Adelaide City Council will retain bitumen road as part of Hindley St West redevelopment after ‘slippery pavers’ bungle

THE second stage of the Hindley St West redevelopment will retain the bitumen road surface — instead of the slippery pavers that caused disastrous results after they were installed last year.

• Speed limit slashed thanks to pavers
• Could true grit solve the slip?
• Chinese pavers found dangerous
• Council’s obsession for fashion over function

THE second stage of the Hindley St West redevelopment will retain the bitumen road surface after the disastrous results when slippery pavers were installed last year.

The council’s city design and transport manager, Daniel Bennett, said the second stage of the redevelopment, between Register and Morphett streets, would include wider footpaths, more lighting and tree planting but not use pavers on the road.

The pavers used in the first stage did not provide enough grip for motorists, particularly in wet conditions, and the speed limit had to be slashed to 10km/h to ensure safety.

A special “grit coating” was trialled on sections of the pavers in January, before being installed in April, when the speed limit was increased to 30km/h.

The $2 million second stage is still in the concept design phase but the council expects it to start in 2016.

Lord Mayor Martin Haese said the project was vital to the ongoing revitalisation of the West End.

“It supports recent developments, such as the SA Medical and Health Research Institute, the new Royal Adelaide Hospital and UniSA, as well as encouraging more people to the area,” he said.

“The hard work put into developing the footpath upgrade with the community will help improve links within the West End Precinct to new developments on North Terrace.

“This process to renew and invigorate Hindley West really has been a team effort with the local community playing an important role.

“I’m sure we’ll all be very proud of the end result, with great new elements like greening, lighting and outdoor dining spaces.

“Collaborating with the community on these exciting improvements to our public spaces leads to further private investment that creates new jobs and exciting opportunities for our city.”

Mr Bennett said the second stage of the project would be jointly funded by the council and the State Government.

“We were very pleased to receive $1 million from the State Government and (the) council will be matching that funding,” he said.

Mr Bennett, said no decision had been made on how to permanently fix the slippery pavers from the first stage of the redevelopment.

“At the moment we are still assessing it (the grit treatment) and we will decide whether to patch it, reapply it or to find another solution,” he said.

The first stage cost $4 million and included contributions from the Adelaide City Council along with state and federal governments.

The development was criticised at the time by local traders because of delays and a loss of foot traffic while construction was ongoing.

See the two designs for stage two of the development here: http://www.adelaidecitycouncil.com/planning-development/city-planning/major-projects/hindley-west-footpath-upgrade