Traffic jams are back in Adelaide! Transport Department data shows how COVID-19 cut our city’s road congestion ... for a while
Noticed that traffic around Adelaide is getting heavier again? Transport data shows how many cars disappeared from our roads after we went into lockdown – but things are returning to normal.
SA News
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Working from home cuts city traffic by half
- Latest rewards and competitions for Advertiser subscribers
Adelaide’s roads have almost returned to pre-COVID-19 normal, with only one in every 10 cars still missing from city routes.
Transport Department figures supplied to The Advertiser reveal at the peak of lockdown in late March and early April, traffic volumes were slashed at some Adelaide intersections by 70 per cent.
But Mark Shotton, manager of the department’s traffic management centre, said “in the last two weeks traffic has been about 10 per cent down compared with the same time last year”.
“The biggest difference between 2019 and 2020 (cars passing through major intersections) was a 44.8 per cent decrease in the week of 5 to 11 April, which included Good Friday and Easter Saturday,” Mr Shotton said.
“Since this biggest reduction in traffic we have seen a steady increase, however we are still not quite back to the same level we were pre-COVID-19.
“Some individual sites saw even greater decreases. Most noticeably, traffic at the entrance to the airport at the corner of Sir Donald Bradman Drive and Airport Road decreased 69.9 per cent, and has remained considerably lower than the overall traffic volumes.”
At that intersection, traffic was still down 49.3 per cent in the week of 19-25 July, compared to the same week in 2019.
But traffic at some locations has almost totally returned to normal, for example recording a year-on-year decrease of only 1.7 per cent in the second-last week of July at the corner of Tapleys Hill Road, Anzac Highway and Brighton Road.
And the new, old normal is also reflected in Adelaide City Council parking figures and fines issued in the CBD, as well as shoppers filling Rundle Mall where 95 per cent of shops have reopened.
Adelaide City Council associate director of customer and people Vanessa Godden revealed parking transactions had plummeted during COVID-19 lockdown.
“The month with the lowest number of transaction during 2020 was April with 56,170, and by comparison there were 187,532 transactions in April 2019,’’ she said.
But she said this had bounced back by June 2020 to 153,367, compared to 196,535 sales in June 2019.
TAKE THE ROAD RULES QUIZ: ARE YOU SMARTER THAN AN L-PLATER?
Unfortunately the sticker-lickers are also on the march.
In April, ACC fines had slumped to just 414, compared to 11,861 in the same month for 2019. The council is still showing leniency, but fines for June bounced back to 7203, compared to 12,953 for June in 2019.
“In April, to support and encourage safe access to the city during the height of the COVID-19 shutdown, council adopted a more flexible approach to monitoring on-street parking compliance, and launched the UPark Plus initiative offering discounted and contactless off-street parking,’’ Ms Godden said.
Police on-the-spot-fine figures also show how interactions with rule-breaking drivers and other low-level criminals were also decimated by COVID-19 restrictions.
The latest available fine figures for 2020 show only 8083 were issued in the first 20 days of April this year, just over a quarter of the 28,862 issued in the same 2019 period.
Only one in every 20 Rundle Mall stores remains closed, general manager Johanna Williams said, with good crowds on each shopping day.
“More than 95 per cent of traders and businesses in the Rundle Mall precinct have reopened, with Rundle Mall Management Authority continuing to support retailers and customers to feel comfortable in returning to the mall,’’ she said.
“We have seen foot traffic in the mall steadily increasing as retailers re-open their doors and many city workers return to their offices, and we expect this will increase further in the coming months.
“Increased SAPOL and security patrols and additional sanitation of high-touch points such as benches, bin surrounds and drinking fountains will continue. Hand sanitiser stations are also available along the mall.”