General News
15 September, 2022
Report suggests roundabout or traffic lights for intersection, but finds no “obvious” solution
An engineering firm’s road safety review of the notorious Napier and Nolan streets intersection has found there is “no obvious solution” to safety concerns, but has suggested a roundabout or traffic lights could be future improvements...
An engineering firm’s road safety review of the notorious Napier and Nolan streets intersection has found there is “no obvious solution” to safety concerns, but has suggested a roundabout or traffic lights could be future improvements.
Driscoll Engineering were contracted to complete a road safety assessment of the intersection, along with the intersection and pedestrian crossing at the Burns Street and Mark Twain Drive intersection by the Central Goldfields Shire Council in September last year.
The review came as a result of a number of collisions in recent times, including one at the Napier and Nolan intersection which saw a resident hit by a car while riding their bike airlifted to hospital with serious injuries to their ankle.
The report states there was no clear solution to concerns about the intersection and instead, seven options for improving traffic flow and safety were proposed.
“In consideration of the physical constraints and the identified issues at the intersection, there is no obvious solution to address the crashes at this location,” the report states.
The suggestions include a roundabout, raising the intersection and putting pedestrian crossings on both Napier and Nolan streets, traffic lights, installing concrete median strips through the intersection and limiting turn movements from Nolan Street to left-hand turns only.
Council’s general manager infrastructure, assets and planning Matthew Irving said council had also been in discussions with Regional Roads Victoria in relation to reducing speed limits along Napier Street.
“Council officers recently met with Regional Roads Victoria (RRV) to raise concerns with inappropriate and inconsistent speed limits along Napier Street and sought for them to review this as the responsible road authority for this section of road,” he said.
“They confirmed that they would carry out a review during the initial discussion and advised that a reduction may be appropriate subject to more in-depth analysis.”
Since Driscoll Engineering commenced the review last year, the Department of Transport has installed additional stop signs on both sides of the Nolan Street approach to the intersection.
Council will also improve sight distance along Napier Street by altering no parking zones and formalising car parking spaces, as well as installing signage at the Metro Petroleum service station to improve traffic flows.
The engineering report states that Nolan Street, north west of Napier Street has an annual average daily traffic of 1902 vehicles per day, while Nolan Street on the south east of Napier Street has 1427 per day.
The Department of Transport also estimates an average of 5400 vehicles using Napier Street daily, with 240 heavy vehicles travelling along the route.
Mr Irving said particularly given the heavy usage of the intersection, improving that section of road was one of the “highest priority” items for council.
“Officers reiterated to RRV that council identifies the upgrade of this intersection as one of the highest priority items for them to resolve within the municipality,” he said.
“This upgrade project has been listed within their pipeline of projects and they will be seeking to advance this for a request for funding through appropriate channels.”
The report highlights that official statistics show few recorded crashes at the intersection but media reports and anecdotal evidence suggests frequent collisions and near misses.
The report goes on to state that there was also a collision during Driscoll Engineering’s inspection of the intersection.
Mr Irving said council will continue to pursue both the State Government and Regional Roads Victoria until issues at the intersection are resolved.
“Council will continue to advocate to RRV and the State Government to prioritise the upgrade of this intersection and reduce the speed limit within Napier Street,” he said.
“This remains one of council’s highest priority road safety advocacy items and we will continue to pursue this until the issues are resolved.”