Gundaroo Drive duplication?

Instead of constantly upgrading roads, how about we impose an actual usage fee on road users which is geared towards reducing demand? That’d earn revenue and save lots of money from unneeded upgrades.

Erg0 said :

Following a link from that page, I discovered that UK car mag Auto Express thinks Canberra’s own State Circle (though they’ve mislabelled it as London Circuit) is the 11th worst junction in the world…

WTF-opotamus?

There is probably 11 worse junctions just in Australia (if not Canberra).

p1 said :

damien haas said :

Being Canberra, and with ACT Roads at the helm, no doubt we will instead get traffic lights, a plethora of signs and then cameras to punish those who cant divine logic from chaos.

I’m expecting on of these.

Following a link from that page, I discovered that UK car mag Auto Express thinks Canberra’s own State Circle (though they’ve mislabelled it as London Circuit) is the 11th worst junction in the world. Good to know we’re making it big on the world stage: http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/210607/worlds_worst_junctions.html

Gungahlin Al said :

BTW flyover roundabouts can work quite well. They were used successfully along the Brisbane Arterial Connection near the airport for many years after traffic exceeded the initial roundabouts’ ability to cope. They coped with traffic loads way higher then Canberra would ever get on any intersection. Couldn’t understand why the NCA didn’t go that route for Kings Ave…

Yup to this. A bridge clean over the top of the round about with entrances and exits that feed into the existing roundabout would be incredibly simple and take up exactly the same footprint as the current set up.

It would be pretty horrendous for traffic while being built thought.

JC said :

puggy said :

damien haas said :

Photocopy the Russell roundabout plans and make a few alterations.

Except Ginninderra Creek runs alongside Gundaroo Dr and when it really rains, it can cover the bike path that runs under the Barton Hwy bridges.

Plenty of room. Look at a satellite image. A bridge over the Barton highway could easily be built and then convert the existing roundabout into a through road for the highway and exits onto Gundaroo Drive.

http://www.nearmap.com/?ll=-35.201078,149.094021&z=18&t=w&nmd=20110902

OT, but nearmap images are taken by planes doing flyovers. They are not satellite images.

Roads ACT recently advised the Gungahlin Community Council that:

“This project is currently subject of a feasibility study by Roads ACT however is not in the 11/12 budget.”

We have previously been told they were looking at the road as far as Mirrabei, but we have said that it needs to go right through to Horse Park Drive to cater to the growing numbers of people north of HPD.

BTW flyover roundabouts can work quite well. They were used successfully along the Brisbane Arterial Connection near the airport for many years after traffic exceeded the initial roundabouts’ ability to cope. They coped with traffic loads way higher then Canberra would ever get on any intersection. Couldn’t understand why the NCA didn’t go that route for Kings Ave…

JC said :

puggy said :

damien haas said :

Photocopy the Russell roundabout plans and make a few alterations.

Except Ginninderra Creek runs alongside Gundaroo Dr and when it really rains, it can cover the bike path that runs under the Barton Hwy bridges.

Plenty of room. Look at a satellite image. A bridge over the Barton highway could easily be built and then convert the existing roundabout into a through road for the highway and exits onto Gundaroo Drive.

You missed my point. To make the Russel rounabout/underpass, they dug under, not build a bridge over. A bridge would work.

Spectra said :

damien haas said :

I’m expecting on of these.

I think I speak for every fan of over-engineering in this city when I say that having one of those would be awesome. And for that reason alone it will never happen.

Actually the magic roundabout logically makes sense. Just that half the drivers in Canberra couldn’t follow the logic.

puggy said :

damien haas said :

Photocopy the Russell roundabout plans and make a few alterations.

Except Ginninderra Creek runs alongside Gundaroo Dr and when it really rains, it can cover the bike path that runs under the Barton Hwy bridges.

Plenty of room. Look at a satellite image. A bridge over the Barton highway could easily be built and then convert the existing roundabout into a through road for the highway and exits onto Gundaroo Drive.

http://www.nearmap.com/?ll=-35.201078,149.094021&z=18&t=w&nmd=20110902

The simple and logical solution (hence it will never happen) is to put peak hour traffic lights on the Barton Hwy. Position them about 25-50metres back from the roundabout and only have them work in the direction that is needed for that peak – so the southbound lights would operate in the morning, northbound in the afternoon. This works a treat in Melbourne where there are a number of large roundabouts that clog badly in the morning peak because the two main flows of traffic converge and one is log jammed because of giving way to the right all the time. It’s also what they put out at BBP to help traffic getting out of the businses park onto Piallago Ave by stopping the Queanbeyan bound traffic for short periods in the afternoon peak.

But alas, it works and is proven to be effective in much bigger traffic flows than Canberra, therefore it will never be considered by the tools that run this local council we call a government.