#VIS: Brittania Roundabout upgrade

[rhino]

From today's Eastern Courier:

$12 million Britannia roundabout upgrade plan
16 Mar 10 @ 09:30am by Adam Todd

THE notorious Britannia Roundabout will get a long-awaited $12 million upgrade, including the installation of traffic lights, if the Liberals win government this Saturday, March 20.
The Liberal Party has pledged to start works at the five-way bottleneck within 12 months and to have the project finished by 2013.
The plan essentially mirrors an $8.8 million project mothballed by the Rann Government in 2005 and would involve the removal of up to 66 parkland trees.
Bragg MP Vickie Chapman said the Liberals would ask the Transport Department to update the plans as soon as they took office.
“The current roundabout may have worked in the past but it certainly doesn’t now,” she said.
She said the $12 million estimate was based on the Rann Government’s original costings, taking into account inflation.
The Eastern Courier Messenger reported earlier this month the roundabout appeared to have fallen off the political agenda, with neither major party releasing policies to fix the intersection.
Transport Department figures show there have been 61 crashes at the roundabout resulting in injuries since 2004, including five injuries classed at “serious”.
More than 50,000 drivers use the roundabout every day with an average 100 crashes every year.
The Rann Government scrapped the traffic light plan because it involved the removal of 66 trees and 3000sq m of parklands.
Ms Chapman conceded some trees would have to be removed to reconfigure the intersection and remove the egg-shaped roundabout.
Labor’s Bragg candidate Ben Dineen did not respond to the Eastern Courier Messenger’s enquiries.
However, he previously said drivers, not the intersection, were the problem because they used the intersection incorrectly.
“The only time I have had an issue with the roundabout has been when other drivers are in the wrong lane, are not using their indicators or are not patient,” he said.
Mr Dineen said the intersection could be improved with better pedestrian crossings and increased cyclist safety, something he would pursue if elected.
He suggested traffic lights would “significantly increase” transit times in peak hour.
Ms Chapman said such a suggestion was not realistic.
“The difficulty at the moment is that some people, on average two a week, aren’t even getting through the intersection because they crash into someone else and that of course causes major disruption,” she said.



I rarely use this roundabout myself, but I wonder if a simple set of red and yellow traffic lights, only operating during peak, like the ones at Old Belair Road and Blythewood Road, would be sufficient?

[russo92]

Oh no, Oh no, removal of 66 parkland trees???? Ohh I can't breathe.....

Just do it, don't understand why this continues to be a pressing issue, either government should just start it regardless of opinion, parklands, whatever... Gone on for too long and made a complete mockery out of whatever governments been in charge, that they can't even fix something as simple as a poorly exectuted round-a-bout.

Of course, If people were actually good, patient drivers, and knew the standard road rules, there wouldn't be a problem. I drove Britannia when on my L's and when following the right rules you can get around it fine.. thats a whole other issue anyway

[AG]

The issue with road design though is that you can make it as fool-proof and clever as you want, but there will always be drivers who make mistakes (or going further, are stupid). Drivers are a lot harder to change than a single intersection.

[drsmith]

Install a 2-phase traffic signal where Wakefield Road eastbound and Dequettiville Tce meet and a Give Way sign on the roundabout itself for right turn movements from Fullarton Road northbound (continuing onto Fullarton Road and Kensington Road eastbound).

The signal phases would be red for Dequettiville Tce northbound/southbound and green for Wakefield Road eastbound and vice-versa. Set the stop lines for the signals far enough back from the roundabout to allow to allow safe entry through the give way sign above when traffic is stopped at the signals.

It should then be possible to partially regulate traffic on the roundabout using the signals including an all-red phase if necessary. It may also be necessary to lengthen the lane into the give way sign (using part of the centre island) to prevent queuing of northbound traffic in the right hand lane from Fullaton Road onto Dequettiville Tce.

I don't know if the above would actually work but the inspiration comes from the way a 3/4 roundabout was configured at the western end of the Causeway just east of the Perth CBD prior to the install of bus lanes on the Causeway itself. While not as complex as Britannia roundabout a similar 2-phase signal regulated the movement of over 100000vpd from the Causeway on/off 3 other feeder roads into/around the Perth CBD.

The 2-phase traffic signal would also provide a means for pedestrians to safely cross Dequettiville Tce during the green phase for Wakefield Road eastbound.

[AtD]

Just like the Golden Grove O-Bahn, this comes up ever election!

[AG]

Can we please keep the ideas for the Brittania Roundabout by members of this forum in the appropriate thread please? Here: http://www.sensational-adelaide.com/for ... =17&t=1403

[drsmith]

Can we please keep the ideas for the Brittania Roundabout by members of this forum in the appropriate thread please? Here: http://www.sensational-adelaide.com/for ... =17&t=1403

Above suggestion copied and pasted to suggested thread.

[RayRichards]

*hops on soapbox*

I cannot believe that anyone thinks that the roundabout needs to change to lights. Why is it hard to navigate???? Reading the comments on AdelaideNow tells me that alot of people need to get a life and to walk to the motor rego and hand in their licence. Wow, this city is getting worse and worse.

Adelaide (for its size) would be the easiest place in the free world to drive. But of course its seems most people in this place have their heads up their backsides when it comes to common sense. They will follow, only if a law is specially made for them, what is written in that damn Sadvertiser or what that arrogant prick says on evening talk on 5AA.

Ray.

*jumps off*

[Nort]

*hops on soapbox*

I cannot believe that anyone thinks that the roundabout needs to change to lights. Why is it hard to navigate???? Reading the comments on AdelaideNow tells me that alot of people need to get a life and to walk to the motor rego and hand in their licence. Wow, this city is getting worse and worse.

Adelaide (for its size) would be the easiest place in the free world to drive. But of course its seems most people in this place have their heads up their backsides when it comes to common sense. They will follow, only if a law is specially made for them, what is written in that damn Sadvertiser or what that arrogant prick says on evening talk on 5AA.

Ray.

*jumps off*

If it was a standard roundabout it would be easy to navigate, however it is set up in a way that temporarily throws people off, and since you only need a moment of confusion to cause a crash that is a big problem.

[Aidan]

Oh no, Oh no, removal of 66 parkland trees???? Ohh I can't breathe.....

Why would it require the removal of so many trees? My own plan for a signalized roundabout there may not require any tree removal at all, and certainly fewer than five trees.

The best solution for the Britannia roundabout I've seen is AtD's one in the most ironically named thread on this site - though as I said at the time, even that could be bettered by moving the northbound bus lane to the extreme left.

[Straze]

This article is from todays East Torrens Messenger:

britanniaet.JPG

THE notorious Britannia Roundabout will get a long-awaited $12 million upgrade, including the installation of traffic lights, if the Liberals win government this Saturday, March 20.

The Liberal Party has pledged to start works at the five-way bottleneck within 12 months and to have the project finished by 2013.

The plan essentially mirrors an $8.8 million project mothballed by the Rann Government in 2005 and would involve the removal of up to 66 parkland trees.

Labor’s Bragg candidate Ben Dineen did not respond to the East Torrens Messenger’s enquiries about the roundabout.

Bragg MP Vickie Chapman said the Liberals would ask the Transport Department to update Labor’s plans as soon as they took office.

``The current roundabout may have worked in the past but it certainly doesn’t now,’’ she said.

Transport Department figures show there have been 61 crashes at the roundabout resulting in injuries since 2004, including five injuries classed at ``serious’’.

More than 50,000 drivers use the roundabout every day with an average 100 crashes every year.

The Rann Government scrapped the traffic light plan because it involved the removal of 66 trees and 3000sqm of parklands.

Ms Chapman conceded some trees would have to be removed to reconfigure the intersection and remove the egg-shaped roundabout.

Mr Dineen has previously said drivers, not the intersection, were the problem because they used the intersection incorrectly.

``The only time I have had an issue has been when other drivers are in the wrong lane, are not using their indicators or are not patient,’’ he said. Mr Dineen said the intersection could be improved with better pedestrian crossings and increased cyclist safety, something he would pursue if elected.

[cruel_world00]

Ben Dineen's facebook status (Labor candidate for Bragg)

"Ben Dineen Is calculating how much earlier he would have to leave to get to work if the libs put traffic lights at Britannia Roundabout. 10minutes? 15minutes? It's a bad policy that will disadvantage 50 000 commuters every day."

[drsmith]

The Liberal Party has pledged to start works at the five-way bottleneck within 12 months and to have the project finished by 2013.

That's a 2-year construction period. An overpass constructed via incremental launch can be completed in less time than that (all-be it more costly).

[zap brannigan]

Ben Dineen's facebook status (Labor candidate for Bragg)

"Ben Dineen Is calculating how much earlier he would have to leave to get to work if the libs put traffic lights at Britannia Roundabout. 10minutes? 15minutes? It's a bad policy that will disadvantage 50 000 commuters every day."

i think the traffic lights would only operate during peak periods to help clear any chocked roads.

[zap brannigan]

The Liberal Party has pledged to start works at the five-way bottleneck within 12 months and to have the project finished by 2013.

That's a 2-year construction period. An overpass constructed via incremental launch can be completed in less time than that (all-be it more costly).

an overpass would be very unsightly since it is the leafy eastern suburbs where all the bananas in pyjamas live.