Unley seeking to liaise with the Government on the North South Corridor.

What is happening to South Road through Black Forest and Everard Park. Don’t know? That is why the City of Unley is seeking to liaise with the Government.

 

Residents & property owners are desperate to know what Government’s plans are for our section of South Road. That includes the section that runs through the City of Unley.

Many ratepayers have expressed concern, anguish and/or just a keen interest in what will happen to our section of South Road. And for good reason. Everywhere work has already occurred the landscape has changed dramatically.

Access into and out of Black Forest will change dramatically.

It is possible that rat running through Black Forest will disappear. Likewise we should see a reduction in traffic on East Avenue. On the other hand, residents are likely to have to use a different route to leave and return home.

And it is not just properties on South Road that are affected. It is those properties in the side streets connecting to South Road and beyond.

The last Council made overtures to the then State Government for Council to be informed. We remain without knowledge. Information has been scarce and lacking sufficiency to allay concerns and fears that many in our community have.

The current Government recently publicly announced a desire to provide a tunnel solution through our section of the north-south corridor. This is as much as we know.

Assuming a leadership role to ensure we can all be on the same page, I moved at our last Council meeting the following motion on notice.

This approach will hopefully encourage a better recognition and co-operation with local residents and business owners than we experienced during the electrification of the Seaford Rail Corridor.

Seeking to liaise with the Government, their trusting us to contribute positively does work. We saw that with a range of development plan amendments a few years back with the previous Government.

I am looking forward the Government will respond in kind. Commencing of course with a briefing of Council.

When the cat’s away

When the cat’s away it seems the rats do come out and play. During my brief sojourn up to Loxton this week I missed all the excitement.

What a time not to be here. Storm activity disrupted power supply and the discovery of structural concerns on the tram overpass over South Road has been high at all media outlets.

Storms and Power Disruption

The storms disrupted power to residents of Clarence Park, including ourselves. This was the fortunate part of being away. The blackout that hit 112 homes did not impact on my wife and I. Well apart from a fridge and freezer full of food that had to be thrown away.

Tram Overpass

I missed also the disruption caused to traffic using South Road. The Government, through DPTI, undertook an unscheduled inspection and repair of the tram overpass. Everyone by now is aware that one of 5 beams is leaning out.

Temporary bracing repairs are well under way as I draft this question without notice. It looks like disruption to commuter traffic and to our local residents and businesses will soon be over, temporarily of course.

When the time comes to effect a permanent solution traffic disruptions will be the order of the day again. Who knows for how long on that occasion.

I will be asking Council’s administration a question without notice at our next Coucnil meeting on Monday night. It concerns the future disruption to commuters and therefore the residents and businesses of Unley when permanent repairs or rebuild occurs.

I will be asking:

What will Council’s administration be doing to assist or direct DPTI in managing the diversion of traffic and in particular heavy vehicles through our streets to minimise inconvenience to residents and businesses alike.

Can we not only take a proactive role in determining with DPTI the least inconvenient detours but request also DPTI to alert residents and businesses alike by letter box drop or other such communication or do so ourselves as a service to the Black Forest, Everard Park, Clarence Park, Millswood and Forestville communities.

PS

Can I ask everyone who reads this blog (or the Facebook link to this blog) to support the Black Forest Shopping Centre businesses who have suffered more than we residents with a savage hit to their hip pocket.

Non Stop South Road

A non stop south road corridor is looking more and more like a reality as the Premier and the Prime Minister debate the funding of the $ 9 billion 10 year project.

 

south road

It seems the only argument on the non stop south road concept right now is funding. We have had a plethora of public utterances between State and Federal Governments about funding in a number of areas in South Australia. This is but one of them. I am hopeful that the politics that have been played will end and this will soon be put to bed in respect of South Road.

We have yet to see the detail but I can say this much a non stop corridor of 79 kms from Old Noarlunga to Gawler means, just that….non stop. That means no right hand turns which I had always expected but no left hand turns either into and out of South Road.

This is particularity of interstate to residents of the Clarence Park Ward of the City of Unley. It means access into and out of streets such as Dryden Avenue, Cowper Road, Byron Road, Addison Road and Forest Avenue Black Forest will be no more.

What will that mean to the residents of Black Forest?

What will it mean to the residents of Clarence Park & Millswood?

Non stop should mean less traffic for East Avenue and to Leah Street and Leader Street Forestville. This will be a clear benefit saving myself and my neighbours fro undue delays getting into our streets while we wait behind the southern rat runners who prefer to use a suburban street now than South Road.

On the other hand it will mean residents of Black Forest will have to use east Avenue to get in or out whether heading north, south,east or …..west. An inconvenience for sure but maybe the suburb of Black Forest will become more exclusive.

Of course the next question is will we see land acquisitions to fit the 6 lanes being talked about see create the decimation of Black Forest. Word is the land acquisitions in our section of South Road will be on the west side of the road, Glandore.

The potential of a non stop South Road happening sooner rather than later is the reason I successfully prompted a delay in spending money on the major initiates of the recent Black Forest LATM. If it does go ahead sooner rather than later then we would have wasted our (Councils, and that means rate payer) , money on the likes of a round about in Byron Road.

Stay tuned for more detail from the State Government.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pedestrian Crossing – South Road, Glandore

Could we see a pedestrian overpass on South Road opposite Black Forest primary School in the future?

Whilst Jennie and I have been canvassing for money in the budget to examine the impact on our local streets around the school resulting from the dual constructions of the Gallipoli Bridge and the Glenelg Tram Overpass the Marion Council have recognised the issue of school children from Black Forest crossing South Road to get to Glandore and beyond.

The Government has improved traffic flow along this section of South Road by virtue of those two projects. Unfortunately it has created problems elsewhere. I have posted about the issue around our streets a few times now and hope to have good news for you shortly.

In the meantime the call by the Mayor of Marion, Felicity-ann Lewis, is timely. The current crossover is dangerous according to the school with traffic monitors not trusting vehicles obeying the red lights by holding a rope across the entrances to the crossing.

South Road is a high traffic volume road and cars now are looking at there being NO stoppages with the works recently completed meaning the school crossing is an accident waiting to happen.

Felicity-ann Lewis has indeed suggested that much of the problems we have inherited in our streets is resulting from parents of the 50% of kids that attend the school from Glandore are using cars and using therefore our roads as there is no safe crossing for them to use.

Jennie I believe is proposing a motion to put before our Council in the near future.