Road Safety

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (16:38): I rise to speak on the petition I tabled in this house before question time today. There is a grave concern for pedestrian safety at the intersection of Reid Avenue and St Bernards Road at Hectorville. Two hundred and thirty seven petitioners urged this government to install appropriate safety measures, such as line marking and barriers, to ensure pedestrians are encouraged to use purpose-built crossings and refuges nearby

Pedestrians must wait at this spot for a sufficient break in the traffic before attempting to run across the road and quite often stop in the middle of the road, where it is unsafe. On a busy road, which has a residential population on one side and a supermarket on the other, it is important pedestrians have access to a safe crossing zone. This is a longstanding issue. I believe I am not the first person to have brought this to the house, but it has come to me because of the concerns I have raised on numerous occasions about planning and urban infill and the problems it is causing.

Many people who have signed the petition are also concerned about street parking in neighbourhoods undergoing small-scale urban redevelopment or otherwise laid out with narrow carriageways. The increased density of on-street parking further impacts upon driver safety by limiting the vision of motorists to see pedestrians trying to cross the road between parked cars. While management of on-street parking lines lies within the responsibility of councils, two issues have been raised which could be apt and lead to reform of transport regulations.

Firstly, it has come to my attention councils have no or few powers to limit garaging of heavy vehicles in their communities. In one case cited to me, a heavy vehicle driver was in the habit of parking his prime mover on a residential street, often in breach of parking time limits. It may be for certain types of highly congested residential streets council should have some ability to enforce off-street garaging of heavy vehicles, which would in turn limit on-street parking overflow.

Another example cited to me is increasing congestion on streets where subdivisions are occurring, leading to fewer off-street parking opportunities or where there are already limited off-street parking opportunities. It has been suggested to me a possible solution for some narrow streets could be to allow residents to park in front of their own driveways on a permit basis. However, there appears to be no provision in the Road Rules to allow this.

Of course, these issues occur all over Adelaide and have caused issues for many, increasingly so in the electorate of Florey. As one example, Ingle Farm has one of the highest number of approved subdivisions in metropolitan Adelaide. Urban infill often sees two or three homes on the site where a single dwelling once stood. I have begun to see cases of four, five and even six on some blocks, which is a very worrying trend.

Why would people not want to move to Ingle Farm and other adjacent suburbs like Pooraka? They are great suburbs, places that have been long-term homes to great people and families who have lived there for generations. They have proud sporting clubs, with long-held traditions, and the local schools have nurtured many fine careers. A central focus of the Better North East project, Ingle Farm is centrally located for people working in the city or in the close by northern suburbs, where we find emerging defence industries.

The influx of new homes in Ingle Farm and surrounding suburbs has created the same traffic issues that have occurred in the City of Campbelltown: limited on-street parking, difficulty navigating tight streets and increased traffic on roads not designed to serve as the major thoroughfares they have become.

One particular example is Sullivan Road in Ingle Farm, a road with an intersection on Montague Road. It has become almost impossible to exit onto the main road at peak times, yet it is one of only two ways to access Montague Road from the northern residential area of Ingle Farm. It also has a bus route for the popular 229 service. I hear from residents of the perils of navigating the intersection and the lack of any positive intervention the intersection has received.

All levels of government are seemingly aware of the multitude of issues along Montague Road, yet it appears it is a low priority. Any proposal to infill the adjacent green space with medium to high-density housing would be a missed opportunity, and utilising this space is important, as it was set aside as part of the MATS plan many years ago. Control has since passed to the local government, something that I believe happened in 1980, where the future of the Walkleys Road corridor has sat waiting for attention.

The Better North East project has identified that potential and its uses, and it is supported by the residents action group, which is run by Alan Patching; with the help of the Southgate Institute at Flinders University and in-kind support from the South Australian government through Renewal SA all have looked at some really exciting ideas.

The corridor has potential as a public transport corridor to connect Ingle Farm to the north via the Gawler line and to the city and the north-east via the O-Bahn. Yes, it is only one suggestion, but in the absence of any others it has generated some excitement. It boldly looked at ways to get cars off the road and create a cross-suburban link for the dormitory residents who move substantial distances each day to work.

The Better North East project also looked at opportunities to reinvigorate the Ingle Farm precinct, a place where higher density housing would not be out of place. Better North East, with the assistance of Southgate, began to look at chances to regenerate renewal-ready neighbourhoods and identify where services and infrastructure could be targeted to shape their community of interest. I look forward to working with all parties in continuing to explore opportunities for this vibrant corner of the north-east.