Government declares Blackwood upgrade a success but locals declare it a waste of money
As locals declare it a failure, the government department behind the Blackwood roundabout project says it’s improved safety and traffic, it just can’t show us the stats to prove it.
The government department behind the Blackwood roundabout upgrade says the realignment has improved “traffic flow and safety” at the controversial intersection.
But locals and motorists see it differently, overwhelmingly declaring the $3.5 million project a waste of money.
The Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure has taken a week to respond to questions from The Advertiser about the roundabout upgrade, completed in April this year.
A spokesman said it had delivered “improvement to traffic flow and safety” but could not provide figures to support the claim, other than to say there had been no reported fatal crashes since the upgrade was finished.
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He said, in response to feedback, the department had moved signs to improve their visibility, modified road markings directing traffic and installed extra lane usage signs on the northern approach of Main Rd and on Shepherds Hill Rd.
“The upgraded pedestrian facilities have also improved safety for vulnerable users at the roundabout,” the spokesman said.
DPTI said serious injury and minor injury crash data figures for 2019 was “currently not available.”
An Advertiser poll this week found more than half (57 per cent) of 450 respondents condemned the roundabout upgrade as “a waste of money”.
Just over a quarter (27 per cent) believed that while the roundabout had been improved, it had “ongoing issues”, and 16 per cent said it was “significantly better”.
Community social media pages have been flooded with comments discussing the issue, with most not convinced the roundabout is any better.
The Blackwood Community Buzz Facebook page has gone so far as to post a “helpful” guide to successfully negotiating the roundabout.
The RAA last week listed the roundabout as among the state’s five most dangerous intersections.
The department has rejected the suggestion by long-time Adelaide Hills resident and former DPTI road safety auditor Roger Hancock that stand/stop lights at the roundabout would help peak traffic flows.
“During peak periods, a number of movements at Blackwood roundabout have similar volumes,” the spokesman said.
“Traffic therefore is sufficiently self-regulated, and metering or signalisation will have little overall impact to capacity and queues and would likely increase delays on one or more of the approaches to the roundabout.”
Mr Hancock was disappointed his former employer had “instantly dismissed” his suggested improvements.
“The local community at least deserve a committed assessment regarding effectiveness of the roundabout upgrade including suggesting appropriate traffic measures to address recognised anomalies,” Mr Hancock said.
“This is particularly the case given the community expectation was that the planned upgrade would address peak-period roundabout congestion issues with significantly improved traffic flow clearing along all road approaches.”