- Protecting residential zones on local roads, particularly interfaces with commercial zones;
- Planter boxes that straddle the kerb and reduce lane width to 2.7m to 3m instead of installing speed humps, thereby slowing vehicles and providing shade and greenery;
- Implementing Shared zones, particularly where large commuter foot traffic is experienced in local roads including residential zones;
- Truck bans in local roads in residential zones to protect residential amenity, particularly outside of standard work hours so the local road is not used as a rat-run (e.g. Gwynne Street south of Balmain St, Green Street north of Adelaide Street);
- Implementing a truck management strategy that defines which roads trucks can use that provide routes through commercial zones, not residential zones;
- Implement a Public Acquisition Overlay that ensures when new developments are built, set back is provided to allow for wider footpaths over time;
- Support ‘play streets’ to temporarily close streets to through traffic so kids and parents can play outside like we did as kids (www.playstreetsaustralia.com);
- Review minimum parking standards in new buildings and view travel more broadly to cater for drop off zones and all other transport modes.
The above should be considered the minimum to improve pedestrian safety and address and provide a minimum standard of local traffic management. It will ensure collector roads are better utilised, and discourage large vehicle volumes on local roads in residential zones. None of these ideas are new, however some Council’s are yet to realise that meeting the requirements of residents and businesses, and to meet their own obligations and commitments to provide a safe street environment for all that protects residential zones and allows dedicated commercial routes is not resolved by installing a speed hump.
- In Cremorne, a local network has formed consisting of professionals who are experts in transport and related fields, who live and/or work in the suburb, are knowledgeable in international examples of best practice solutions and understand the fine grain lived and worked experience of Cremorne. It is a missed opportunity when a Council does not engage with, or tap into such invaluable experience and knowledge, to the detriment of its community.
- Instead what tends to happen is the same old Council engineers write the same old Briefs with the same old Scope to the same old Traffic Consultants who respond with the same old answers, and a speed hump is installed.
- Inner city residents and workers require their Council to deliver on their obligations to their community to provide a safe street environment, to address fundamental ongoing conflict issues, in order to provide a coherent, sensible, comprehensive implementation strategy that delivers on its statutory obligations.
What Council’s Should Do
- Tap into local knowledge and expertise to provide solutions. Do not hold a meeting to tick a box that ‘consultation’ has been carried out without resolving the safety or conflict issues raised;
- Advise the funding available to tailor solutions to the budget, or commit to applying for funding;
- Engage an independent expert(s) to review the data and provide recommendations, do not solely rely on Council engineers;
- Council should not write a Brief containing tasks to a consultant that has no first-hand knowledge of the area, instead request a comprehensive solution to address conflict, safety and routing issues for all residents and businesses from the consultant;
- Recognise residential zones on local roads must be provided protection as the most ‘sensitive use’.