Page 1872 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 2 May 2012
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conducting speed surveys and would reassess traffic conditions. I was told that, depending on the results of the assessment, further action may be taken, although I did not receive further information about the assessment.
Following an email from a constituent in March this year noting that there were still problems with speeding on Clift Crescent, I wrote to the current transport minister. I understand that this constituent contacted four of the Brindabella members. The constituent mentioned watching a car travelling along the street one night at an estimated speed of between 140 and 160 kilometres per hour, which I think is extraordinary. He also noted that cars regularly travel between 70 and 80 kilometres an hour and that people rev their cars and drive dangerously down the street. He also pointed out, and I have witnessed this for myself, that the main problem is between the two intersections at Clift Crescent and Kiddle Crescent as they come off Ashley Drive.
I would like to note the response. As I said, I wrote again to the transport minister. The response stated that Roads ACT reassessed the traffic conditions at Clift Crescent in February 2012 to evaluate the performance of previous measures put in place. And there were some traffic calming measures put in place. They primarily are reflectors, which are put on the road as almost a psychological barrier to make it appear that the road is narrowing. The results indicated that the average speed was less than 60 kilometres an hour. However, it notes in the letter that it seems that there are isolated instances where motorists travel at high speeds during off-peak times.
I went down and met with residents on Friday, 27 April, last week. They noted that there is still significant speeding along that road. I witnessed it myself when I was there. There were probably well over four cars travelling well over 60 kilometres an hour down that road. And there have been some recent incidents where we were lucky that there was not a fatality. One recent incident included a car overturning into someone’s yard. Also, there was a car chase with police, on the weekend or very recently, down Clift Crescent.
As I said, I witnessed problems myself. It was 9.30 in the morning when I was there, so that is not exactly an off-peak time. We know there are schools around there. There is a scout hall; there are shops. There are a lot of people moving around there. We know also that there have been people hit on that road, which is extremely concerning.
I will go now to the amendments which I will move. Firstly, my amendments add Clift Crescent as an area that needs to be addressed with traffic calming. And they ask the government to consult with local residents about the problems and necessary measures before implementing them.
In talking about the issue, I take Ms Burch’s point about conducting that consultation first. That is a good way to go. Having met with the residents on Friday, I know that they have some very good ideas about where measures should go and what sort of measures they should be. As I outlined in my speech earlier, there are a number of ways you could go about it. One of the things they particularly would like to see is a pedestrian crossing that is also a speed bump. As I said, I witnessed a lot of speeding along there. I think it is quite necessary there. They do have some very good ideas, so
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