News & Discussion: Active Transport

[Listy]

I use to manage Bloom, and these works have been in planning for years. From the discussions that I was privy to, the plan is to take more from the sites neighbouring rather from the vegetation that is already there, but I agree with Shuz, it would be a terrible outcome to rip up trees and vegetation just to make this path happen.

In a couple of places in the masterplan docs it it noted that path will be routed around pre-existing native trees, and that native vegetation will be incorporated into the path landscaping, so I'm pretty sure the implication is that native trees will not be removed. And as you've noted, the path itself is mostly going to run along the land at the top of the bank, which is already largely cleared for future redevelopment. There's a lot of invasive vegetation in the area that should absolutely be removed though. West Torrens have a pretty good track record with riverbank renewal projects further west around Henley Beach & Tapleys Hill Rd over the last 20 years.

[Listy]

The existing underpasses at South and Port Roads could do with some reworking, especially widening. The existing pathway needs better lighting.

Something will definitely happen with the South Rd underpass because it looks like the existing bridge will be completely redesigned / removed & a new structure about double the width built in its place by the T2D project. As well as good lighting, the Port Rd underpass desperately needs a new surface, when the timber decking was replaced 5 years ago I was told by the council (Charles Sturt) it would last at least 20 years, and it's already dangerously splintered and warped.

[Llessur2002]

All of the flexible bollards have now been removed from the Frome Road bikeway. I'm not sure if they were only ever intended to be temporary until drivers got used to the new layout, or if they're being replaced with something else.

I did feel they looked like a bit of a cheap solution.

[Patrick_27]

All of the flexible bollards have now been removed from the Frome Road bikeway. I'm not sure if they were only ever intended to be temporary until drivers got used to the new layout, or if they're being replaced with something else.

I did feel they looked like a bit of a cheap solution.

Removing those bollards is not a solution to the confusion surrounding these bike lanes. They need to put the same sort of barriers used in Melbourne along St. Kilda Road, cars won't then be able to invade that lane like they do presently.

[SRW]

They were an unsatisfactory solution but not having a separation at all is worse. That is not a safe or even a clear bike lane.

[ChillyPhilly]

Yeah, removing those is worse.

[Llessur2002]

I'm sure the answer is cost, but why do they usually reserve the green surface treatment only for parts of the bikeways which cross driveways, intersections etc? Surely painting the whole thing green would make it much more obvious that it's separate from the rest of the carriageway?

I get that it's not feasible to paint the entire bike lane network green but this is supposed to be a main cycling route through the city and it is a more complicated set up than would be ideal - with weaving on and off of footpaths, crossing sides etc.

[Llessur2002]

Oh OK, it looks like there are some changes afoot based on feedback following the completion of the bikeway. It looks like we're getting some kerbs and more signage.

I'll reserve judgement on this one. As someone who regularly drives and cycles this route it feels like it could be much more polished than it is. I can confirm the impact to the Wilson car park - for a few weeks after implementation it was regularly queued from the Frome Road intersection right up to Level 3-4 of the car park. A 5 minute exit turned into a 25 minute exit. That was sorted pretty quickly though - I think the traffic light re-sequencing has already been done to an extent.

Following the completion of the North-South Bikeway works, a review of the bikeway's operation was undertaken.

Several concerns were identified and raised by the community, including:

Traffic waiting times
Motorists using or blocking the bike lane
Visual appearance of the flexible bollards
Delays in access and egress to the Lot Fourteen site, particularly the Wilson car park
Interactions between motorists and cyclists at property access points
Cyclist speeds near the section of the bikeway outside Crowne Plaza Adelaide
To address these concerns, the following infrastructure improvements are now proposed:

Traffic signal phasing improvements at key intersections, in consultation with the Department for Infrastructure and Transport (DIT)
Replacement of flexible bollards with a concrete median island and clear signage identifying the bike lane
Enhanced line marking, including new markings and refreshing green conflict zone markings
Additional minor infrastructure upgrades to improve safety and functionality

When is this happening?
The proposed works will commence in June 2025 and are expected to take approximately 3 to 4 weeks to complete.

From: https://www.cityofadelaide.com.au/devel ... h-bikeway/

[Waewick]

after driving around, the US for the last month and through some reasonably large cities, I do wonder if it is time for Adelaide to review the traffic flow and start including some 1 way streets

Whilst one of the cities I drove through is considering scrapping them (bad idea) I was genuinely surprised how well they allowed the integration of cars, buses, bikes and people.

We have enough driveable laneways that would enable drivers to correct course and with CBD structure that we have, it really doesn't seem like it would be that difficult to execute.

We would need to assess the roadways coming in though. having streets like Wakefield St hitting a 1 one way road probably doesn't work

[ChillyPhilly]

after driving around, the US for the last month and through some reasonably large cities, I do wonder if it is time for Adelaide to review the traffic flow and start including some 1 way streets

Whilst one of the cities I drove through is considering scrapping them (bad idea) I was genuinely surprised how well they allowed the integration of cars, buses, bikes and people.

We have enough driveable laneways that would enable drivers to correct course and with CBD structure that we have, it really doesn't seem like it would be that difficult to execute.

We would need to assess the roadways coming in though. having streets like Wakefield St hitting a 1 one way road probably doesn't work

I support this. Brisbane has some wide one-way streets. The width would be good to better accommodate all forms of transport.

CoA could take some influence (not necessarily a carbon copy) from Barcelona with its Superblocks. Do note, this was not without a strong pushback: https://www.citiesforum.org/news/superb ... redefined/