Article: A solution to weekend traffic snarl?

[ozbob]

From the Brisbanetimes click here!

A solution to weekend traffic snarl?

A solution to weekend traffic snarl?
COURTNEY TRENWITH
June 19, 2010 - 6:43AM

Kerbside parking on Ann Street in Fortitude Valley will be restricted seven days a week in a Brisbane City Council attempt to fix a notorious weekend traffic bottleneck.

But businesses fear Fortitude Valley's main thoroughfare will become a "freeway" when a clearway is introduced on weekends.

Deputy Mayor Graham Quirk said the move to alter clearway operation times along the right side of Ann Street, between Montpelier Road and Brunswick Street, from 7am to 7pm every day would help ease congestion.

"On the weekend, parking reduces Ann Street to only two free flowing lanes, which causes significant delays and traffic congestion in the Valley," he said.

"Bus travel times down Ann Street during peak increase from under three minutes during the week to over seven minutes on a weekend.".

Cr Quirk said unlike other busy Brisbane roads, Ann Street traffic did not significantly decrease on the weekend.

Presently, only the left side of the one-way street is a clearway seven days a week, while drivers can park on the right side on weekends.

Brisbane City Council said the move would help reduce "significant" congestion and increased travel times on Saturdays and Sundays.

But Fortitude Valley Chamber of Commerce chief executive officer Carol Gordon said businesses were concerned they would lose customers, who would be forced to drive by.

"It looks like Ann Street will become a freeway," she said.

Some businesses were already struggling and weekends were an opportunity to pick up trade.

"Ironically enough, when the parking will be available is when the retailers close," Ms Gordon said.

"We some support for Ann Street [traders]. We have very little parking in the Valley at all."

Fabric Hair salon coordinator John Allen said while traffic was woeful on weekends, often making his clients late, he would prefer to have parking.

"'It's a double-edged sword," Mr Allen said.

"The traffic is slow on the weekends. If I'm coming to work after 10 o'clock, I know that it will take me 20 minutes to get from Montpelier Road to Fabric, which is next to Brunswick St.

"On the other hand, it also gives people a place to park for free on the weekends."

Mr Allen said the precinct needed more free or cheap parking options.

"They're trying to make this area a precinct but they're charging people to attend the fashion stores," he said.

Ms Gordon said some businesses had not been consulted about the change.

They supported improved bus services in the area, including the council's new free Glider service, but lack of parking was a bigger concern.

"We understand the need [to improve traffic] but support for local business is vital," Ms Gordon said.

"Is it worth an extra 4 1/2 minutes to travel in a bus to allow the business trade in the area?"

Brisbane City Council said it took weekday buses two minutes and 51 seconds to travel through the suburb between 7am and 8am on weekdays, while on weekends between 11.30am-2pm travel time was seven minutes and 36 seconds.

Cr Quirk said a review had been undertaken before the decision to extend the clearway.

"We are committed to working to reduce traffic congestion in the Valley and ensure that traffic continues flowing around the city on weekends," Councillor Quirk said.

Ann Street traffic volumes:

•     Saturday 2233 vehicles per hour

•     Sunday 2147 vehicles per hour

•     Weekdays 2810 vehicles per hour

[Jon Bryant]

1960 council still trying 1960 traffic management.  Traffic speed is not the only factor to consider but not according to this Council.  ? 

[somebody]

1960 council still trying 1960 traffic management.  Traffic speed is not the only factor to consider but not according to this Council.  ? 

Hey, this is something which is in line with your goals. 

[#Metro]

Think about what this will do to business.
Nobody would open a shop or restaurant fronting on to a freeway.

[Jon Bryant]

1960 council still trying 1960 traffic management.  Traffic speed is not the only factor to consider but not according to this Council.  ? 

Hey, this is something which is in line with your goals. 

how?

[somebody]

1960 council still trying 1960 traffic management.  Traffic speed is not the only factor to consider but not according to this Council.  ? 

Hey, this is something which is in line with your goals. 

how?

Well, it's a reduction in car parking isn't it?  That can only increase the incentive for PT, and improving bus speed is a bit of a positive too.

[#Metro]

No not necessarily.

The parking will be removed to free up road capacity. More road capacity means more cars on the road on the weekend. Many more people will drive than could park in the parking spots, so this is a gain in favour of the car.

More driving also means reduced mode share for active transport modes and public transport.

Higher traffic speeds and more traffic make the road less liveable, more pollution, noise and traffic that blows on to restaurants and affects surrounding businesses which reduces livability.

Parking does not cause congestion. People in cars do. Parking does not slow down buses, again people in cars do. Bus lanes would fix the situation for slowed travel times. Bus lanes down Ann Street used to exist but they were removed. They have now been replaced by bus "jump" lanes, which are not as good as exclusive bus lanes.

Once again, everybody must make way for the most inefficient mode of mass transport available: The Car.

[somebody]

But to the degree it will speed up the cars, it will also speed up the buses.  That point is a break even for car vs bus.  A reduction in parking swings it to a gain for PT.

[#Metro]

But to the degree it will speed up the cars, it will also speed up the buses.  That point is a break even for car vs bus.  A reduction in parking swings it to a gain for PT.

If the idea was to speed up buses, priority signalling and a permanent bus lane would do that.
The idea isn't to speed up buses, the idea is to speed up cars, the bus speeds are just a side effect that makes bad news look like good news.

I'm sure the construction of freeways and more roads speeds up buses and gets them to more places too.

[stephenk]

Having today waited for over 15mins for a CityGlider, the same for a 199, 20 mins for a train, and taken over 10 minutes to cross Lytton Rd as a pedestrian, I see that Brisbane's transport policies are seriously failing anyone who is trying to get around in any mode of transport other than a car.

[Jon Bryant]

1960 council still trying 1960 traffic management.  Traffic speed is not the only factor to consider but not according to this Council.  ? 

Hey, this is something which is in line with your goals. 

how?

Well, it's a reduction in car parking isn't it?  That can only increase the incentive for PT, and improving bus speed is a bit of a positive too.

This is indeed a catch 22 that I have changed position on a number of times.  My current stand is that all parking should be removed to discourage driving with a massive BUT.  That BUT being that at the time the parking is removed the road is converted to PT priority (bus/tram lane) and the overall road space modified to reduce the speed of traffic and make the space a shared car, pedestrian cyclist and PT area.  I had original supported keeping kerb-side parking as it slows traffic and supported local shops, etc.   Note that street parking is only a small % compared to off-street parking which is the main issue i have with parking.

The proposal by BCC is nothing like that I describe above. It is the removal of parking purely to increase through traffic flow.  Through traffic is king at BCC to the total detriment of any neighbourhoods along the way.  The rights of the person travelling the furtherest distance is allowed to stomps all over the rights of those who live or work along our major routes.  Just look at what is left of Bowen Bridge and Lutwyche/Kedron.  Every time I drive past I have to actively control the urge to throwing up. 

Ann, Wickham, McLachlan, James and East Streets should all be returned to 2 way as should all one-way streets in the CBD/Buranda/Annerley.   Kerb-side parking should also be removed as footpaths are returned to/increased for the people and priority given to PT and cyclists.

[Golliwog]

What reason do you give for removing oneway streets from the CBD? It works better, for buses too. Instead of having a multiphase set of lights, you end up with either a 2 phase or 3 phase if you have one to let pedestrains cross in all directions at once. Buses (and cars) flow faster.

[#Metro]

What reason do you give for removing oneway streets from the CBD? It works better, for buses too. Instead of having a multiphase set of lights, you end up with either a 2 phase or 3 phase if you have one to let pedestrains cross in all directions at once. Buses (and cars) flow faster.

Faster traffic destroys the street atmosphere. One way streets create a fast flowing barrier of traffic which is difficult to cross, noisy and, because more vehicles are now passing, increased pollution. Pedestrian islands on one way streets also don't get put in.

As for 1 way streets in the CBD- haven't thought about what my position is on this.

[Jon Bryant]

What reason do you give for removing oneway streets from the CBD? It works better, for buses too. Instead of having a multiphase set of lights, you end up with either a 2 phase or 3 phase if you have one to let pedestrains cross in all directions at once. Buses (and cars) flow faster.

They are just big ugly pedestrian unfriendly roads that scream "cars first".  They also require additional distance to be travelled for those vehicles that would need to be on the road. Remember traffic flow is not everything.

[dwb]

But to the degree it will speed up the cars, it will also speed up the buses.  That point is a break even for car vs bus.  A reduction in parking swings it to a gain for PT.

This is the same logic that saw the Coro Dr buslane removed!

Streetside parking is different to internal parking. The amount of parallel street parking is limited by the length of the street, gives fast drop-in access to local businesses, slows traffic, physically protects pedestrians from moving traffic and is cheaper than on site parking.

Onsite parking requires centralised access points (impacting on road network and cutting pedestrian paths - just look at Elizabeth St), is expensive, reduces development capacity that actually makes money (shops, homes etc), is ugly, reduces "street activation"... the list goes on.

Jonno's position is not at all contradictory. You can entirely support street parking and still support a reduced level of parking in precincts.

I would however make a note that I think street parking and lack of PT to say the Brisbane Powerhouse IS a problem on wkends. But that is a whole different hairy chestnut!

[somebody]

But to the degree it will speed up the cars, it will also speed up the buses.  That point is a break even for car vs bus.  A reduction in parking swings it to a gain for PT.

This is the same logic that saw the Coro Dr buslane removed!

Huh?  In what sense was there a break even for bus vs car in removing of the Coro Dr bus lanes?

I know you don't like me or my posts, but at least you could use some logic when you disagree with me.

[dwb]

This is the same logic that saw the Coro Dr buslane removed!

Huh?  In what sense was there a break even for bus vs car in removing of the Coro Dr bus lanes?

At the time part of the rhetoric for REMOVING the buslane on Coro was that it would actually speed up bus travel by reducing road congestion around Toowong. I believe they went so far as to publish bus travel time improvements in the first couple of weeks after removal to prove their case. I can't find the press release but they only leave them up for a certain period of time.

at least you could use some logic when you disagree with me.

Every PT trip involves walking to and from your destination. Therefore improving pedestrian conditions is an integral element of improving the PT network. Removing street parking can be and often is (and I would argue in the case of Ann St certainly will be) deleterious to pedestrian conditions and therefore further undermines PT especially with a marginal benefit of travel time attributed to PT that mostly just allows improved private travel times and volumes, which in the overall network decrease both the comparative attractiveness of PT but also in a network sense reduces travel time by increasing congestion.

In this case I think removing street parking from the right lane is a pragmatic (at least in the short term) way to improve bus travel time without providing a full bus lane. Given one of the first things that the Lord Mayor did when he came to power was remove the practically useless Ann St bus lanes I don't think we'll see him putting them back any time soon. The right hand lane solution seems to work reasonably well for the Glider given local conditions. I think it would be hard (impossible) to quantify how many car trips were avoided due to this choke point due to congestion, however I think most would agree if the conditions improve for private vehicle travel more people will use that route.

I know you don't like me or my posts

A good piece of advice a mentor once gave me was "don't hate the man, argue his ideas", that is all I'm doing. I don't know you nor have I formed an opinion of whether I like you or not. You have some great ideas that you share on here, and you have others that I think are doozies that require rebuttal. Again, I would challenge you to find a post where I've personally attacked you instead of arguing one of your assertions.

[Jon Bryant]

What reason do you give for removing oneway streets from the CBD? It works better, for buses too. Instead of having a multiphase set of lights, you end up with either a 2 phase or 3 phase if you have one to let pedestrains cross in all directions at once. Buses (and cars) flow faster.

They are just big ugly pedestrian unfriendly roads that scream "cars first".  They also require additional distance to be travelled for those vehicles that would need to be on the road. Remember traffic flow is not everything.

I forgot to add Vulture, Stanley, Wellington and Lisburn Streets in East Brisbane/Gabba area.  Classic example of where the rights of drivers and traffic flow has trodden all over the amenity of an Inner City suburb.

[somebody]

Well, I'd say that changing the parking conditions would an almost unnoticeable change in pedestrian conditions on Ann St.

I'm sure everyone knew that the pollies were lying when they said that removing bus priority would be good for PT.  Even if it didn't slow down the buses much (unlikely), it definitely would have sped up the car travel time.

[#Metro]

Has anyone got the published articles re: the time speed tests?
The ones I could find are below, I think it was published in the Brisbanetimes but I can only find the comments section.
http://blogs.brisbanetimes.com.au/yoursay/archives/2007/05/coronation_driv.html

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/06/2412629.htm
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/queensland/coro-drive-lane-system-a-failure/2008/08/27/1219516522271.html

[somebody]

You have some great ideas that you share on here, and you have others that I think are doozies that require rebuttal.

Ok, but I don't really think many of your rebuttals have held up in my view.  But perhaps those things we just need to agree to disagree.

[dwb]

But perhaps those things we just need to agree to disagree.

Agreed.

[Golliwog]

When I said one way streets flow faster, I didn't mean exactly faster speed wise. Perhaps flows better would have been a more apt way of putting it. I meant it gives a more even flow, as there no need to worry about provding dedicated right turns vs filter turns. This provides more consistent (bus) travel times. The actual speed is obviously limited by the speed limit. I also wasn't talking about any streets in particular, just in general.

As for on-street parking, I agree that it should be kept. If they are going to use the line that they are doing it to improve bus travel times, then why don't them create a bus lane instead? Although buses seem to be brought up less as what they are tryign to promote, and more as just what they are using to work out how bad the traffic is getting.