The weird things about Adelaide CBD road

[rhino]

I always thought the ring route around the city was Green hill/Richmond/Railway terrace?Jame Congdon Drive/Port Road/Park Terrace/Robe Terrace/Park Road/Hackney Road/Dequitaville Terrace/Fullarton Road and back onto Greenhill

Yep, that's how it's signposted (last time I checked, anyway). Except it's Richmond/South Rd/James Congdon, etc -- that's why they built that diagonal extension of James Congdon between Sir Don and South Road.

I do agree, though, that Railway Tce makes more sense, and that's the way I use it.

Interesting, I have never seen it signposted like that, and every reference I can find in street directories and on the internet (looking for Route A21, which is the designated ring route) shows the route turning off Greenhill Road at West Tce, then going up Port Road to Park Tce at Bowden.

[Waewick]

Morphett street at that point is 5 lanes wide

2 turning right, 2 going straight and 1 going left.

2 lanes turn right onto Hindley.

Assuming you're talking southbound, only 1 turns right. 3 straight ahead and 1 left.

really? I could have sworn it was two turning right.....maybe it was just a really long turning right lane

[Maximus]

Assuming you're talking southbound, only 1 turns right. 3 straight ahead and 1 left.

really? I could have sworn it was two turning right.....maybe it was just a really long turning right lane

Yeah. I haven't actually driven that intersection for a long time, but Google Maps appears to back up what my memory tells me.

Re the Ring Route... I have driven Richmond/Railway/James Congdon quite a bit in the past few years, but unfortunately Google isn't any help in confirming my thoughts. The Street View images are still quite old (Dec 09) and there is no 'Ring Route' signage at all approaching any of the intersections in question! Can someone do a drive-by today and let us know???

I definitely do remember the press about the James Congdon extension, though -- it was the so-called 'missing link' in the Ring Route. Made it sound like the M25 in London!

[Waewick]

I remember hearing the real reason the extension was put in was to allow the development of the land.

[Aidan]

Morphett street at that point is 5 lanes wide

2 turning right, 2 going straight and 1 going left.

2 lanes turn right onto Hindley.

Assuming you're talking southbound, only 1 turns right. 3 straight ahead and 1 left.

And one of those 3 straight ahead becomes a lane for turning left into Currie Street.

really? I could have sworn it was two turning right.....maybe it was just a really long turning right lane

Back in the 20th century, before Hindley Street had bike lanes, there may have been 2 lanes turning right (I don't remember and Google Earth doesn't have that imagery). If so, it was probably because it was the main route from Torrens Road / Upper North Adelaide to West Terrace.

[Aidan]

As for James Congdon Drive, it wasn't itself part of the ring route, rather it was the link between the inner ring and the outer ring (the former including Railway Terrace; the latter presumably including parts of Cross, South, Regency and Hampstead Roads and all of Portrush Road.)

[Maximus]

Finally found some evidence to back up my brazen pontificating.

This document and page 6 of this document show the Ring Route to be as I understand it. This document is a feedback form for the James Congdon Drive extension, dubbed the 'City West Bypass'. It describes the project as being part of the 'inner ring route'.

Rhino, can definitely see your point about the A21 designation, though. It clearly goes up West Tce and the start of Port Road.

[rhino]

Hi Maximus, good on you for digging that stuff up - it was interesting and you get a gold star for tenacity.

However, it seems that the first document you have linked is the RAA's "Vision for South Australia's Roads" from 2009. Basically an idea and a wish list.

The second link is to the Adelaide City Council's Integrated Movement Strategy, and seems to be undated, although they do reference material from a 2010 survey. Interestingly, they seem to have adopted the RAA's "vision" for the ring route, which utilises roads outside their council area.

In the meantime, DTEI (now DPTI) went and created a ring route which they felt would cope best with the traffic volumes (and remember DPTI are the ones who have to maintain it), designated it the A21, and put up signage accordingly, thereby trumping the RAA and the ACC.

[Waewick]

Just had a look on Google so yes the a21 exists as a ring route.

I have to say, I find the Goodwood rd/West Terrace intersection to be a nightmare but I guess that is what the experts figured would work.

[Maximus]

What can I say... I'm like a dog with a bone sometimes.

Rhino, is there a date on when the A21 was designated? I don't wish to doubt you, it's just that I can't find any state govt references to back this up. Assuming you're correct, though, I'm assuming it must have been relatively recently, as the ACC document I linked to (yes, undated) specifically refers to 'my version' of the ring route as being "defined by the State Government", and the 'City West Bypass' document (dated Nov 2002) is itself a state govt document.

Guess we've kind of gone off on a tangent here. Perhaps another "weird thing about Adelaide CBD roads" is that they're not very well defined!

[Waewick]

What can I say... I'm like a dog with a bone sometimes.

Rhino, is there a date on when the A21 was designated? I don't wish to doubt you, it's just that I can't find any state govt references to back this up. Assuming you're correct, though, I'm assuming it must have been relatively recently, as the ACC document I linked to (yes, undated) specifically refers to 'my version' of the ring route as being "defined by the State Government", and the 'City West Bypass' document (dated Nov 2002) is itself a state govt document.

Guess we've kind of gone off on a tangent here. Perhaps another "weird thing about Adelaide CBD roads" is that they're not very well defined!

http://expressway.paulrands.com/gallery ... index.html

[Maximus]

A couple more (state government) references for what I'm saying...

http://www.infrastructure.sa.gov.au/__d ... errace.pdf

http://www.transport.sa.gov.au/transpor ... ds/map.asp

[rhino]

A couple of interesting documents there Maximus, interesting because what is in the documents (which are quite recent) and what is on the ground are different things! Makes one wonder if the left hand knows what the right hand is doing, doesn't it?

[Maximus]

Certainly does, Rhino. It certainly does.

Mind you, nothing about the operation of governments suprises me these days, and this little example is certainly no exception.