About a month ago I received a brochure on the Fitzsimons Lane Update in the mail. I'm interested in changes in the area which may impact me so I watch out for changes. Even though this brochure states there's been extensive community communication, this was the first time I'd heard of the changes and that appears true of others I spoke or heard from.
I've broken this post into three. One for the Fitzsimons Lane and Main Road roundabout Eltham, one for Fitzsimons Lane and Porter Street Templestowe and one for Williamsons Road and Foote Street Templestowe. This is so if there's any comments people can make comments on the specific intersection.
Details of the project are available from the Major Road Projects Victoria website at https://roadprojects.vic.gov.au/projects/northern-roads-upgrade/fitzsimons-lane
Last night I attended an open meeting where people could meet with and discuss their concerns with MRPV staff and see more detailed plans. I had an excellent conversation with a staff member and whilst I felt happy with the answers, in hindsight I can see issues that concern me. I can see others had their own issues and concerns.
My aim here is to share the issues I feel exist with the current intersection of Williamsons Road and Foote Street and how this has changed with the proposed design. Over the 30 years I've lived in Templestowe I've used theWilliamsons Road and Foote Street intersection thousands of times. The following are the issues I've had.
1. Traffic heading east on Foote Street.
The level of traffic banking up heading east can mean slow drive times.
I can't see the new design change this issue.
2. Williamsons Road heading north turning right into Foote Street
The level of traffic heading north can be considerable with delays reaching over the hill and back to Ruffey Creek or further.
If the new design of the Fitzsimons Lane and Porter Street traffic lights improves traffic flow this may improve the situation where the traffic on Williamsons Road Banks up to Foote Street thus enabling more cars to pass through.
3. Exiting onto Foote Street from Hawtin Street.
Turning right from Hawtin Street into Foote Street has become more difficult since the bus lane was added and the median strip effectively removed. However this was still possible with a considerable delay.
Turning left from Hawting Street into Foote Street can sometimes be a considerable delay with cars continuously from the slip lane in Williamsons Road between cars going east on Foote Street with the traffic lights and those turning east from Williamsons Road into Foote Street with the right turn light with sometimes a considerable delay. Further the U-Turn up the hill on Foote Street is close to he the peak of the hill creating a dangerous situation. This was very poor design.
The new design stops right turns from Hawtin Street into Foote Street which is a complete loss. The new design doesn't appear to help in any way.
Unfortunately I didn't check where the right turn lanes turning into Williamsons Road from Foote Street extended to. I'd be interested to see if they've moved the U-Turn further away from the crest of the hill.
4. Bank up of traffic in Foote Street approaching Williamsons Road backs up close to the crest of the hill and there are often accidents as cars don't see stopped cars over the hill. It's understandable because people are accelerating to get over a very steep hill so the car builds a lot of momentum so a car stopped just over the crest is not visible and there's little time to break. Add the late afternoon sun to blind people and it's a real safety issue. There needs to be warning lights on the approach side of the hill if the traffic is banked up to this point.
4. Footpaths and Cycle paths on Williamsons Road have limited length.
The footpaths and cycle paths on Williamsons Road aren't designed for people to use for walking or cycling. They are limited in length and really only for access to bus stops. Whilst an inconvenience this is not a major issue.
The new design provides continous paths for this section of Williamsons Road.
5. The bus turning right from Foote Street into Williamsons Road had to stop at the traffic lights when cars could turn.
To me this didn't make sense. There's three lanes. Why couldn't all three lanes go at the same time? Having a bus lane and the bus not going when other lanes could turn didn't make sense. A call to VicRoads gave me the answer. The three lanes didn't have sufficient turning room for all three lanes to turn into Williamsons Road at the same time. All that work to speed up the bus and it now had to wait.
The new design appears to fix this issue.
6. The bank up of traffic on Foote Street heading west can cause considerable delays to turn into Hawting Street.
The new design includes more space with straight lanes for cars turning right. This should help move more cars into Williamsons Road. However it's hard to see this working when already the cars in Williamsons Road bank up to Foote Street so not all cars can get through. Perhaps the Fitzsimons Lane and Porter Street intersection will improve this.
7. The new design has a bus lane and then a bus stop in the extended slip lane, effectively meaning the bus uses two lanes at this point. This seems like a poor design
Suggestion
I made a suggestion the slip lane traffic in Williamsons Road have some delay to enable cars to exit Hawtin Street onto Foote Street safely. The thought that came back is the slip lane could have lights synchronised with the normal traffic lights depending on how that would impact the overall flow of the intersection.
I get the main goal is to move as much traffic as possible which benefits the most people. However the slip lane creates a safety issue where people trying to exit Hawtin Street turning left (or currently) also turning right) are put under unacceptable pressure to dart out.
Conclusion
Overall I see the new design has reduced the amenity of local residents who need to use Hawtin Street. The area continues to get squeezed in terms of road access. To a degree this is understandable due to the increasing needs of the many who use Williamsons Road, Fitzsimons Lane and Foote Steet.
The new design does not help in any way that I can see improve the situation for exiting Hawtin Street onto Foote Street and in fact makes it worse by removing the ability to turn right onto Foote Street.
Kelvin Eldridge
Please feel free to add your experiences of this intersection using the comments.
I've broken this post into three. One for the Fitzsimons Lane and Main Road roundabout Eltham, one for Fitzsimons Lane and Porter Street Templestowe and one for Williamsons Road and Foote Street Templestowe. This is so if there's any comments people can make comments on the specific intersection.
Details of the project are available from the Major Road Projects Victoria website at https://roadprojects.vic.gov.au/projects/northern-roads-upgrade/fitzsimons-lane
Last night I attended an open meeting where people could meet with and discuss their concerns with MRPV staff and see more detailed plans. I had an excellent conversation with a staff member and whilst I felt happy with the answers, in hindsight I can see issues that concern me. I can see others had their own issues and concerns.
My aim here is to share the issues I feel exist with the current intersection of Williamsons Road and Foote Street and how this has changed with the proposed design. Over the 30 years I've lived in Templestowe I've used theWilliamsons Road and Foote Street intersection thousands of times. The following are the issues I've had.
1. Traffic heading east on Foote Street.
The level of traffic banking up heading east can mean slow drive times.
I can't see the new design change this issue.
2. Williamsons Road heading north turning right into Foote Street
The level of traffic heading north can be considerable with delays reaching over the hill and back to Ruffey Creek or further.
If the new design of the Fitzsimons Lane and Porter Street traffic lights improves traffic flow this may improve the situation where the traffic on Williamsons Road Banks up to Foote Street thus enabling more cars to pass through.
3. Exiting onto Foote Street from Hawtin Street.
Turning right from Hawtin Street into Foote Street has become more difficult since the bus lane was added and the median strip effectively removed. However this was still possible with a considerable delay.
Turning left from Hawting Street into Foote Street can sometimes be a considerable delay with cars continuously from the slip lane in Williamsons Road between cars going east on Foote Street with the traffic lights and those turning east from Williamsons Road into Foote Street with the right turn light with sometimes a considerable delay. Further the U-Turn up the hill on Foote Street is close to he the peak of the hill creating a dangerous situation. This was very poor design.
The new design stops right turns from Hawtin Street into Foote Street which is a complete loss. The new design doesn't appear to help in any way.
Unfortunately I didn't check where the right turn lanes turning into Williamsons Road from Foote Street extended to. I'd be interested to see if they've moved the U-Turn further away from the crest of the hill.
4. Bank up of traffic in Foote Street approaching Williamsons Road backs up close to the crest of the hill and there are often accidents as cars don't see stopped cars over the hill. It's understandable because people are accelerating to get over a very steep hill so the car builds a lot of momentum so a car stopped just over the crest is not visible and there's little time to break. Add the late afternoon sun to blind people and it's a real safety issue. There needs to be warning lights on the approach side of the hill if the traffic is banked up to this point.
4. Footpaths and Cycle paths on Williamsons Road have limited length.
The footpaths and cycle paths on Williamsons Road aren't designed for people to use for walking or cycling. They are limited in length and really only for access to bus stops. Whilst an inconvenience this is not a major issue.
The new design provides continous paths for this section of Williamsons Road.
5. The bus turning right from Foote Street into Williamsons Road had to stop at the traffic lights when cars could turn.
To me this didn't make sense. There's three lanes. Why couldn't all three lanes go at the same time? Having a bus lane and the bus not going when other lanes could turn didn't make sense. A call to VicRoads gave me the answer. The three lanes didn't have sufficient turning room for all three lanes to turn into Williamsons Road at the same time. All that work to speed up the bus and it now had to wait.
The new design appears to fix this issue.
6. The bank up of traffic on Foote Street heading west can cause considerable delays to turn into Hawting Street.
The new design includes more space with straight lanes for cars turning right. This should help move more cars into Williamsons Road. However it's hard to see this working when already the cars in Williamsons Road bank up to Foote Street so not all cars can get through. Perhaps the Fitzsimons Lane and Porter Street intersection will improve this.
7. The new design has a bus lane and then a bus stop in the extended slip lane, effectively meaning the bus uses two lanes at this point. This seems like a poor design
Suggestion
I made a suggestion the slip lane traffic in Williamsons Road have some delay to enable cars to exit Hawtin Street onto Foote Street safely. The thought that came back is the slip lane could have lights synchronised with the normal traffic lights depending on how that would impact the overall flow of the intersection.
I get the main goal is to move as much traffic as possible which benefits the most people. However the slip lane creates a safety issue where people trying to exit Hawtin Street turning left (or currently) also turning right) are put under unacceptable pressure to dart out.
Conclusion
Overall I see the new design has reduced the amenity of local residents who need to use Hawtin Street. The area continues to get squeezed in terms of road access. To a degree this is understandable due to the increasing needs of the many who use Williamsons Road, Fitzsimons Lane and Foote Steet.
The new design does not help in any way that I can see improve the situation for exiting Hawtin Street onto Foote Street and in fact makes it worse by removing the ability to turn right onto Foote Street.
Kelvin Eldridge
Please feel free to add your experiences of this intersection using the comments.
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