Yet another Roadworks [and GDE] Post

GordonResidential said :

Do you know if the shrubs were retained for some other use? Or are you ass uming?

No, no idea, but they were removed by bobcat and dumped into the back of a truck. Didn’t look to be a very delicate operation.

Do you know if the shrubs were retained for some other use?

Or are you ass uming?

The stadium drop-off/parking kerfuffle came months after the road had opened and those plants had been there all along. If it were intended as a u-turn barrier it was a pretty poor effort.

I could be wrong, but surely there are rules for having a DA approved and some of these must relate to vegetation rehab or green space ratio or something like that. Looks to me like a token effort to satisfy those conditions.

Originally there was an access road for buses to Masterman St but I believe it was deemed too hard (read:expensive) to deal with the gradient or the required turning radius or something like that.

astrojax said :

but that’a the point – lack of planning/thinking. so what, in ‘several years’ those pesky now-grown plants wouldn’t have been in the way?

Bingo.

fozzy said :

The other reason may have to do with the (in my opinion stupid) decision that you can’t have people using the GDE to access Canberra stadium….

I suspect the trees were part of the mechanism to stop cars doing a U-turn across that grassed section.

The first bit is plausible, and the plans they recently had for the redevelopment of Canberra Stadium also included a bus parking lane about there too.

Though on the latter – only for 70 meters? Not much of a disincentive. I’ve seen people U turn over the dirt nearby plenty of other times (accidents or other traffic problems on the GDE).

niftydog said :

They would have to meet the DA as approved, and the plantings are in the plans.
Remember the upgrade wasn’t supposed to happen for several years.

but that’a the point – lack of planning/thinking. so what, in ‘several years’ those pesky now-grown plants wouldn’t have been in the way?

fozzy said :

The other reason may have to do with the (in my opinion stupid) decision that you can’t have people using the GDE to access Canberra stadium.

Some background, when there Australia Italy Rugby match was on, there were may people who’d organised someone to drop them off on the side of the GDE outside Canberra stadium, they walked across to the stadium and at the end of the match they called and were picked up in a similar fashion. [I’d missed out tickets so I became one of the many said designated “taxi”]. This all seemed like a really sensible thing to reduce congestion in the carpark and make it easier for people to get out of the region of the Canberra stadium. Sure, some people probably did stupid/unsafe things, but it seemed to me like an idea that should be encouraged by putting in a dedicated pullover lane, etc. (as well as a few additional safety mechanisms).

However, that doesn’t appear to be what happened. Instead there were signs put up telling people there was no standing allowed along the Canberra Stadium section of the GDE, and then barriers were erected to stop people being able to get to the Canberra Stadium from the GDE. I suspect the trees were part of the mechanism to stop cars doing a U-turn across that grassed section.

It’s all a pity really – it seemed like such a good way of clearing the traffic after a game at the stadium.

Stopping to let out passengers wouldn’t be a sensible thing to do on a road like the GDE if it was two lanes, let alone one.

They would have to meet the DA as approved, and the plantings are in the plans.
Remember the upgrade wasn’t supposed to happen for several years.

How about: “because this is how it is always done here”?

E.g. a large length of Flemington Road has recently been finished as four lanes, spacious bike lanes, and importantly an empty corridor down the middle deliberately wide enough to accommodate bi-directional light rail (or a bus lane). Designed by ACTPLA, but only the bit fronting land the government wanted to sell.

Then there is a stupid bottleneck for a couple hundred metres then a brand new intersection designed and built by TAMS at the Sandford Road intersection. Why was this bottleneck section not done at the same time? Sorry there just is not any sensible answer to that one, other than “there was no land fronting it we wanted to sell”.

Has the same width corridor been included down the middle of the new intersection? No.

Has the same wide enough bike lane been included both sides? No – on the east side the bike lane has been built narrower for the length of the intersection – and this adjacent to the start of the bus lane, to make it even more hazardous for cyclists.

The hardenbergias have been looking lovely round the the Aranda off loop thing

The other reason may have to do with the (in my opinion stupid) decision that you can’t have people using the GDE to access Canberra stadium.

Some background, when there Australia Italy Rugby match was on, there were may people who’d organised someone to drop them off on the side of the GDE outside Canberra stadium, they walked across to the stadium and at the end of the match they called and were picked up in a similar fashion. [I’d missed out tickets so I became one of the many said designated “taxi”]. This all seemed like a really sensible thing to reduce congestion in the carpark and make it easier for people to get out of the region of the Canberra stadium. Sure, some people probably did stupid/unsafe things, but it seemed to me like an idea that should be encouraged by putting in a dedicated pullover lane, etc. (as well as a few additional safety mechanisms).

However, that doesn’t appear to be what happened. Instead there were signs put up telling people there was no standing allowed along the Canberra Stadium section of the GDE, and then barriers were erected to stop people being able to get to the Canberra Stadium from the GDE. I suspect the trees were part of the mechanism to stop cars doing a U-turn across that grassed section.

It’s all a pity really – it seemed like such a good way of clearing the traffic after a game at the stadium.