Page 3746 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 23 October 2013
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
The intersection of William Slim Drive and the Barton Highway, which I mentioned earlier, is currently the worst crash site in Gungahlin. Of course it is not the matter that is in this week’s Chronicle. But it is an issue that I have been progressing, and Roads ACT has been progressing, for some time now. As part of the last budget process, design funds of $150,000 were provided to progress the design of a major intersection upgrade at the William Slim Drive and Barton Highway roundabout, and I will be raising the matter again as a priority for discussion with my colleagues through next year’s budget. That is the site that is ranked first on the crash priority upgrade list.
The intersection of Hinder Street and Hibberson Street, which Mrs Jones mentioned in her remarks, is ranked the 48th worst crash site in the ACT over the last seven years. This seven-year time line is the scale that Roads ACT primarily relies on in making its assessment for upgrades. It provides a longer term view and shows longer term patterns.
To highlight this, if you look at the five-year crash history for Hibberson and Hinder, it is actually ranked 103rd. As to Mrs Jones’s likening it to some sort of pop chart, it has not actually got a bullet. The five-year crash history actually sees it going backwards. But over the seven-year time frame it was ranked 43rd. The average is why we get that 48 number, just for the sake of clarity. That means there are 47 intersections in the ACT that are ranked ahead of it. And I am sure there are 47 sets of constituents out there, at least, who would be arguing for those other intersections to be done first. A number of these intersections are actually in the Gungahlin town centre. And that is the reality of decision making for the government.
Of course, as I said earlier, I would like to be able to upgrade every intersection in Canberra to be as safe as they can possibly be. In reality, it would not be responsible to downgrade the priority of those 47 higher ranked intersections so that we can instead install traffic lights at the intersection of Hinder and Hibberson streets.
The fact that I am more concerned about the William Slim and Barton Highway roundabout should not come as a surprise to the residents of Gungahlin. Indeed, officers from TAMS regularly attend the local community council meetings in Gungahlin. We have all been there. We have all seen them come to those sessions, and they present and discuss traffic and road safety issues with local residents. TAMS has talked to residents about this roundabout, and my understanding is that the local Gungahlin Community Council is supportive of this priority.
Over the years there have been concerns raised about several intersections in the Gungahlin town centre. Some earlier transport planning work was also undertaken by the former ACT planning authority which identified the need for longer term improvements. Based on this work, TAMS is progressing a study during 2013-14 which will assess the need for and the cost of installing traffic lights at two intersections on Hinder Street, the intersection with Hibberson Street and the intersection with Efkarpidis Street.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video