Quiet Intersections

Anywhere either side of the lake is dead on a Sunday afternoon.

Do you absolutely need an intersection? As you could make use of the traffic lights at some school crossings? There aren’t too many of them, but around schools are usually quiet on weekends.

But not many people use Rowland Rees Crescent GREENWAY (southern end), on weekends. It has lots of trees & 2 lanes onto Athllon Drive. Also at times those lights take ages to change, so you could set up, shoot & pack up all while you still have a red light.

If not for your traffic light requirement I’d suggest the new part of Kingston – for example, the intersection of Printers Way and Cunningham Street. There are lots of barely-used intersections in the area and if you shoot facing towards the lake there is almost a rural backdrop. Easier to get to than some of the suggested places in Hume, etc, as well

In fact, the intersection of Eyre Street and Wentworth has a traffic light and might suit your purposes, if you drive up Eyre Street from the Kingston Foreshore end. Wentworth actually gets pretty quiet in the middle of the day sometimes.

I think you will have some difficulty finding an intersection that would comply with all requirements as “quiet” and traffic lights don’t normally mix, is a criteria for them is normally high use busier intersections and they’re normally on main roads/residential areas. Having said that, you may find luck with trying somewhere on a Sunday afternoon. I can’t say I can think of a particular place that would meet your requirements, perhaps consider some traffic lights that are set up for pedestrian traffic, I can think of Wattle St in Lyneham and on College St in Bruce at the moment, but I’m sure there’s more around.

northbourne and london circuit is pretty quiet…

Sheppard St./Tharwa Drive,Hume. Rural as you will get!

Not sure of traffic flow, but could be worth an eyeball.

A quiet intersection could be a tricky call, since traffic lights are usually set up at busier intersections to control the traffic flow 😉

I worked on a short last year where we blocked off a section of Athllon Drive (the bit around the back where the gov offices are). That was on a long weekend, though, so the road was pretty dead. Not sure how it’d be on a normal weekend, but might be worth a look.

And even if you were just going to shoot in one lane, I’d say safety requirements would require you to take control of the whole intersection. This means that as well as blocking the intersection, you’d have to be able to put forward (and signpost) a viable detour route.

Oh, and even after blocking the road, expect any number of idiots to simply drive around the roadblocks. See this thread for our experiences:
http://the-riotact.com/?p=7079

Good luck with the shoot 🙂

Isnt there a driving training centre out on Sutton Rd, which has almost a full private road network setup for driver training? This would provide you a greenery environment and be able to restrict access when you need to film, easily. Im not sure if it still exists but Im sure Ive seen photos of the roads which sound like what you want.

If you film after daylight savings begins, you would be able to use an area like mitchell or fyshwick as they basically shut down at 5pm and your daylight will be around for several more hours.

P.S., I would only be using one part of the intersection, e.g. where a car would idle while the traffic light is red, and not the entire crossroad.

Thanks for all your replies!

I should have explained; I need an intersection with a working traffic light. Greenery or a sparse backdrop would be nice, as shooting in a residential or industrial area might attract unwanted attention, and delay the schedule, or worse yet become an insurance matter. The shoot will take place during the business hours of the day, though on a weekend, so as to help lessen the flow of traffic.

Try Clift Crescent in Richardson – it’s always quiet.

I think you will find that outside of 8am-9am and 4pm-5pm almost all intersections in Canberra a quiet! Be more specific in what intersection construct you are after. I can drop a few for you. Anywhere along Brisbane Ave, Barton, or Dairy Road, past the Monaro flyover. What about Sydney Ave, Forrest up near Hotel Realm where the road is dual carriageway but goes nowhere.

any where in Hall, would be quiet most the time.

do you need traffic lights?

if you want more built up back ground then michell is quiet after 5pm.

Aren’t you leaving out some information?

– What type lighting/sun do you need at said location for the shoot?
> And henceforth, what time of day are you planing to shoot as this will affect the traffic flow of any intersection in Canberra.
– Will ‘on-lookers’ staring into the lens be a problem for the film?
– What type of setting/backdrop is needed for the scene?

Google Maps Streetview would most likely be your best help where you scout from the comofort of your home – although I’d recommend getting out there at the particular time of day when you want to shoot and maybe take a few photos or take some notes of any potential issues.

How big an intersection? Traffic lights, Give way, or Roundabout? Residential or otherwise?

how about one of the new suburbs? the roads are completed well before the houses, hence not much traffic. it depends on what you are filming I guess.