Crash injuries at Britannia roundabout black spot continue despite $3.2 million upgrade

A $3.2 million upgrade of the Britannia roundabout has failed to stem serious crashes, leading to calls for another overhaul of the traffic black spot.

A $3.2 million upgrade of the Britannia roundabout has failed to stem serious crashes leading to calls for another overhaul of the notorious intersection and traffic black spot.

Adelaide City Council staff have said that grade separation — the use of either an underpass or overpass — should be considered at the Dequetteville Tce, Wakefield Rd, Fullarton Rd and Kensington Rd bottleneck to reduce accidents.

“The roundabout was upgraded in 2013, however the crash rate is still significantly above the national average for roundabout intersections,” a traffic report to be presented at Monday night’s council meeting said.

“It has the second highest number of casualty crashes of any intersection in SA, with 47 casualty crashes at the major roundabout and four at the minor roundabout in the five-year 2012-2016 period. Grade separation options could be considered.”

DPTI figures show there were 51 casualty crashes between 2007 and 2011.

The Britannia roundabout was converted into two smaller roundabouts in a project DPTI says on its website would reduce total crashes by up to 29 per cent and casualty crashes by up to 23 per cent.

The council report does not state how many crashes there were at the Britannia roundabout which did not cause an injury.

RING ROUTE CASUALTY CRASHES 2012-2016 (Source: Adelaide City Council)

The Advertiser revealed in January that the Britannia roundabout remained among SA’s worst road black spots with 33 casualty crashes from the three years to the end of 2016.

The council’s suggestion of removing traffic from the Britannia roundabout was made as part of a council review of traffic data and upgrades of the city’s ring route, which also suggested:
GRADE separation at the South Rd/Richmond road intersection, noting that crash rates are above the national average for a signalised intersection with 19 casualty crashes between 2012 and 2016 despite intersection upgrades in 2015.

GRADE separation at the Richmond Rd/Railway Tce/Croydon Rd intersection noting there were 16 casualty crashes in the 2012-2016 period.

GRADE separation at the intersection of Fitzroy Tce and Prospect Rd with 27 crashes recorded in 2012-16

The report also said that demand on Port Rd, between Park Tce and James Congdon Drive, also exceeded capacity during peak times.

The review found that traffic on 11 out of 26 sections of the ring route were operation above capacity during peak periods.

“An additional five sections are approaching capacity during peaks,” the report said.

RING ROUTE AVERAGE TRAFFIC VOLUMES (Source: Adelaide City Council)