Roundabout lights will improve safety: Pitt
Published 8:40a.m. 9th October 2008
Updated 1:49p.m. 9th October 2008
A Main Roads illustration showing the new Maroochydore Road interchange, including the location of the traffic signals.
Main Roads has defended its decision to put traffic signals on the Maroochydore Round interchange, saying that although the lights may increase travel times they will also improve safety.
The new signals began working today and have already sparked complaints from some drivers, who claim they have had to wait up to five minutes for the lights to change.
Main Roads has redesigned the interchange with the Sunshine Motorway because the existing roundabout could no longer cope with the increasing traffic, with more than 35,000 vehicles a day using the motorway and more than 25,000 vehicles each day on Maroochydore Road.
It announced earlier this year that the redesign would include four sets of co-ordinated traffic signals to control traffic and pedestrian movements, but promised there would not be a repeat of Brisbane’s Airport Drive debacle, where motorists claim the move has compounded traffic congestion.
"The roundabout was nearing capacity and was no longer able to cope adequately and safely with the region's growing traffic needs," Main Roads Minister Warren Pitt said this afternoon.
"A complete redesign was required rather than simply upgrading the existing roundabout to address these concerns."
The new interchange provides four lanes in each direction, two for through traffic and two for traffic turning right, as well as additional lanes for left turns. Entry points to the interchange are controlled by traffic signals phased to accommodate pedestrian and cyclist movements.
However, the signals have already had a mixed reaction from Sunshine Coast drivers this morning, with several callers to radio station Mix FM saying they had to wait too long for the lights to change, including one man who said he was stuck on a red light for five minutes even though there was no other traffic.
Others drivers welcomed the changes, but said some people were already running the lights.
Main Roads has stated that the traffic signals are co-ordinated to “anticipate priority traffic movements and minimise queuing during peak periods”, but Mr Pitt said traffic patterns may take time to settle down and the signal synchronisation would be fine-tuned to ensure traffic flowed smoothly.
"Safety is Main Roads' number-one priority and while the new design may increase travel time for some motorists, it will provide a safer road environment all road users," he said.
Sunair bus services Peter Baynes told the Daily in April that he did not believe lights on the Maroochydore roundabout would ease congestion.
Mr Baynes said his drivers had found the lights on Brisbane’s Airport Drive had added between 10 and 30 minutes to the airport run.
“You’ve got to hope that they are planning correctly and this will work, but I only have the experience of the Brisbane airport,’’ he said.
The new interchange forms part of the Queensland government's $104 million project to duplicate the Sunshine Motorway to four lanes between Maroochydore Road and David Low Way.
Other features of the Maroochydore Road interchange redesign include two bridges to duplicate the Sunshine Motorway over Maroochydore Road, two lanes in each direction for through traffic along Maroochydore Road, two right-turn lanes at each entry point to the interchange; links to the local cycle network and to a new pedestrian/cycle path on the new Maroochy Bridge.
Have you used the Maroochydore Road interchange today? Do you believe the new lights will ease traffic problems or make them worse?
Recent Comments
Sometimes these things take time to sort out. The community should be patient. It wasn't long ago that Tow trucks used to park next to the roundabout. The idea is to improve safety not delay and ruin peoples day. Patience people.....
and more promises of CAMCOS !
Breath taking.
How totally stupid, redicuolous, incompetent, Fawlty Towersish
Who was the planner who built a round about that couldn't handle the traffic flow? doesn't anyone study demographics anymore??
can'r someone read an ABS report on the projected population of an area - and extraplate the traffic flow
I know that getting things right can be done, I know that projeting future use is methodical but fairly easy.
i know professionals with university degrees are supposed to be employed as planners and advisers for this sort of thing
so who stuffed up?
In one fell swoop (and unknown additional $$millions) Main Roads have added up to 5 minutes to a trip along Maroochydore Road. Well done ... not.
Make a good big roundabout (as it is) with nice merging lanes. How hard is that?
Lights are what you use if you decided that you didn't want a roundabout - hello! Is anybody home?
What they've done here is to avoid the root cause of the issue (poor roundabout design) and instead put in another problem (excessive traffic lights).
The best solution I've seen is peak-hour traffic lights. These allow the roundabout design to be unmodified but bring the benefits of traffic lights only when needed.
This new layout does have left-slip lanes which would be good but they've gone and stuck traffic lights onto those aswell!
Traffic lights bring with them one fundamental problem -- they stop traffic. Stop/start traffic causes increased noise, pollution and reduced fuel economy.
My wife just phoned me to say that the lights had been turned on and how she'd sat at a red light whilst nobody drove past.
To echo CoastLover's comment, Main Roads have added 5 mins onto a trip into Maroochydore, and the frustration of sitting at yet another set of cruddy traffic lights.
To make matters worse the morons doing the work can't even put up signs, etc when they close exit/entry lanes or other parts of the road surrounding the roundabout.
The other night I drove down the exit ramp towards the roundabout to discover that it was meant to be closed for resurfacing yet there was nothing to make that clear and I know other people were just as confused!
The whole this is a mess!
We can't even learn from our own mistakes - Bris Airport lights.
If we don't know how to design highflow roundabouts hire yankee or eurpoean engineers.
The cars seem to be the problem, so if you remove the car - then all is fixed.
1 A roundabout intersection with a motorway requires two bridges and is therefore very expensive to construct. They would have achieved a much better outcome by removing the roundabout and providing a standard grade separated set of traffic lights as exists at many other intersections with motorways and it would have only required a single bridge. Much cheaper and far more efficient.
2 They claim that a signalised roundabout is a safer environment for all road users. Well a quick search on Google suggests that roundabouts are far safer than traffic lights for motorists but are more dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists. Couldn't decide what to do - let's make it equally dangerous for all road users.
3 Every other State in Australia and throughout the western world are using Smart traffic lights that detect the volume of vehicles arriving at the lights and alter the green times automatically to minimise the delay to vehicles. There is no need to fine tune or synchronise the traffic lights manually as the microprocessor controls and synchronises the lights automatically based on the varying demands of the vehicles on the road. But they don't do things that way at the Department of Main Roads, let's keep it under manual control. It's 1970's technology at its best and I suspect a political decision by the "passed their used by date" State Labor Government.
through before it changes to orange on one section
signs going here there and everywhere it was far better before do they think these people Obviously not
Backward thinking, frustrating and stupid but then what did we expect after they 'fixed up' Wises Rd.
Shore they probaly should have just taken the round about out all togeather, but anyone that drove around it back before they started working on it, could you honestly tell me that it was safer than.(remember the 4 or 5 tow trucks that used to wait on the middle of the accident for garenteed business.)
In all the time I've lived here, I have never seen or heard of an accident at the old round-a-bout. I am sure they happened just as they happen anywhere else but I do not currently believe that the accident statistics for the old round-a-bout are better or worse than anywhere else.
Why didn't they just make it into a straight through underpass with the feeder lanes that had appropriate merging lanes .... no need for lights or round-a-bout then? Surely that would have been a more efficient, simpler and cost effective solution?
It's a great idea that other cities around the world do.
Alternatively, you could place a "left turn permitted after stopping" sign, as they have at intersections in the Northern Territory... if you've stopped and checked there are no cars, you're permitted to cross through.
But the fact is people dont know how to drive around roundabouts so if putting lights at them makes people angry they should probly learn how to drive around them correctly and then they wouldnt have to worry.
I drove on the new one this morning and despite it taking a bit of time to get through each set of lights, it certainly wasnt a case of taking your life into your hands when you enter the round about.
Sure, its not ideal, but with the copious amount of traffic on Coast roads, we need to have some way to manage the flow. People just cant cope with change.
From the Government that couldn't organise a party in a brewery........(or words to that effect).
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