COMMUNITY ROAD SAFETY NOMINEES

PEDESTRIAN AND CYCLE NETWORK IMPROVEMENT PLAN - BLI BLI STATE SCHOOL PRECINCT

Sunshine Coast Council and Sidelines Traffic

The purpose of this project was to identify barriers in walking and cycling networks around a local state school, and to identify solutions to overcome these barriers. To identify the barriers, a fast and targeted consultation process with parents and caregivers at the school was developed. An online survey including heat map questions captured very specific data about where safer infrastructure was needed. This data is easy to interpret and communicate and provides a solid foundation for justifying future investments. It captures actual user concerns and experience, and is considered a more accurate method than relying on practitioner judgements or feedback from a small number of stakeholders to identify solutions and prioritise works. The project provides an excellent example of how the Safe System Approach to road safety can be used to prioritise road safety projects and to develop countermeausres. In this project, priority was given to projects that could more effectively reduce the chance of crashes likely to result in deaths or serious injuries. Solutions were developed that focussed on separating vulnerable users where possible and reducing vehicle speeds, to below critical impacts speeds at locations where school children needed to cross roads. An interesting finding, was that locations identified by parents and caregivers as being unsafe, also generally scored porely using Safe System criteria. This project is a great demonstration of how community input can be used to plan and prioritise road safety infrastructure, consistent with road safety technical guidance.

BROADBEACH 30 KM/H AREA SPEED ZONE

City of Gold Coast

Implemented in mid-2021, the Broadbeach 30km/h area speed zone is the first ever 30km/h area-wide speed zone in South East Queensland. The Gold Coast Transport Strategy 2031 and supporting modal plans provide actions to support national objectives to encourage a safer transport system that promotes the uptake of active travel. This project supports the vision of the City’s Active Transport Plan 2017-27 to provide a connected and safe transport network that helps make walking and cycling attractive alternatives to car travel. The project is an example of a best practice solution that contributes towards high quality, safer facilities for pedestrians and cyclists. This assists in achieving an active travel network that increases the likelihood of pedestrian and cycling activity. The speed limit reduction was applied to five streets which form part of Broadbeach’s central business and tourist centre and is defined by the area bounded by Surf Parade, Queensland Avenue, Old Burleigh Road and Charles Avenue. The area was identified as a high active transport user area which previously had 40km/h and 50km/h speed limits. The City reviews speed limits on its road network in accordance with Queensland Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices. This incorporates consideration and endorsement by the local Speed Management Committee (SMC) which includes representatives from the Queensland Police Service (QPS), the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR), the City of Gold Coast and the Royal Automotive Club of Queensland (RACQ) who each have a strategic and operational interest in the setting of speed limits.

SCHOOL TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT PLANS AND IMPROVEMENTS

Brisbane City Council

Every day, Brisbane City Council (Council) works with schools and local communities to make the city a safe environment for children, families and carers to travel. Council provides support to schools to develop tailored traffic management plans to help ease traffic congestion and increase safety around schools. This is one way Council is delivering on the commitment of getting people home quicker and safer. A traffic management plan (TMP) is a tool for schools to assess, document and communicate the way in which students and families can travel to and from school. Preparing a TMP helps schools identify and address traffic management issues, such as behaviour at ‘drop and go’ zones, unlawful parking or stopping, and students, parents and carers crossing roads at inappropriate locations. Council has helped more than 200 schools in Brisbane to develop TMPs. Council officers have been meeting with schools to help identify and resolve traffic management issues, as well as developing strategies to manage emerging issues. This year Council has delivered infrastructure improvements to support school TMPs and encourage community participation in Council initiatives, such as the Active School Travel program. Traffic Management Plan Improvements (TMPI) projects included: • Eagle Junction State School – construction of a pedestrian refuge crossing and intersection improvements to improve pedestrian access, connectivity and safety. • Our Lady of Dolours Catholic Primary School – construction of intersection improvements to improve pedestrian access, connectivity and safety. • Shorncliffe Street School – intersection improvements to improve pedestrian access, connectivity and safety, and traffic management at the school’s frontage.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT TEMPORARY TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT HARMONISATION INITIATIVE PROJECT

Toowoomba Regional Council

Several years ago, Austroads identified the need for the harmonisation of roadwork operations across Australia, resulting in the development of the 10-part Austroads Guide to Temporary Traffic Management (AGTTM). These documents have since been adopted by the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) in Queensland together with variations contained in the Queensland Guide to Temporary Traffic Management (QGTTM). The Queensland Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (QMUTCD) Part 3, Works on Roads, has also been pared back and now a harmonised approach to signage and devices can be found in the Australian Standard 1742.3:2019. All temporary traffic management conducted in Queensland from the 1 December 2021 will need to comply with these documents. The project called for collaboration between several Local Government (LG) organisations, the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ), Local Government Mutual Scheme (LGMS), IPWEAQ and Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) and was designed to assist LGs across Queensland in adopting these new requirements. LGs, under these requirements, are not only entities performing Temporary Traffic Management (TTM) but also have the added burden of being Road Infrastructure Managers (RIM’s). Being a RIM places added burdens of responsibilities to provide information and consultation to industry, as well as monitor their performance, a full list is contained with the AGTTM. More remote and rural LGs, in isolated locations with limited resources, are expected to achieve the same levels of governance as of larger Councils located in Queensland.