Have some thoughts on Kaleen and Wanniassa street improvements?

Call me cynical, but I see this bit as just so much Gov’ hot air and rationalization of their predetermined position…..
“We received quite a number of submissions that indicated that residents were increasingly concerned about speeding, traffic congestion, pedestrian safety and traffic movements around schools and busy intersections. ”
We responded to their survey and agreed that traffic was going too fast past the primary school, but disagreed that traffic calming measures were the answer. We suggested that a radar parked for a few days a week in front of the school would have the desired effect, but I am sure the Gov’ has included us in their counting of supporters for their plan.

My experience with this intersection falls closer to that of Antagonist rather than Magiccar9 – like most intersections it’s safe enough IF you and other drivers are awake, paying full attention to oncoming traffic that is travelling at or below the posted limit, and other drivers . But that’s not always the case, and there are some inherent design flaws with this intersection that magnify risks which would be reduced or eliminated by a roundabout.

There are at least 5 factors that greatly magnify the risk here compared with the 3 roundabout controlled intersections on the same road:
– traffic turning into the northbound lane have to accelerate past the southbound lane into a holding area that is only enough for 2 cars, then slow or stop before turning into the northbound lane.
– there is a very high turning traffic volume into and out of Fincham Cres during morning and afternoon school start/finish times as well as during normal peak hours.
– Athllon Dr traffic passes through the intersection at undiminished speed, unlike the compulsory slowing down that occurs with roundabouts.
– the large volume of traffic in both directions on Athllon Drive encourage crossing drivers to go for an insufficient gap.
– the camber and surfacing of Athllon Dr turning northbound from the centre island means it it very easy to lose grip when turning, especially in the wet.

Bear in mind also that this is a THE major link road used for most cars and ACTION buses to travel between Woden and Tuggeranong. I personally don’t think sightlines anywhere in the intersection are a problem, but I do consider that the placement of the southbound P2P camera very shortly after this intersection has further raised the risk through approaching drivers watching their speedos rather than the intersection. Putting on my tinfoil hat, I also would imagine the Gov’t would now (ironically enough) not be keen to introduce a roundabout to further reduce the average speed on a stretch of road that they have just installed a P2P camera system…

As for Sternberg, the proposals sound just like another Rattenbury step on the path towards having drivers again have a man carry a red flag in front of their internal combustion motor carriage.

The Wanniassa options and proposals are laughable. Personally, I don’t see what the problem with the current road infrastructure is. If traffic must be slowed down, why are measures (speed cushions) that reduce the speed of traffic to about 15kmh in 50 and 60 kmh zones being proposed. This is just going to cause more engine noise and more fuel usage. Is this what the Greens are all about?

magiccar9 said :

Antagonist said :

Here is a suggestion: redirect the money to put in another roundabout at the Athllon/Fincham intersection in Wanniassa. Yet *ANOTHER* accident there this morning in which people have been seriously injured – and I have personally seen two people die in separate accidents there in the past 20 years. Screw speed humps. Fix this black-spot!

How many more people have to die or be permanently injured before something is done about it? We have been begging for so long that it borders on criminal negligence. More blood on your hands, TaMS … not that we can see your hands since you are still sitting on them.

I don’t see why this intersection is a problem. The only foreseeable way for someone to have a crash here is to not give way to traffic on Athllon. I travel through this intersection every day and have never seen a single issue. There are no blind spots, no obstructions, so one could only put down crashes here to driver negligence and failure to give way. Definitely not worthy of being a ‘black-spot’. No matter what the intersection type, people are still going to struggle with the basic driving concepts.

But hey, why not throw in another roundabout to keep screwing up a perfectly normal road that has already been ruined by unnecessary ‘safety’ cameras and dodgy road surfacing.

It seems worthy of being nominated as a black-spot by everyone else, including our local pollies who think it needed $40k thrown at it for ‘line of sight improvements’. What do you suppose the $40k might be spent on if there is no blind spot or obstruction? Also note how they all use the term ‘black-spot’ to describe this very intersection in each of the articles/media releases:

http://www.gaibrodtmann.com.au/media/more-black-spots-to-be-upgraded-on-act-roads/

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/black-spots-get-1-million-quick-fix-20120613-209im.html

http://www.andrewleigh.com/blog/?p=2745

There are/were threads on Riotact about it too – but you can do your own research on those ones. They also use the term ‘black-spot’.

People are being killed there because they are not giving way, exactly as you say. At least a roundabout here will reduce the speed of the vehicles when they crash into each other through human stupidity. People die there every year. Roundabout. Now.

Antagonist said :

Here is a suggestion: redirect the money to put in another roundabout at the Athllon/Fincham intersection in Wanniassa. Yet *ANOTHER* accident there this morning in which people have been seriously injured – and I have personally seen two people die in separate accidents there in the past 20 years. Screw speed humps. Fix this black-spot!

How many more people have to die or be permanently injured before something is done about it? We have been begging for so long that it borders on criminal negligence. More blood on your hands, TaMS … not that we can see your hands since you are still sitting on them.

I don’t see why this intersection is a problem. The only foreseeable way for someone to have a crash here is to not give way to traffic on Athllon. I travel through this intersection every day and have never seen a single issue. There are no blind spots, no obstructions, so one could only put down crashes here to driver negligence and failure to give way. Definitely not worthy of being a ‘black-spot’. No matter what the intersection type, people are still going to struggle with the basic driving concepts.

But hey, why not throw in another roundabout to keep screwing up a perfectly normal road that has already been ruined by unnecessary ‘safety’ cameras and dodgy road surfacing.

Antagonist said :

Here is a suggestion: redirect the money to put in another roundabout at the Athllon/Fincham intersection in Wanniassa. Yet *ANOTHER* accident there this morning in which people have been seriously injured – and I have personally seen two people die in separate accidents there in the past 20 years. Screw speed humps. Fix this black-spot!

How many more people have to die or be permanently injured before something is done about it? We have been begging for so long that it borders on criminal negligence. More blood on your hands, TaMS … not that we can see your hands since you are still sitting on them.

It’s always the road at fault, couldn’t possibly be the motorists lack of skill and care. How do the other 10,000 people manage each week t drive through this intersection without crashing?

Here is a suggestion: redirect the money to put in another roundabout at the Athllon/Fincham intersection in Wanniassa. Yet *ANOTHER* accident there this morning in which people have been seriously injured – and I have personally seen two people die in separate accidents there in the past 20 years. Screw speed humps. Fix this black-spot!

How many more people have to die or be permanently injured before something is done about it? We have been begging for so long that it borders on criminal negligence. More blood on your hands, TaMS … not that we can see your hands since you are still sitting on them.

“Canberra’s residential neighbourhoods should, as much as possible, be safe, slow and ‘peopled’ places where Canberrans can live and enjoy their neighbourhood…”

OK Mr Rattenbury, next time you’re driving behind me I’ll make sure to slow down to say… 10km/h. That should be a sufficient speed for ‘people to enjoy their neighbourhood’ no?

Roads are for DRIVING, paths are for walking/cycling, and houses and their associated land is for enjoying. If people can’t navigate suburban streets – either on foot or in vehicle – slowing traffic and implementing road obstacles isn’t going to solve anything.

When will cars ever be able to do decent and safe speeds without people crying and complaining? You’ve already ruined most commercial centres across Canberra with idiotic ‘traffic cushions’ and reduced speed limits, for gods sake leave the rest of the streets alone!

Maribyrnong definitely needs some tweaks, although littering the suburbs with speed cushions and making the road narrower is not the answer!!

Duplicate Maribyrnong Avenue and Sternberg Crescent.

No point trying to educate or control stupid drivers, so just seperate them.