The intersection of Heysen Street and Streeton Drive in Weston. Increasing traffic is causing problems. Photos: Ian Bushnell.
Roads ACT may soon move to shut down an increasingly popular rat-run between Woden and Weston Creek/Molonglo after concerns about increased traffic and speeding, particularly in peak times.
The Weston Creek Community Council has noted growing community concern about the number of vehicles using the Heysen Street and Devenport Street route to and from Woden instead of Hindmarsh Drive, since the development of the Molonglo Valley suburbs.
It had written to Roads ACT specifically about the growing difficulty in peak times of drivers turning right out of Heysen Street into Streeton Drive where there are no lights.
“With the growth of Molonglo, we are seeing many more vehicles heading north on Streeton Drive in the afternoon and wanting to turn left at the Cotter Road/John Gorton Drive. This is resulting in tail back past Dixon Drive which causes issues for traffic coming from Woden via Heysen Street,” the letter said.
Heysen Street may be a slower run soon with traffic calming measures on the cards. On the left is the old AFP site, soon to be a medium density housing development.
Traffic volumes on Heysen Street are likely to only get worse with the planned Village Building Company housing development on the old AFP site, and the issue has been a major concern of nearby residents.
The idea of traffic lights at the intersection of Heysen Street and Streeton Drive has been floated but Roads ACT does not see the necessity at present, saying the intersection is a low priority for improvement.
Senior Manager, Traffic Management and Safety Ben Hubbard at Roads ACT told the Council that peak hour volumes and delays on Streeton Drive were consistent with other arterial roads and the Heysen Street intersection had a relatively low crash rate of about three a year.
But he said a possible solution could be traffic calming on Heysen Street, which has a 60km/h speed limit, “to make this residential street route unattractive for any rat-runners”.
“This could also reduce the number of people trying to turn right out of Heysen in the evening peak,” he said.
Devenport Street, the Lyons leg of the run to Woden, has been the subject of many complaints about increased and speeding traffic, Mr Hubbard said, and could also be in store for calming measures, such as speed bumps.
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