7 December 2011

Gundaroo Drive duplication?

| BenMac
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I’ve noticed over the last two weeks or so quite a few surveyors on Gundaroo Dr between Gungahlin Dr and Crace. Anyone know of any official plans to upgrade the road?

During peak hour (peak 30mins?) it is actually quicker to use Curran Dr in Nicholls, down to the roundabout to turn right onto William Slim Dr, or go via Kuringa/Kingsford Smith Dr to get to Belconnen than it is to go straight through the roundabout at the Barton Highway onto William Slim.

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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.

Gungahlin Al11:10 am 08 Dec 11

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.

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.

Jivrashia said :

I think your interest lies more in the Barton Hwy and Gundaroo Dve Intersection upgraded.

Would be interesting to see what solution they come up with, since there’s a creek running right next to Gundaroo Dve.

Elevated roads would be a tad expensive for Canberrans…

There is plenty of room between the existing road and the creek to duplicate. In fact take a look next time your out there and you will see the clearing that was left for duplication.

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.

There can’t be any 4 year cockups (re: GDE) with this issue, the Hell that is currently being experienced here will be nothing compared to the tsunami of traffic that will clog up that roundabout once Crace, Jacka, Moncrieff, Bonner, Kenny, Throsby, Casey and Forde are all finished..

Jivrashia said :

Elevated roads would be a tad expensive for Canberrans…

you could do what the South Aussies are doing – building an entire road on top of an existing road – think Bay Bridge in San Fransciso.

SA is doing this for two reasons – firstly, many years ago land set aside for a north-south road was sold off, and secondly, there is no scope to upgrade the existing road to reduce traffic congestion at peak hour.

looks like road infrastructure planners in this country come from the same school!!

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.

Jivrashia said :

I think your interest lies more in the Barton Hwy and Gundaroo Dve Intersection upgraded.

Would be interesting to see what solution they come up with, since there’s a creek running right next to Gundaroo Dve.

Elevated roads would be a tad expensive for Canberrans…

A tunnel then?

What the Barton Highway/William Slim/Gundaroo Drive intersection needs is a drastic redesign. The Barton highway needs to flyover that intersection completely, with on and off ramps constructed to feed it seamlessly (once Canberra drivers learn to merge), the design could also incorporate Gundaroo Drive/William Slim seamlessly merging.

Photocopy the Russell roundabout plans and make a few alterations.

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 think your interest lies more in the Barton Hwy and Gundaroo Dve Intersection upgraded.

Would be interesting to see what solution they come up with, since there’s a creek running right next to Gundaroo Dve.

Elevated roads would be a tad expensive for Canberrans…

While it would be a long overdue duplication (but is still not in any capital works budget I’ve seen), it’s unlikely to solve the particular issue you have at the Barton Hwy intersection. The backlog there is caused by the roundabout giving right of way to people travelling on the highway (which itself can develop something of a queue these days). And there are already two lanes feeding onto the roundabout from Gundaroo drive, so duplicating the rest of the road will do nothing but give you a bigger area to queue in. What’s really needed is a grade-separated intersection (read: bridge) to replace the roundabout, but that’s obviously going to cost money.

According to TAMS the duplication is currently “under consideration”.
http://www.tams.act.gov.au/__data/assets/image/0004/231574/Major-Projects-2011-12-Map.gif

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