Safety upgrade of the Mike Turtur bikeway at Goodwood Rd crossing

More cycling infrastructure work by DPTI. Only today I saw a member on Twitter complaining about this crossing.

Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI) will soon make crossing Goodwood Road safer and easier for pedestrians and cyclists, with works to upgrade facilities on Goodwood Road at the Glenelg tramline crossing to commence in mid May 2012.

The works include installation of a single stage pedestrian and cyclist crossing, which will remove the need to wait in the pedestrian refuge and provide a direct crossing point across Goodwood Road parallel to the tramline. This safety upgrade will make crossing Goodwood Road safer and easier and will shorten the distance from one side to the other.

These works form part of the State Government’s $12 million Green Travel Corridor and
Cycle Paths (Greenways) Program. This program will improve safety and increase connections for cyclists and pedestrians travelling along the Mike Turtur Bikeway, which runs from Adelaide to Glenelg along the Glenelg tramline.

Greenways will link people with their home, workplace, school and local open spaces by improving safety, through lighting, road upgrades and cycle crossings. These works at the Goodwood Road tramline crossing are expected to be completed in June 2012, weather permitting.

Further information is available at http://www.infrastructure.sa.gov.au/infrastructure_projects
Should you have any further enquiries please contact the Project Manager, Namal Weerasooriya on telephone 8343 2114 or email at namal.weerasooriya@sa.gov.au.

More DPTI work announcements relating to cycling via the DPTI tag here on this site.

Where is this? Somewhere along the DPTI's Stig's ride.

Tags: DPTI, Goodwood, bikeway, lanes, works

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Permalink Reply by Dahondude on May 1, 2012 at 20:01

Will be interesting to see how they do this given current space restrictions. At the risk of getting flamed by car driving commuters I've always thought that Goodwood Rd is a bad space for commuter traffic and should be reduced to a single lane and 40km/h limit past the Goodwood shopping strip. Making the pedestrian/bike crossing take priority over traffic would also help. The only issue is where all the traffic would go to... East Terrace and Unley Rd both need more peak hour traffic like a hole in the head.

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Permalink Reply by Edward @bikeadelaide on May 1, 2012 at 22:45

Totally agree. The traffic would sort itself out. There is not a fixed amount of traffic that must somehow be accommodated. The amount of traffic is a consequence of the road space available. If more asphalt is made available, it just fills up with more traffic.

That it works the other way around can be seen in San Francisco. There was an earthquake in 1989 that destroyed the Embarcadero Freeway on the waterfront. The authorities of course panicked about where the traffic would go and where they would get the money to replace it. Surprisingly (or perhaps not), within a few months the traffic sorted itself and the freeway was never replaced. Now the waterfront is pedestrian friendly.

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Permalink Reply by heather on May 1, 2012 at 22:49

In Australian cities larger than Adelaide, people switched for their work commute from private car transport to public transport. Now the latter is groaning, people are switching to cycling.

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Permalink Reply by Dahondude on May 1, 2012 at 23:03

Yup I'd happily see the stretch of Goodwood Rd from the train underpass to Green Hill Rd reduced to one lane each way, widen the footpaths around the Goodwood shops, plant a shite load of street trees and plants. A bit like the vision for West Terrace that was published late last year. Imagine how much nicer that section of road would be. A few shady trees at the tram line so us cyclists have somewhere to shelter from the sun in the summer. Ahhh we can dream.....

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Permalink Reply by Brian Jenkins (BJ) on May 1, 2012 at 23:32

Or one lane only for cars (Goodwood Rd), the other reserved for public transport that is servicing all along the corridor, plus Flinders, plus Flagstaff Hill Aberfoyle Park et al. Throw in those coming from Reynella, Morphett Vale etc. South Road for commercial traffic.

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Permalink Reply by heather on May 1, 2012 at 23:47

Brian, I support 4 lane urban arterial roads being made a lane in each way for 'traffic' and a lane each way that is only for public transport and bicycles. This would slow private cars, speed up public transport, and encourage more onto buses and bikes.

Last year the ACC held public meetings re Integrated Traffic Management. The ACC wants to reduce through traffic and private cars (when unnecessary). I suggested dedicated lanes for buses and bicycles into the city and told that this has been discussed. However, some local councils have discouraged this by agitating for less lanes and/or indented car parking. Think of Henley Beach Road, Churchill Road and Prospect Road. Wish the State Govt, which is the authority for arterial roads, had more foresight to veto such 'upgrades'.

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Permalink Reply by Mike W on May 1, 2012 at 23:53

Agree entirely Brian.
Years ago the sky was going to fall in and everyone would be sent broke when they stopped the cars and turned Rundle St into Rundle Mall.

I am heading to Zurich for a week from the 9th and where I am is a couple of km's out of the city.

Out the front of the hotel where I stay there is a tram stop in the middle and bus stops on both sides of the road. Only one (wide) lane each way for cars and pedestian crossings at every tram stop. Vehicular traffic gets very low priority and is not a problem on roads equivalent to Goodwood and Unley roads, and this is a busy European city.
We in Aust are in infancy on this new approach, we need to get out of the "I have a car, build me a road" mentality.

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Permalink Reply by heather on May 2, 2012 at 0:10

Mike, enjoy your overseas trip and staying in a city with sensible transport plans. I would appreciate you taking photos of good cycling infrastructure while you are overseas, for later posting on AC and the AC group Look For Cyclists under topic Design For Cyclists.