Page 1969 - Week 05 - Thursday, 3 May 2012
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The morning peak period is normally more critical in Canberra as it tends to be more concentrated than the evening peak period, and that is certainly the case for William Hovell Drive.
The travel survey information is very typical of a busy road with little spare capacity during the morning peak period. Travel times over the same section of road can be quite variable from day to day with small impacts to traffic flow having a disproportionate impact on delays. Once delays are encountered or a bottleneck forms—say, for instance, at the merge with Parkes Way or even the merge with Commonwealth Avenue traffic—this can have a significant impact on travel time on William Hovell Drive.
This is illustrated by the range of travel times of seven to 20 minutes for the same section of road on different days. A trip completed in just over seven minutes had no delays whereas the trip that took over 20 minutes got caught up in delays primarily due to the current merging capacity at the entry point to Parkes Way.
The report I have tabled includes the results of 11 morning peak period travel time runs from Drake Brockman Drive to Parkes Way, which is a distance of eight kilometres. The report shows that 11 travel time runs were conducted from 28 March to 10 April, with the earliest starting at 7.29 and the latest at 8.40. The results showed that the average travel time was 13 minutes and 52 seconds, the median travel time was 15 minutes and 30 seconds, the shortest travel time was seven minutes and 10 seconds and the longest travel time was 20 minutes and 30 seconds.
This analysis indicates that, by avoiding or improving traffic throttle points such as the Parkes Way and Commonwealth Avenue merges, it is possible to improve travel times on William Hovell Drive. This analysis shows that the government has an ongoing assessment and planning process that is aimed at alleviating traffic hold-ups to the extent possible and in the context of road safety and its transport for Canberra strategy. As Canberra grows and changes, transport for Canberra will help us to reduce traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions while increasing the number of people using active travel and public transport. It will increase accessibility for all Canberrans and improve links through the region.
Madam Assistant Speaker, I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Mr Tony Gill, the Director of Roads ACT, on receiving a Public Service Medal at a ceremony at Government House last night. Many of you would know of Tony’s outstanding contribution to the territory and his commitment to road standards and safety within the ACT. It is a fitting honour for an outstanding ACT public servant.
Public Accounts—Standing Committee
Paper and statement by minister
MR BARR (Molonglo—Deputy Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development and Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation): For the information of members, I present the following paper:
Public Accounts—Standing Committee—Inquiry—Auditor-General’s Report 5/2011—2010-11 Financial Audits—Government submission.
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