 lanes each way would be awesome (once completed). The cost is probably prohibitive, though.

The Canberra Orbital?

damien haas said :

Whats the bet that funding for the ‘ring road’ will be found ahead of funding for better public transport ?

I think they just blew all the funding on their impressive bound Strategy. I’m always amused to see the various governing bodies (right down to local councils) spending millions on scoping studies and the like.

And yeah, putting traffic lights on incoming major roads like the Monaro, I’ll see you and raise the Harman lights on Canberra Avenue, or worse, the Fairbairn Base lights on Pialligo, which have the traffic every morning backed up to the Red Rooster in Queanbeyan.

Keijidosha said :

The plans for the Barry Drive to Civic section of the Belconnen to City Transitway project shows the new ANU exchange station and road/intersection changes.

Yay, a new set of traffic lights on Barry Drive

madamcholet said :

Katy Gallagher today announced…”Blah blah blah, more buses, blah blah, light rail..” Haven’t we heard this all before in some way shape or form? Is it similar to No Waste 2010?

But anyway, I love this line from the release: “A very large ‘Rapid’ bus stop to be constructed at the ANU Exchange”

I suspect it’s a large waiting area where the bus can stop to pick up a lot of those pesky student types and not just a very large sign – which is how it seems on first reading – to me anyway – perhaps just my cynicism playing tricks on me.

It will be a rebadging of that massive bus stopping area opposite Hobart Place and City West carpark I suspect. Although I sure hope not. That massive thing should be built on, not just remain a giant concrete expanse.

Great stuff, more empty busses clogging up the streets.

madamcholet said :

But anyway, I love this line from the release: “A very large ‘Rapid’ bus stop to be constructed at the ANU Exchange”

I suspect it’s a large waiting area where the bus can stop to pick up a lot of those pesky student types and not just a very large sign – which is how it seems on first reading – to me anyway – perhaps just my cynicism playing tricks on me.

The plans for the Barry Drive to Civic section of the Belconnen to City Transitway project shows the new ANU exchange station and road/intersection changes.

RedDogInCan said :

The foundations of a ring road are already present. If you just connect the bottom of Drakeford Drive to the Monaro Highway, and then built the Majura Parkway and connected it through to Gungahlin Drive, you would have a ring road.

Doing this, and upgrading everything to 3 lanes each way would be awesome (once completed). The cost is probably prohibitive, though.

I hope they dont expect us to believe that the two in the picture regularly use our public transport system…

The foundations of a ring road are already present. If you just connect the bottom of Drakeford Drive to the Monaro Highway, and then built the Majura Parkway and connected it through to Gungahlin Drive, you would have a ring road.

damien haas said :

Whats the bet that funding for the ‘ring road’ will be found ahead of funding for better public transport ?

i just hope the ring road funding isn’t at the expense of more public art installations…

Whats the bet that funding for the ‘ring road’ will be found ahead of funding for better public transport ?

Katy Gallagher today announced…”Blah blah blah, more buses, blah blah, light rail..” Haven’t we heard this all before in some way shape or form? Is it similar to No Waste 2010?

But anyway, I love this line from the release: “A very large ‘Rapid’ bus stop to be constructed at the ANU Exchange”

I suspect it’s a large waiting area where the bus can stop to pick up a lot of those pesky student types and not just a very large sign – which is how it seems on first reading – to me anyway – perhaps just my cynicism playing tricks on me.

I’ve always thought Canberra was the perfect city for ring type roads. He planned nature, and the fact that it is located within a small territory mean that ring type roads could be built early without any worry that suburbs will extended past in a never ending progression, like western Sydney.

But the ACT Governmnet, over many years have made decisions which show they clearly hate the idea. My example case is the Monaro highway. While conventional wisdom would indicate gradual improval of this road to remove intersections at grade, we put traffic lights in at the prison, so a relatively small number if people using the facility can stop traffic on the highway, all so they don’t have to dive south 1km and then turn north.

Rant over, now back to your regualy scheduled programming…