Agenda

The agenda for witch Bellevue rd was talked about in the Woollahra Municipal Council Local Traffic Committee .

Item No: Y8 Traffic Matters on Local Roads –
Recommendation to C&E for Consideration
Subject: BELLEVUE ROAD, BELLEVUE HILL - TRAFFIC CALMING Lorna Oliver – Traffic & Transport Planner
File No:
Reason for Report: Report on excessive speeds and proposed traffic calming measures. Recommendation: B. That residents with a frontage to Bellevue Road be consulted to gauge their support for the proposed treatment. ____________________________________________________________________________

Background:
In 1995 Arup Transportation Planning was commissioned by Woollahra Council to prepare a Local Area Traffic Management strategy for the Bellevue Hill area. One of the recommendations of the study was the installation of a pedestrian refuge near the shops located along Bellevue Road, between Kambala Road and Bulkara Road.
The refuge was installed in 2000. The location for the refuge, outside Number 97 Bellevue Road, was chosen due to poor sight distance closer to the shops and was considered to be an ideal treatment in a good location for reducing speed in the area.
This refuge was, however, subsequently removed due to strong and sustained objections from the resident of Number 97.
In 2006 bicycle lanes were installed as part of a traffic calming strategy.
Issues
Several residents in Bellevue Road have complained about the speed of vehicles and of difficulty for pedestrians in crossing the road. Recent traffic counts by Council show that vehicle speeds in Bellevue Road are still excessively high as detailed below:
The pedestrian refuge which was previously installed in Bellevue Road, but which was subsequently removed, was located in an ideal location to assist in the reduction of vehicle speed on Bellevue Road. Given the strength of previous resident objections, however, it is not considered practical to reinstall this pedestrian refuge.
Examination of Bellevue Road shows a broken centreline for the majority of the street with sections of unbroken centreline at several locations. Excessive speeds are evident especially at the bends in the street where vehicles crossing the centreline is the norm rather than the exception. The potential Woollahra Municipal Council Local Traffic Committee AGENDA 2 December 2008
for a head-on accident or an accident with stationary vehicles in these locations at excessive speed (i.e. > 50 kph) is significant.
Whilst it was hoped that the traffic facilities introduced in 2006 would result in the reduction of speeds in Bellevue Road, speeds have only reduced 5-7 kph and vehicle speeds are still well above the desirable and legal limit (50 kph).
It is considered therefore that additional measures should be introduced to reinforce the 50 kph speed limit:


• Extension/installation of the unbroken centreline at all bends.
• Installation of Raised Pavement Markers (RPMs) at 1, 2 and 10 metre intervals as per the attached plans.
• The addition of "50" pavement marking and signage to support the 50km/h speed limit.
• The construction of a Flat Top road hump at the existing pedestrian refuge opposite Tarrant Avenue and House No. 150.
• The construction of a concrete median between 100 and 106 Bellevue Road.
These proposals are detailed in the plans which are attached as Annexure 1. Detail of a Flat Top Road Hump is attached as Annexure 2.


Conclusion:
Vehicle speeds in Bellevue Road are excessive and constitute a significant hazard for pedestrians and motorists and therefore the introduction of appropriate measures is warranted.
It is recommended that the measures detailed on Plans Nos. 15012/1-15012/9 be approved in principle and that residents with a frontage to Bellevue Road be consulted to gauge their support for the proposed treatments.
Identification of Income & Expenditure:
Funds to be allocated in a future Capital Works Program.
Annexures:
1. Plan showing proposed changes to the centreline in Bellevue Road, Bellevue Hill
2. Detail of the proposed Flat Top Road Hump



Unfortunately i couldnt get the pictures but it is available on http://www.woollahra.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/38425/December_Agenda_2008.pdf
from pages 43-55


I will get the minutes uploaded as soon as it is on the internet.

Latest Email

Today i got a email from Kellie Richardson about a meeting held yesterday.



Dear Ben,I refer to your email dated 28 November 2008, regarding traffic issues on Bellevue Road, Bellevue Hill.I would like to advise that this matter has already been referred to the Woollahra Traffic Committee (WTC) which was held on Tuesday, 2 December 2008, at 10.00am for their consideration. The WTC consists of representatives from the NSW Police Department, the Roads and Traffic Authority, Sydney Buses, Council and State Parliament members. The Agenda for this meeting is posted on the Woollahra Municipal Council website at www.woollahra.nsw.gov.au under the section titled “Agendas & Minutes”. The Minutes of this meeting will be available next week.The Traffic Committe recommendations will be referred to the Community and Environment Committee (C&E) for resolution. Generally, the C&E Committee is held one week after the WTC meeting, however the next C&E is to be held on Monday 15 December 2008 at 6.00pm.Should Council adopt the Traffic Committee recommendations the Bellevue Road project will be put on public display early next year and your concerns should be refered to Couincil's officers at this timeIf you have any further enquiries on this matter, please contact the undersigned on 9391 7029.Yours sincerelyKellie RichardsonAdministration AssistantTraffic & Transport

Conclusion

It has been a while since i last sent my email so i am going to conclude my challenge.

I contacted the council about my challenge then received a response. After a while i replied to there letter back answering the flaws they gave me. All of the problems in the reply they sent me, i answered with a good response.

But I have not got a response back.

So if I do receive one I will blog it and then take further action but because it has been 3 weeks since I sent it and I have still had no reply I believe that they have listened to me once but are not going to listen to me a second time.

Reply

It has been about two weeks since i sent my last letter......
waiting.

Waiting On Reply

Letter

I have sent a new email to Woollahra Council and the Deputy Mayor.

Dear Kellie,

Thanks for your reply

Recently I have been doing research and found that if you put in a crossing on the corner of Bellevue and Kambala road, on Google maps I figured that there is sight clearance of 110m from the west (going down) and 200m from the east (going up) This is a long distance and would probably be bigger than the RTA’s minimal sight distance.

Most importantly since the sight distance next to the shops and bus stop are minimal (20 meters at some points), a pedestrian crossing at the recommended position will encourage pedestrians to cross where it is safe.

The number of cars and people on Bellevue road night not meet the standard requirements but you need to keep in mind these points:

1. There are periods of intense peaks
2. The pedestrians are typically school children, who obviously don’t have the same road skills and sense as adults.
3. Sight clearance at all other points close to shops are extremely low and very dangerous.
4. Cars don't stick to the limit in this area.

In conclusion I urge you to consider a raised pedestrian crossing as well as a lower speed limit.

I look forward to your reply,

Ben Grossberg (Year 6 Cranbrook Junior School)

Once again to track my journey go to http://bgrossberg.blogspot.com/

Contacts

I got contacts and im trying to trace them.......

Reaserch

I have been doing some research and found that the sight distance was 110m coming from the east and 200m coming from the west respectively. I believe these are satisfactory enough for a crossing and i am going to contact the council again very son.

Responce

After about 2 weeks i got a responce from Woollahra Council.

Dear Ben

I refer to your email dated 13 October 2008 regarding a request for a pedestrian crossing on Bellevue Road, Bellevue Hill.

It should be noted that the provision of pedestrian crossings are subject to a number of warrants set down by the RTA and are usually installed along defined pedestrian routes. The warrants relate to a number of issues including vehicular and pedestrian volumes as well as safety issues such as sight distance. Due to the bends in Bellevue Road at this location it is unlikely that the sight distance warrants would be met.

It is therefore not possible to install a pedestrian crossing across at this location.

Your concerns about the vehicle speeds in this section of road are currently being investigated by Council’s officers. Thankyou for your input, the officer currently looking at this matter has been given a copy of your email to consider as part of the investigation.

I trust the above information is satisfactory.

Yours sincerely
Kellie Richardson
Administration AssistantTraffic & Transport

letter

Here is the letter i sent to council

Its a bit different to what my mr howard wanted.

Woollahra Council 13th October 2008

Dear Council Member

My name is Ben Grossberg. I am in year 6 at Cranbrook School. As part of our PYP current unit of inquiry (How We Organise Ourselves), we have to try make a difference in our local community. I chose to make a difference by trying to put a crossing outside the shops in the middle section of Bellevue Road (between Bulkara Road and March and Cooper Park Road).

This section of road is very busy and there are eight shops, as well as bus stops on both sided of the road. There are about 200 users of the bus stops daily including small school children.

A crossing will promote safety, bring more people to the shops and will be a friendly and a more environmental place.

I have done research on this issue and have found that it is unsafe for pedestrians, cars, motorists and cyclist. Personally my parents do not let me ride my bike on that road or cross it because the cars go to fast. I believe if the cars went slower then more cyclists would use the bicycle lane.

My research found that more than half of the cars are going faster than the speed limit of 50kph. I have met with local shop owners and they were in full support of a crossing.

A few years ago a women got run over by a speeding car at the top of Bellevue Road. After this the council decided to put raised crossings in and reduce the speed to 40kph. THIS WILL HAPPEN LOWER DOWN THE ROAD if it is NOT fixed. In fact it is ONLY A MATTER OF TIME.

I have decided to go with a raised pedestrian crossing. These are good because they act as speed bumps and crossings at the same time. In addition because they are raised they provide a better view of people on the crossing.

You can see more of my research on bgrossberg.blogspot.com. This is a blog of what I have done during the past seven weeks. I am now waiting on you, the council to act upon this urgent matter of safety and infrastructure. I would appreciate a response, either way of your decision. I can be contacted on my email address.

Ben Grossberg

Letter to Council

I have wrote a letter to Wollahra Council and am waiting a reply
I will upload the letter soon.

shops

Over the holidays I met up with local shop owners and they were all in full support of a raised pedestrian crossing.

The Road

I thought I should give out some information on the road. There are about 5 successful shops on the middle section of the road and there are three highly used bus stops. Their are about 200 users of the bus stop daily half being form school children and the other half from city commuters. Bellevue road is in the Woollahra council double bay ward area.

Partician

Soon I will be starting a partician outside local shops on the middle section of Bellevue road.

Map

Here are some pictures of the area i am trying to fix up and what it looks like further up the road. middle Bellevue road

middle Bellevue road
Raised pedestrian crossing on the top of Bellevue road
40km sign at the beginning

raised crossings

here is some information on raised pedestrian crossings

http://www.trafficcalming.org/raisedcrosswalks.html

crossing

After some reaserch that i will post later i have decided to go with a raised pedestrain crossing. More info to come soon

speed limit

The speed limit for Bellvue road at the moment is 50km thats 10km slower than most places in woollahra council. This seems like a slow speed so I think that instead of slowing the speed limit I will need to enforce it and mabye put in some speed bumps.

upper Bellevue road

in 2007 they enforced a 40km speed limit in the upper section of Bellevue road
here is the link:
http://www.woollahra.nsw.gov.au/news/news/news_archived/2007/new_40kmh_zone_in_bellevue_hill_shopping_centre

Slow Down Traffic on Bellevue Road

What: For my make a difference challenge I would like to slow the traffic down on the middle section (around Crave)of Bellevue road.
Why: I think this is important to me because I live very close to Bellvue road and am unable to cross the road because of speeding cars.
How: I will know that I am finished this by when i am able to cross Bellevue road safely.