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Beaufort Street 2 way traffic project
Reintroduction of two way traffic flow on Beaufort Street, Northbridge
Background
A concept plan for the reintroduction of two-way traffic flow on Beaufort Street, from Wellington Street to the City’s municipal boundary at Newcastle Street was adopted by the Council in December 2009.
The concept plan has been developed as part of the implementation of the City’s strategy to improve the legibility and permeability of the local road network, and the philosophy that the local road network should encourage people to travel to, rather than through, destinations along these roads.
One of the key ways the City will achieve this is to reintroduce two-way traffic to one-way roads such as Beaufort Street and William Street. More information about the reintroduction of two-way traffic can be found on the City’s website at http://www.cityofperth.wa.gov.au/web/Council/Plans-and-Projects/Current-Projects/Reintroduction-of-Two-Way-Traffic/.
Proposed Beaufort Street layout
This project is intended to be implemented with minimal impact as the existing kerb lines will be retained as much as possible. It is proposed that the layout of Beaufort Street, south of Newcastle Street, will be:
- 2 x traffic lanes in each direction during AM and PM peak hour periods.
- At mid-block locations outside of the above peak periods – 1 x kerbside car/bus parking lane and 1 x traffic lane in each direction.
- At intersections outside of the above peak periods – two traffic lanes will be provided on each approach leg to cater for through and turning traffic and maintain an acceptable level of intersection performance.
Initially, the southbound kerb side traffic lane will be a Bus Only lane in the AM Peak hour, and the northbound kerb side traffic lane will be a Bus Only lane in the PM Peak hour. Changing this to permanent peak hour Bus lanes will be considered in 2013, once the new Northbridge Police Station has opened.
Consultation and stakeholder involvement
In early 2010 we conducted community and stakeholder consultation about the concept plan and the results of that consultation were reported to the Council in April 2010.
As part of our consultation, we have worked closely with the City of Vincent to develop proposals to reintroduce two-way traffic north of Newcastle Street to Brisbane Street, on both Beaufort Street and William Street. In April 2010 their Council adopted ‘in-principle’ support for the change and we are continuing to work with the City’s officers to implement this project simultaneously in both municipalities, along the whole one-way section of Beaufort Street.
During 2010 we worked closely with a number of stakeholders to jointly develop the Perth City Streets Transport Plan Strategic Agreement, which was adopted by the Council in late August 2010. This agreement defines the strategy for the implementation of two-way streets and strategic bus routes in the city in the short-medium term. The stakeholders involved in this project include the City of Perth, City of Vincent, the Department of Transport, Main Roads Western Australia, and the Public Transport Authority.
As a result of the implementation of this strategy Beaufort Street is destined to be a more important public transport and traffic route in/out of the city.
Project time line
The reintroduction of two-way traffic on Beaufort Street has been delayed whilst the City investigates changing the scope of works to include widening the road pavement to provide wider traffic lanes, which is desired by the Public Transport Authority for the safe movement of their buses along Beaufort Street. This is an important issue to resolve because Beaufort Street will operate with increased bus services to achieve its intended function as a more important public transport route connecting the Perth CBD to suburbs to the north and north-east. These investigations are likely take a few months to complete so the reintroduction of two-way traffic on Beaufort Street is now anticipated to occur in mid-2012.
Feedback
If you have any question about his project please contact Michael Priest, Acting Coordinator Traffic/Transport, on 9461 3125 during business hours or via email at michael.priest@cityofperth.wa.gov.au