Page 3747 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 23 October 2013
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Mrs Jones might also be interested in some information I received from ACT Policing about the intersection of Hibberson and Hinder streets. In September this year, ACT Policing identified the intersection as one it would focus attention on. Hopefully this will help improve safety at this location. Members might also be interested to know that ACT Policing identified that one of the collisions that occurred this year related to a construction site on Hibberson Street that was blocking drivers’ view from Hinder Street. This issue was dealt with so that there is no longer an obstruction. ACT Policing is continuing to monitor construction sites and traffic in this area.
As Mrs Jones would also know, and as she mentioned in her speech, TAMS and Roads ACT have already agreed to install stop signs at the intersection to replace give way signs. This is to address visibility issues. These stop signs are expected to be implemented by the end of December. And if road drivers are actually following the road rules, that should result in an improvement in safety, because I think most people understand the difference between a stop sign and a give way sign. They do receive that signal that it is a more dangerous intersection and that people should take them more seriously than perhaps they do. With a give way sign, sometimes they think they can pass through more speedily.
The other thing which has not come up in today’s discussion but which I should mention is that the intersection sits within a 40-kilometre-an-hour zone. The ACT government has, in partnership—and this was an issue that was in the last parliamentary agreement—implemented 40-kilometre-an-hour speed zones in the town centres to improve safety, recognising that they are areas that have high pedestrian movement, in particular. That is the key reason. But it also recognises that there is a level of traffic movement that also warrants these lower speed limits. I cannot remember whether it was the photo of the intersection in RiotACT or in the Chronicle, but the photo showed the 40-kilometre-an-hour speed sign as part of the intersection. This, again, demonstrates that a lot of safety measures have already been put in place.
Mrs Jones’s motion asks that I table reports on the intersection of Hinder Street and Hibberson Street, and I am happy to make these available. That is no problem. I would ask that I have some time to collate these. I expect that I can present them in the next sitting week, next week. It will not take too long, but it would be worth while rather than rushing in this afternoon and not having all of them.
As I mentioned, the need to install lights at this and another intersection on Hinder Street will be assessed as part of the TAMS 2013-14 feasibility program, and when that is completed I will be happy to provide a copy of that report to the Assembly. I should note that if that report does identify improvements for those intersections, they will then need to be considered through the future capital works program.
To sum it up, I will be presenting an amendment which I think proposes the appropriate way forward. That amendment has been circulated. It retains the elements of the motion that ask for reports to be tabled. As I said, my intention is that that will be done during the next sitting week. I will also table a report on the further study being done on the intersection. It puts a time frame on this of April next year. That is the expected time frame that TAMS will need to complete this work.
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