Congestion, Noise, Safety Pressures on Residential Amenity

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Congestion, Noise, Safety Pressures on
Residential Amenity

• Reducing Pressure with
• Local Area Traffic Management

Paul Morris Senior Technical Officer Traffic City
of Mitcham, South Australia
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• Acknowledge assistance of
• ARRB Group
• in development of this presentation

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Residential Amenity

• The measure of pleasantness and liveability of an
  area, in its public and private spaces.
  (Austroads 2004)

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Residential Amenity

• Local environment quality
• Security and safety
• Sense of community
• Property values
• Leisure

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Streets

• Focus of amenity for the community
• Serve many functions
• Two main functional classifications
• Movement and Transport
• Amenity and Social
• Balance between functions affects amenity

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Streets

• Road user behaviour
• Amount of traffic
• Speed
• Type of vehicles and activities
• Time of day

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Kingswood
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Kingswood
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Kingswood
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Kingswood
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Kingswood
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Need for LATM

• Local Area Traffic Management
• Definition
• the use of physical devices, streetscaping
  treatments and other measures (including
  regulations and other non-physical measures) to
  influence vehicle operation, in order to create
  safer and more liveable local streets.

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Best Practice Resource

• Austroads Guide to Traffic Engineering Practice
  Part 10 LATM
• The Principles of LATM
• The LATM Process
• Issues and Resources in LATM
• Selection of LATM Schemes and Treatments
• Design of LATM Schemes and Devices
• Reference guide

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LATM

• Local Government is the focus
• State Governments set policy and standards
• Local Government has the responsibility for
  actions and response to community concerns

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LATM Process
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Kingswood Traffic Task Group

• Traffic Management Task Group formed by Council
  in 2000
• Forum for discussion and development of possible
  solutions to problems
• Provide advice to Council on possible strategies
  and measures
• Set objectives and goals for the area

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Goals for Kingswood

• Improve safety in Kingswood for all the local
  community
• Improve quality of life and amenity of Kingswood
  for all the local community
• Seek a balance between the above objectives and
  accessibility for all the local community,
  including residents and schools.

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Issues

• Identified from community surveys, traffic
  surveys, road safety audit, site inspections
• High crash rate - with a high incidence of
  crashes resulting in injury
• Black Spot locations
• High traffic volumes and speeds
• Cut-through traffic on most streets
• Safety issues relating to a mix of road users,
  such as buses, commuters, school children,
  through traffic

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Traffic Volume
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Traffic Volume
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LATM - Recent Practices

• Most commonly used devices are
• Raised tables and road humps
• Lane narrowings / kerb extensions
• Mid-block median treatments
• Roundabouts
• Threshold/perimeter treatments
• Road cushions

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Diversion

• Types of diversion devices
• Full Road Closure
• Half Road Closure
• Diagonal Road Closure
• Modified T Intersection
• Left-in/Left-out Island

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Other Traffic Calming Options

• Speed Limits
• Community education
• TravelSmart programs
• Improve arterial road capacity

• Using the presence and activities of people to
  encourage good driving behaviour
• Using the environment and urban design to enforce
  behaviour

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Application of LATM

• There are a range of LATM devices that can be
  employed for different purposes
• Each device has advantages/disadvantages
• Effectiveness varies depending on the situation
  but correct selection and design are the key
  factors
• Community support is the key to success

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Austroads Guide

• Austroads Guide to Traffic Engineering Practice
  released late 2004
• ARRB national rollout of training workshops on
  best practice approaches to LATM as summarised in
  the Austroads Guide
• Workshops scheduled in locations around Australia
  and NZ in 2005 (see the ARRB website)
• Highly recommended for local government

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Kingswood Priorities

• Road Safety Improvements
• Lower area speed limit 50km/h general urban
  speed limit in SA from 2003
• Black Spot locations
• Enhance pedestrian/school safety
• Modify speed environment in wide streets
• Overall strategy required over 1m
• Staged approach over 10 years

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Traffic Speed
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Traffic Speed
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Black Spot Intersection
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Pedestrian Safety
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Speed Environment
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Strategy for Success

• Support for improvements
• Allocation of funding for plan
• Council budget
• External sources, i.e. Black Spot
• Integrate with infrastructure programs
• Footpaths
• Drainage
• Maintenance kerb replacement
• Integrate with community programs
• Bicycle User Groups
• Travelsmart
• Walking School Bus

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Where To From Here?

• The job is not yet finished
• Monitor and review
• Traffic volume management
• Road Closures
• Entry Thresholds
• Keep community and council informed

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Thank you