6 January 2009

Delays on Parkes Way

| johnboy
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The National Capital Authority is warning that they’re slowing down traffic along Parkes Way near Kings Avenue while they knock down trees:

    “The trees will be removed over a three week period from Monday 5 January. The work will be conducted during the day from 7:00am to 5:00pm Monday to Friday.

    Traffic will be diverted and slowed to 40km/h for short periods while those trees overhanging the road are removed.”

The whys of this get cute.

They want to get started on the long awaited Kings Avenue overpass which would eliminate one of the worst traffic black spots.

Unfortunately there’s a 350mm gas main in the way which needs to be moved first and the trees have to go before they can move the gas main.

It’s never this hard in Sim City.

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caf said :

Xbikee: Nope, this is the NCA, which means it’s Federal, not ACT. Having said that though, I go that way quite regularly and haven’t noticed any worse traffic than usual.

It locks up during morning rush hour, and sometimes in PM rush hour too. People banked up from the Anzac Pde roundabout can clog it onto King’s Ave. Traffic coming from/to the airport also lock up on teh airport side. When it’s bad, traffic is banked up onto Moreshead way back towards the old battle gates (the walls, all gone now).

Xbikee: Nope, this is the NCA, which means it’s Federal, not ACT. Having said that though, I go that way quite regularly and haven’t noticed any worse traffic than usual.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy said :

About time we started putting proper road structures instead of adding more and more traffic lights and roundabouts. I remember when one could drive from Queanbeyan to Russell without ANY roundabouts!

The roundabout they added at Pialligo/Beltana/Fairbairn saved a lot of lives. Before that roundabout went in, it was a normal 4-way intersection. People on Pialligo and Fairbairn would meet abruptly and there were some horrific crashes. People living nearby actually had stuff organised near the door for the weekly crashes (weekends were teh worst). Things like blankets, torches, first aid stuff, thermos (put kettle on when heard the crash).

It was that regular. It got to be a routine. hear crash, ring police and ambulance. kettle on. Take gear out, someone would follow with thermos of tea.

Sometimes it was just wreckage and people’s belongings strewn across Pialligo avenue, often they were out of towners and their luggage and stuff would be everywhere.

Worst one was a heavy sand truck, with a Cortina wedged firmly underneath, and blood seeping out of the car’s driver-side door. A couple of elderly ladies entered Pialligo off Fairbairn and didn’t give way to the truck. The truckie was sitting on the road having hysterics.

The roundabout saw an end to all that.

roadwork … main road … peak hours … Hargreaves again?

Gah! It’s a conspiracy, I tell you!
I’ve been sticking to Kings Way to get to Campbell for a kids drop-off in peak-hour traffic, because going up Anzac Parade is not worth it with the roadworks.
Right, it’s 2009, I want my jet-pack – might be the only way I can drop off the kids without risking road rage from the folks frustrated that they aren’t getting to work on time.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy said :

I’m not THAT old, but certainly in the early nineties there were far fewer roundabouts and traffic lights on major roads. I’m a fan of letting the main traffic flow go, especially during peak hours, and letting the small side streets fend for themselves. People soon learn which intersections to avoid!

Yeah look at the main roads which have had more added when the intersections should have been fully segregated. On the GDE they are the Barton Highway, Ginninderra Drive and Belconnen way, clearly not on the GDE direction though. Mindless. Good to see the Russell roundabout go.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy2:05 pm 06 Jan 09

I’m not THAT old, but certainly in the early nineties there were far fewer roundabouts and traffic lights on major roads. I’m a fan of letting the main traffic flow go, especially during peak hours, and letting the small side streets fend for themselves. People soon learn which intersections to avoid!

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy said :

About time we started putting proper road structures instead of adding more and more traffic lights and roundabouts. I remember when one could drive from Queanbeyan to Russell without ANY roundabouts!

or across the creek that is now the lake? people tell me that it used to snow at acton, before the lake went in…

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy1:44 pm 06 Jan 09

About time we started putting proper road structures instead of adding more and more traffic lights and roundabouts. I remember when one could drive from Queanbeyan to Russell without ANY roundabouts!

I bet the comms guys will be impressed, when they lower parkes way. the noise will be interesting…

2 accidents per week? I would have thought the Woden roundabout would be worse than that. Sounds like its going to be a sweet dipper heading out to the airport.

Holden Caulfield1:10 pm 06 Jan 09

The rest of the blurb about the overpass sounds pretty cool:

“The overpass to replace the Russell roundabout will extend Kings Avenue over Parkes Way. Parkes Way will be lowered and the new bridge will carry Kings Avenue traffic at its existing level over Parkes Way through to the Russell Defence precinct.

The project addresses a major black spot area in Canberra. The Russell roundabout has the highest number of accidents of any intersection in the ACT, with nearly two accidents on average each week.

The new intersection will also allow pedestrians to cross Parkes Way more safely. Once complete, the overpass will eliminate one of the worst traffic bottlenecks in Canberra and will significantly reduce travel times between the city, Parliament House and the airport.

Construction work on the overpass is scheduled to commence in April 2009 and completed at the end of 2010.”

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