16 November 2010

Flemington Road Bus Lane opened

| johnboy
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Chief Minister Stanhope is celebrating the completion of the $1.8 million Flemington Road bus lane:

Work has been completed on the $1.8 million Flemington Road bus lane that will reduce travel times for bus patrons travelling from Gungahlin to the City by up to 10 minutes, Chief Minister and Minister for Transport, Jon Stanhope, announced today.

“With the rapid population growth on Canberra’s north, the Gungahlin to City bus route has become one of the busiest in the ACT with over 300 buses using the road on weekdays,” Mr Stanhope said.

“The new $1.8 million bus lane on Flemington Road allows for priority access to public transport which will significantly decrease bus travel times to the City, by around five to 10 minutes in peak traffic.”

Oh for the heady days when Simon Corbell promised us bus lanes able to arrive buses in Civic before they left Belconnen.

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ML-585 said :

Take a look at this media release from 2006 http://www.chiefminister.act.gov.au/media.php?v=4233

All that has changed since then and now is the extension of the lane so that it commences before Sandford Street. Which, by itself, is not going to save 10 minutes.

Well done – a very good find! It is as if the CM has done a cut and paste from his 2006 press release into this current one.

Fascinating to read of the real time information planned for the new bus bays in Hibberson Street in the 2006 press release. Four years have passed and what has been achieved?

In terms of Sandford Street – the road is actually called Morisett Road; Sandford Street is on the Mitchell side; on the other side, the Kenny side, it’s called Morisett Road. And, the bus lane still starts south of that intersection, as it did before. And that intersection – Morisett Road, Flemington Road and Sandford Street – is, as I am sure we all know, currently a construction site. Buses, as all other vehicles, are slowed down to 40 km/h through there.

They moved 3 witches hats and extended a pre-existing bus lane by about 100m. Well worth the what…$1.8M?

Take a look at this media release from 2006 http://www.chiefminister.act.gov.au/media.php?v=4233

All that has changed since then and now is the extension of the lane so that it commences before Sandford Street. Which, by itself, is not going to save 10 minutes.

Gungahlin Al10:25 am 19 Nov 10

No idea Nanzan. And it runs counter to a project now under way through SMEC and Elton Consulting that was funded in the May budget to investigate priority bus lane options for – you guessed it – Flemington Rd and Northbourne.

And yes I intend to when I have a chance.

Gungahlin Al said :

But as to the $1.8m bus lane, I hope ACT Procurement Solutions do a check on the asset before they hand over the cheque, because I see no new bus lane either.

So, Gungahlin Al, what was the CM’s press release all about? I am completely stumped by this. I just can’t see any new bus lane there at all.

Is this not worth a quick missive to the CM’s office seeking clarification? Is there not anyone out there from Canberra’s media (e.g. ABC or Canberra Times) reading this thread…or having read the same press release…who is wondering the same thing as us? Surely some journalists – even ABC ones – come to Gungahlin from time to time and use Flemington Road (maybe on a bus even!).

Gungahlin Al5:02 pm 18 Nov 10

nanzan said :

Gungahlin Al said :

Grrrr said :

Perhaps I’m not looking hard enough, but I don’t see any bus lane where there wasn’t one a year ago.

That’s what I wondered…

I just rode the Red Rapid bus south along Flemington Road, and then returned north along Flemington Road several hours later.

The only bus lane I encountered was the short section between Morisett Road (where the intersection is currently being upgraded) and Federal Highway. Hasn’t this bus lane been there for about a year? And, it is not marked with green paint as being a bus lane, just a few signs and line markings. It isn’t even a particularly smooth road surface! As a percentage of the total length of Flemington Road this section would be maybe 30%. None of the recently upgraded and widened section of Flemington Road – between Mitchell and Gungahlin – has a bus lane at all. Once the buses turn into Federal Highway and then Northbourne Avenue, of course, there is no bus lane for the entire trip into Civic.

So again, I ponder, where did the $1.8 million actually go…and for what real benefit. How does this warrant a press release from the Chief Minister?!

That bus lane has been there for well over 4 years. I asked John Hargreaves when he was converting the Adelaide Ave bus lane to a transit lane, why this one also wasn’t changed. He said “It isn’t? Well it will be by Monday.” That was April 2007. But Roads felt that having the “B” traffic light at the end of Flemington Road would be too confusing for car drivers and ruled out its use as a T2 or T3.

There are a couple of short bits of bus lane on the Federal Hwy and they help a surprising amount to get buses past the traffic. But once the bus gets to Dickson it all falls in a heap.

However, I’ve done it all ways lately and can say that inbound from Harrison to Civic, fastest = bus, second = bicycle, slowest = car. Outbound arvos, it is car, bus, cycle (it’s uphill, plus I use the Well Station farm track rather than Flemington).

But as to the $1.8m bus lane, I hope ACT Procurement Solutions do a check on the asset before they hand over the cheque, because I see no new bus lane either.

nanzan said :

The only bus lane I encountered was the short section between Morisett Road (where the intersection is currently being upgraded) and Federal Highway. Hasn’t this bus lane been there for about a year? And, it is not marked with green paint as being a bus lane, just a few signs and line markings. It isn’t even a particularly smooth road surface!

I meant to say “red paint” not “green paint” re the bus lane – green is for bikes, red is for buses – everyone knows that don’t they?!

Gungahlin Al said :

Grrrr said :

Perhaps I’m not looking hard enough, but I don’t see any bus lane where there wasn’t one a year ago.

That’s what I wondered…

I just rode the Red Rapid bus south along Flemington Road, and then returned north along Flemington Road several hours later.

The only bus lane I encountered was the short section between Morisett Road (where the intersection is currently being upgraded) and Federal Highway. Hasn’t this bus lane been there for about a year? And, it is not marked with green paint as being a bus lane, just a few signs and line markings. It isn’t even a particularly smooth road surface! As a percentage of the total length of Flemington Road this section would be maybe 30%. None of the recently upgraded and widened section of Flemington Road – between Mitchell and Gungahlin – has a bus lane at all. Once the buses turn into Federal Highway and then Northbourne Avenue, of course, there is no bus lane for the entire trip into Civic.

So again, I ponder, where did the $1.8 million actually go…and for what real benefit. How does this warrant a press release from the Chief Minister?!

No you goose I don’t live along Northbourne I live in West Belconnen which is even further away than Palmerston. I just accept that by CHOOSING to live so far out that it will naturally take time for me to get to my (non PS) job using PT. Save for some teleporter I cannot see anyway the bus could be made quicker for me, however the point I made above about frequency is still 100% valid. If the buses came more frequently then the incentive through convenience to use them increases even if they do take more time. For example I used to live in London where there was a bus outside my door to town every 5 minutes. It was a slow journey but being so frequent it made it very convenient. Now yes Canberra doesn’t have the population density to justify a service like that but I believe 100% that frequency is the key to improving PT usage in Canberra rather than somehow magically speeding up journey times. Even a return to the days where every route had a 30 minute off peak and 15 minute peak hour service, that were well timed into and out of the interchanges would make a huge difference.

As for your even more confusing post (where I note you have turned away from FACTS to insults about my grammar) above are you suggesting that Civic is the transport hub for Gungahlin? If so what rot. Gungahlin is the transport hub and I don’t think it takes 45 minutes on the bus to get from Palmerston to Gungahlin.

Think you need a hugh reality check or an operation to remove the chips that seem to be on both your shoulders.

merlin bodega10:14 am 17 Nov 10

JC’s confusing comment about how a comment on a ridiculous bus operation is a cry for door to door service is about what I expect from the apologists for Canberra’s transport failure. I can’t see the link. Neither do I see the link in his other attempt to move away from the point. Who said buses were supposed to take the same time as cars? Yes buses do stop to pick up and drop people off but does every bus have to stop every time along Northbourne Avenue every day?

Given that Palmerston has the highest housing density of any suburb in Canberra(measured by dwellings per hectare) then even someone as illiterate as JC (It’s “you’re a goose” not “your a goose”) might understand why a service that transports quickly people from their home suburb to any transport hub is an important aspect of any effective transport plan, including one to reduce the number of cars on the road. Incredibly JC this of itself would reduce travel times. Is he is one of the lucky few living along the Northbourne alley who have a bus service every 5 minutes to transport them conveniently and cheaply to his public service office where he can happily surf the net all day. Bet he is.

merlin bodega said :

FACT: Many so called route services (if they turn up) have most of their stops after they leave Gungahlin suburbs. The 56 from Palmerston has 17 stops from Palmerston to Civic before stopping at Civic – imagine what this adds to travel time.

FACT: If a bus is stopping 17 times from Palmerston to Civic then clearly it is stopping to PICKUP or DROP OFF passengers. Isn’t that what the bus service is for, or do you expect a door to door service without any stops?

FACT: Buses can NEVER compete with cars on time. For buses to take people out of cars they need to compete on convenience (which means frequency rather than speed) and on cost.

FACT: Your a goose. Hope your gonna stand for election in 2012 so no one will vote for you.

Stuff the bus lanes they need to build Monash Drive!

http://www.gcc.asn.au/News/Transport/monash-drive-has-to-stay.html

The CBRE / Kasparek Architects 120 unit development plan has 30 visitor parking car bays on verge of Henry Kendall St & Flemington Road, Franklin. Wonder if the bays are wide enough for a removalist truck? Maybe they have provided too many car parks!

TAMS have to approve the verge car parking, which they may not.

Hells_Bells745:35 pm 16 Nov 10

Pics or it didn’t happen 😉

Gungahlin Al4:10 pm 16 Nov 10

Grrrr said :

Perhaps I’m not looking hard enough, but I don’t see any bus lane where there wasn’t one a year ago.

That’s what I wondered…

Where IS the bus lane on Flemington Road, anyway? What is it exactly that has cost $1.8 million? Does anyone have photos of this beautiful addition to our city?

There is a bus lane on Flemington Road, of course, between Morrisett Road and Federal Highway, but that has been there for quite some time. Otherwise, whenever I travel on a bus along Flemington Road it just travels in a normal lane.

Am I going blind or what…?

bitzermaloney2:11 pm 16 Nov 10

“… will reduce travel times for bus patrons travelling from Gungahlin to the City by up to 10 minutes.”

Love the vagueness that $1.8m brings… it MIGHT reduce times for buses by UP TO 10 min, but then again it MIGHT NOT!

Imagine what Hopeless will have to say once GDE is finally finished…. “it might reduce travel time between Gungahlin and Tugger’s by 10 min, but given you’ve had to put up with the bottleneck for so long you won’t notice the difference due to the increase in traffic… and if you do, we’ll have point-to-point cameras the whole way down that either everyone will be doing 85km in a 100 zone, or will ping you as soon as you do 105.”

As a motorcyclist, I approve. As a car driver, I’m saddened.

Perhaps I’m not looking hard enough, but I don’t see any bus lane where there wasn’t one a year ago.

Sure, there’s the duplication of Flemington Road. That’s all nice, except that when travelling south you form a single lane after Wells Station Drive anyway – and there’s not even a separate bus lane. The verge there is very wide .. Perhaps they’re doing that bit next?h

merlin bodega12:35 pm 16 Nov 10

Has the Chiefly Minister any idea about anything at all to do with buses or transport in the ACT? He spends so long sitting at the feet of ACTION management that he has no credibility at all for me when he mentions anything about transport (let alone public transport) at all.
Did he not see anywhere at all on his recent and extended expensive overseas grand tour where people do things better? Did he comprehend it? has it occurred to him or any of his Assembly colleagues on both sides that high density living should be constructed near transport hubs and not at places like Crace?
FACT: The first thing the Government did when the Barton Highway Bridge collapsed was to close down the bus lane in Mitchell. Bus travel times became even more intolerable for the people who live in Gungahlin. A Go Green award for that one!
FACT: Taking a car or bus to Civic after 7:30 in the morning from Palmerston takes 45 minutes to 1 hour using Northbourne. After 7:45 Gungahlin Drive is just a parking lot.
FACT: Many so called route services (if they turn up) have most of their stops after they leave Gungahlin suburbs. The 56 from Palmerston has 17 stops from Palmerston to Civic before stopping at Civic – imagine what this adds to travel time.

What’s the point of going on?

in 2012 we will have another election. This time lets make it an UNELECTION. We should unelect all sitting members and vote for entirely new members in all parties. I can’t see how they can possibly do any worse than the transport failure that North Canberra has become.

Holden Caulfield12:20 pm 16 Nov 10

Haha, the cynic in me hopes Our Fearless Leader is suggesting the 10 minutes saved will be gained by effective road design and traffic light synchronisation and not the simple fact there are no longer any roadworks causing delays.

How can the bus lane be considered finished when the roadworks for the Flemington Road/Sandford Street/Morrisett Road intersections are not yet completed?

shadow boxer11:32 am 16 Nov 10

To be fair he should also mention how long it will increase the commuting time for car drivers. My guess 15-20 minutes.

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