Article: Road projects on the way to clear congestion

[ozbob]

From the Courier Mail click here!

Road projects on the way to clear congestion

Road projects on the way to clear congestion
Article from: The Courier-Mail

Ursula Heger

September 12, 2009 12:00am

QUEENSLAND: Congested one day, clear the next.

That's the hope for southeast Queensland's long-suffering motorists, as more than $5.5 billion worth of roads infrastructure rolls out across the city over the next two years.

By July next year, motorists will have an extra eight lanes of cross-river capacity with the opening of the $3 billion Clem7 tunnel, and the $370 million Hale Street Link project - relieving pressure on both the Story Bridge and the packed Southeast Freeway.

Hale Street Link roadworks burdening the peak-hour run on Coronation Drive and Milton Rd will be cleared, reducing drive-time by up to 50 minutes for some motorists.

By December 2011 southeast Queensland's residents will see final touches to the State Government's Gateway duplication and the Houghton Highway duplication, adding another nine lanes for motorists.

Even drivers unwilling to pay the toll for a faster commute - up to $4.20 for cars using the Clem7 - will see improvements on Brisbane's free roads.

Figures released to The Courier-Mail show that in 2016 the then fully fledged Clem7 will take 23,500 cars off the Story Bridge, as well as clearing nearly 15,000 cars off the city section of the Southeast Freeway and a further 7900 off Ipswich Rd.

The only major road not expected to greatly benefit from the Clem7 is the Inner-City Bypass to Kingsford Smith Drive, which will increase by more than 6000 cars a day in 2016.

Within two years Brisbane City Council predicts the opening of Hale Street Link will remove nearly 10,000 cars a day from the William Jolly Bridge, 1800 cars a day from the Victoria Bridge and 200 cars from the Captain Cook Bridge.

Outside of the city centre, Road Action Projects, including the Beenleigh Rd upgrade, the Manly Rd upgrade, part of the Wynnum Rd upgrade, the Scrub Road Extension, and stage one of the Kingsford Smith Drive upgrade, should be done by December next year.

Lord Mayor Campbell Newman told the council on Tuesday the city was choking with congestion.

He said the days when the road network grinds to a halt in peak hour due to a single crash will start to disappear after the Clem7, Hale Street Link and the Gateway duplication open.

"I expect that by the time those three projects are delivered, when we have some sort of incident on say the Captain Cook Bridge or the Story Bridge or the Gateway . . . we will actually have a far more robust, resilient road network in the city of Brisbane," he said.

[dwb]

yeah maybe until all those people currently getting trains and buses decide its easier to drive, then we're back to square one, congestion and all that money wasted and a pt system that's not generating any revenue cos its stuck in the same traffic as ever with less passengers.

[ozbob]

I don't think that the present road works will do much at all for the longer term.  Pressure on public transport will be unrelenting.

From the Brisbanetimes click here!

Road carnage approaches 12-year high

Road carnage approaches 12-year high
DANIEL HURST
September 12, 2009 - 12:37PM


Queensland could be on track for its worst roll toll in 12 years, with about one person dying each day.

As the number of fatalities hit 251 yesterday, road safety researchers declared a need to tackle the plateau in the road toll seen in the past decade.

Safety initiatives including seatbelt laws and random breath testing, the development of safer cars and safer roads have cut the state's road toll in half since it peaked at 638 in the 1970s, despite the number of registered motor vehicles quadrupling in that time.

But Barry Watson, who heads the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety in Queensland, said while the long-term downward trend was an overwhelming "success story", the road toll had effectively levelled out in recent years.

"There is still a big challenge ahead of us," he said.

"Typically when there is an economic crisis the road toll in that year goes down and that's because it tends to decrease discretionary travel.

"But the pattern ... hasn't really held this year."

Queensland Transport says it has spent $5 million annually on road safety campaigns in the past decade, including television advertising pushing the `Rest or Rest In Peace' and 'Enough is Enough' slogans.

The Queensland Government yesterday won two Australian Marketing Institute Awards for its "Share My Story" campaign which encouraged people personally affected by crash tragedies to explain their circumstances.

Professor Watson called on governments to improve their existing campaigns by generally veering away from shock tactics.
"The evidence suggests young males can switch off from these ads," he said, arguing viewers did not identify with the people represented in the campaigns.

Professor Watson, who has been researching crash trends for the past 25 years, said ads that reinforced police enforcement and provided people with concrete advice to reduce their crash risk were more effective.

He backed the further rollout of fixed and mobile speed cameras, but said authorities needed to be smarter about their use.

"There is a suggestion that after they've passed the fixed camera their speed will go up," he said.

"That's where you need a mobile speed camera to put uncertainty in drivers' minds."

Professor Watson also called for police to investigate booking motorists caught speeding even small amounts over the limit because some people believed there was a "de facto" higher speed that was safe.

Queensland should also look at alcohol ignition interlock programs such as those implemented in NSW, Victoria and South Australia to prevent drink drivers from reoffending, he said.

The comments came as Transport Minister Rachel Nolan unveiled changes to road rules to improve safety for young children in cars and boost seat belt use.

Law changes to come into effect in six months will require all children up to seven to sit in an Australian Safety Standard-approved child restraint or capsule.

And from next month, drivers face a $300 fine and three demerit points if any passenger in their vehicles is not wearing a seat belt - even if the passenger is an adult.

Ms Nolan said she hoped the measures would cut the road toll.

"Every morning I get an email with information about the accidents that have happened in the last 24 hours and it's really distressing," she told ABC Radio.

Motoring organisation RACQ argues further cuts to the road toll will come about with safer driving, safer cars and safer roads.

Spokesman Jim Kershaw said cars "used to be steel boxes on wheels" but now featured seat belts, ABS brakes and crumple zones.

More needed to be done to cut the carnage, including an increased police present on roads and road upgrades at known black spots, he said.

"There probably isn't a silver bullet," he said.

Queensland police set a target of no more than 299 deaths on the state's roads this year, but if the average daily deaths continue the toll could pass the 360 figure registered in 1997 and again in 2007.

"Sometimes you wonder if the message is getting through," Mr Kershaw said.

"Sometimes it feels like a person's dying every day on the roads."

The CALMAN Chart (Calman 1996*) for explaining risk (UK risk per 1 year)

    * Negligible: < 1,000,000 e.g. death from a lightning strike
    * Minimal: 1:100,000 - 1:1,000,000 e.g. death from a train accident
    * Very low:  1:10,000 - 1:100,000 e.g. death from an accident at work
    * Low:  1:1000 - 1:10,000 e.g. death from a road accident
    * Moderate:  1:100 - 1: 1000 e.g. death from smoking 10 cigarettes per day
    * High:  > 1:100 e.g. transmission of chickenpox to susceptible household contacts 

* Calman K. The Health of the Nation. Br J Hosp Med 1996; 56: 125-6. 

[Jon Bryant]

If these road projects clear congestion then they will be the first in the world to do so.  A miracle worthy of Saint hood.   The article is nothing better than an Infomercial.  Obsolutely no balance in this reporting at all.   It might as well be saying that smoking is good for your health. 

2 marks out of ten... at least there were no spelling mistakes...i think.

[brismike]

While I understand all the arguments about extra roads just attracting more traffic etc etc... The bottom line is this City NEEDS more river crossings. We are getting 3 new ones. Clem7, Hale St Link and Gateway Duplication. So I say good on Campbell Newman for having the vision to get things done. (I know he has got nothing to do with the Gateway). 

[#Metro]

I don't mind the river crossings. Eleanor Schonell Green Bridge shows that you don't always need a car to have a well used bridge.
Road projects do clear congestion -for a while. But it always comes back. The purpose of widening a road (or anything else) is so you can flush more people down it. And what is the point of that when you could have just built high volume PT in the first place?

1.2 million cars into 2km sq ... does that even fit??? Your'e just flushing ever increasing amounts of people into a bottleneck.

I would love to see graphs of how the "time saved" benifits decay over time.

[#Metro]

http://202.148.140.187/blogs/name-that-bridge/upload/2009/07/help_brisbane_city_council_nam_1/day_view_med.jpg

Does anyone know if the HSL light-rail compatible? It looks awfully like the Victoria Bridge, which can't handle LRT.

[somebody]

While I understand all the arguments about extra roads just attracting more traffic etc etc... The bottom line is this City NEEDS more river crossings. We are getting 3 new ones. Clem7, Hale St Link and Gateway Duplication. So I say good on Campbell Newman for having the vision to get things done. (I know he has got nothing to do with the Gateway). 

Good on Campbell Newman for the HSL?  Doesn't that look like a bit of a white elephant?  Anyone from south of Dutton Park would still be much better off using the Riverside expressway.

In fact, I don't count any of those projects as NEW river crossings, more like expansions of existing crossings.

[david]

While I understand all the arguments about extra roads just attracting more traffic etc etc... The bottom line is this City NEEDS more river crossings. We are getting 3 new ones. Clem7, Hale St Link and Gateway Duplication. So I say good on Campbell Newman for having the vision to get things done. (I know he has got nothing to do with the Gateway).  

This is an interesting comment. It seems that Campbell Newman is simply a showpony, as for some reason, he feels the NEED to tell everyone about all the projects the council is working on at the moment. We have to remember that despite the State Government's shortcomings, we have seen major public transport advances from the Labor Government (which I am thankful for), including busways, an integrated ticketing system, more train services, more rail infrastructure, newer trains, etc. Campbell Newman hasn't done much for PT apart from putting propaganda onto the buses he supposedly ordered (Remember the "No.xxx of 500 new buses for Brisbane").

As for the Hale St Link, the only reason why Brisbane needs it is because Campbell Newman is funneling so much traffic onto the Inner City Bypass with his tunnels, and all of this traffic needs to go somewhere

[justanotheruser]

Do people remember when Milton rd was not used very much? It all changed when the work on Coronation drive was done. The traffic was diverted to Milton road and know instead of one really busy road and one reasonable one we now have two really busy ones.

Since they have made it no right turn from milton rd into Cribb st instead of traffic lining up in eastbound direction it now lines up in a westbound direction as all these people do the loop to enter cribb st from the opposite direction. All these changes and new roads don't do anything to reduce traffic congestion. 

[somebody]

Do people remember when Milton rd was not used very much? It all changed when the work on Coronation drive was done. The traffic was diverted to Milton road and know instead of one really busy road and one reasonable one we now have two really busy ones.

Since they have made it no right turn from milton rd into Cribb st instead of traffic lining up in eastbound direction it now lines up in a westbound direction as all these people do the loop to enter cribb st from the opposite direction. All these changes and new roads don't do anything to reduce traffic congestion. 

Is that right?  But it still blocks up at times when right turn is permitted into Cribb St.  Perhaps they should make a dedicated left turn lane and two westbound no left turn lanes with a 24 hour no right turn in the eastbound direction.

[Dean Quick]

So little mister big thinks that all these ROAD building projects are a silver bullet to somehow FIX the traffic burden.  Another fool with his head buried in the sand. These projects are nothing more than short terms solutions from our short sighted leaders who are only interested in grandstanding in the false belief that their names will be forever associated with "Fixing" the traffic problem. The only winners in this road building frenzy are the car,fuel and trucking companies!!!

[mufreight]

You got that right Dean

[#Metro]

I've asked the Hale St Link (HSL) team whether the bridge is capable of supporting LRT in the future.
I know that the William Jolly Bridge supports 1969 style trams (you can see the hooks for the wires on the arches) as does the Eleanor Schonell Bridge; The Victoria bridge doesn't.  

The HSL looks like the Victoria Bridge. Can it support Light Rail? Question dodged. "The HSL has been constructed as a pedestrian, car and cycle link....". I know that! They must have some idea when they calculated how much load the bridge can withstand and the maximum GVM they would allow....

Perhaps the answer is a no? Why else would it be so hard to get a plain answer?

That and NL tunnel's general PT-unfriendliness have me convinced that once these projects have "ROAD" written on them, PT or building in future compatibility for PT simply isn't considered.

[justanotheruser]

So little mister big thinks that all these ROAD building projects are a silver bullet to somehow FIX the traffic burden.  Another fool with his head buried in the sand. These projects are nothing more than short terms solutions from our short sighted leaders who are only interested in grandstanding in the false belief that their names will be forever associated with "Fixing" the traffic problem. The only winners in this road building frenzy are the car,fuel and trucking companies!!!

you left out the construction companies!

One wonders why if it is so important to keep construction jobs going like Anna Bligh campaigned in the election why they can't be more involved in public transport construction.

[ozbob]

From the Sunday Mail click here!

RACQ say jams force motorists to use rat runs

RACQ say jams force motorists to use rat runs
Article from: The Sunday Mail (Qld)

Kelmeny Fraser

September 20, 2009 12:00am

"RAT-running" through sidestreets to beat worsening peak-hour traffic jams is now part of Brisbane driving and should no longer be discouraged, the RACQ says.

"A lot of motorists have very little alternative at the moment," said RACQ president Gary Fites, who believes drivers should not feel apologetic for using other streets to dodge traffic bottlenecks and road works across the city.

"Why shouldn't people use their vehicle on a public road, as long as they do so safely and within the law?" he said.

"I don't think they deserve to be labelled as rat-runners because they have been driven off main roads by congestion."

Brisbane City Council has had more than 100 requests in the last four years for traffic calming devices to be installed in suburban streets regularly used by week-day rat-runners, including 24 in the last year.

Hot spots include Jessop St, Tenth Ave and Eildon Rd in Windsor; Condamine St in Runcorn; Westcombe St in Darra; Dahlia, Dorothea and Meyrick streets in Cannon Hill and Barramay St, Manly West.

Council Infrastructure Committee chairman Graham Quirk agreed that rat-running was widespread in some suburbs but has warned that installing too many speed bumps across the city would result in worse traffic chaos.

He said the council spent $2.7 million on traffic calming last year and will spend $2.8 million this year.

An increase in real-time traffic information and in-car navigational systems also made taking alternate routes more popular, Mr Fites said.

The merge of the Brisbane and Main Roads traffic management systems will also improve the information available to global positioning systems, experts say.

And Google maps last week introduced a colour-coded system to highlight real-time traffic flows on major arterials.

The renewed focus on rat-running comes as traffic studies show worsening travel times in Brisbane.

Research by national transport analyst Austroads found that morning peak-hour congestion in the city was the worst in the country.

Brisbane motorists are delayed an average 20 minutes per trip - more than three minutes longer than Sydney.

The RACQ, meanwhile, has speculated that a drop in motorists using the Gateway Motorway thanks to automatic tolling has put more cars on already congested city streets and Kingsford Smith Drive.