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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2017-03-01 Daily Xml
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Bills

Road Traffic (Roadworks) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 30 November 2016.)

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (11:34): I rise on behalf of the opposition to speak to the Road Traffic (Roadworks) Amendment Bill. I indicate that the opposition supports this bill. We always welcome any legislation that improves traffic management and traffic flows—

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: It's early. Did the dairy cows reject you this morning, or you are angry or something?

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire interjecting:

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Yes, okay. We welcome legislation that improves traffic management and traffic flows around roadworks, although I note the member for Unley introduced a similar bill earlier in 2016 and it was rejected by the government—I suspect because of their own media agenda. It is something we experienced up here when I introduced a bill to allow farmers to grow opium poppies. I was grateful that the government saw that it was a good idea, we worked on it and now that is law. I think next year we have the first opium poppy trials to be grown on South Australian land in the South-East.

The same thing could have happened with this bill if the government had not had their own agenda, their own media plans. We could have had this supported by both parties well into last year and have it in practice today, but sadly, it is not. It is important that we protect our road workers in the way that we protect our emergency services workers when they stop at an incident. However, when forced to unnecessarily reduce your speed when there are no roadworks in progress on prominent roads, it can frustrate motorists.

I am sure we have all seen that situation where you slow down, drive for a few hundred metres, and in some cases a few kilometres, and there are no actual roadworks going on. When motorists are forced unnecessarily to reduce their speed, it brings about complacency and increases the risk of motorists becoming less inclined to obey the signs when they see them, when they are actually intended to be followed.

We are happy to see this bill pass and to see helpful progress on our roads. We acknowledge that this bill will cover a number of points to improve traffic and legislation in South Australia. It is worthy to note that the bill aims to improve planning behind the use of road traffic control devices by road workers and other authorised utilities. The Commissioner of Highways would also be granted the authority to issue permits to those requiring roadworks speed signs, but exemptions with appropriate time frames will be made in the case of emergencies such as another burst water main, as Minister Hunter would be well aware of.

Probably the most notable change in this bill is something I am very eager to see in action, namely, the improved coordination between utilities and the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure. Disruption and the cause of congestion due to non-urgent roadworks will be considered more carefully, with planning toward the time frame of when the work will be carried out, to avoid the duplication of work.

It probably has nothing to do with this bill, but I always like to put the following incident back on the record. Members would know I lived on the South Australia-Victoria border. We had an upgrade of the highway, and ETSA at the time decided that they wanted to move the powerline closer to the side of the road so that they could manage the maintenance better. So, they moved all the powerlines to the side of the road. Then, when the highway was widened, they decided they would move the powerline back into the farmer's property so that it would not be a safety problem. They moved the powerline back out (this is the SWER line that went to our part of the community) when the road was widened—shifted it out into the farmer's paddocks.

Then, two employees of the Commissioner of Highways, I think, collected native vegetation seeds and revegetated the side of the road because there was no powerline anymore. Of course, ETSA found it was problematic to service the line in the middle of the farmer's property, so they moved it back to the edge of the road and poisoned all the trees that we taxpayers had paid for to have the seeds harvested and then sown. You can see that lack of coordination and planning can result not only in congestion on the roads, but also a huge waste of money.

I think the duplication of work is very unnecessary. We have often seen a new hot mix put over a road and then, 12 months later, SA Water or another one of the utilities coming along to dig it up to do some repairs and maintenance—not necessarily as a result of a burst water main, but maybe just some other utility work.

Lastly, the bill will address the structure and enforcement associated with penalty levels. This will ensure that penalties will be issued for the misuse and/or breach of conditions for the placement of traffic control devices at roadwork sites. I think it is also very important that if you are going to have a set of rules they have to be abided by, and if somebody does misuse them then there are some penalties as well.

This bill will address some of the long overdue issues, and is another example of the government's approach to try to apply a quick fix to a bandaid solution. But the government has missed one big opportunity in this bill and that is to allow motorists to turn left on a red light. I gave a contingent notice of motion yesterday that during the committee stage of the bill I will seek to move an amendment with regard to this which will give motorists the ability to make a left-hand turn on a red light.

People might baulk at this, but 56(1)(a) of the Australian Road Rules currently allows a left turn at a red light, but not at a red traffic arrow, if there is a left turn on red permitted after stopping sign. There are other provisions of the road rules, such as the give-way rule, 62(1)(b), which also cater for the situation in which they may be framed. In effect, the law already allows for us to do left turns if the appropriate signage is in place, and can be put up at any intersection where there is an option to see this as desirable.

This is what the member for Unley moved in the House of Assembly; he had special leave to introduce this amendment. Likewise, we have had to move a contingent notice of motion yesterday to allow this to happen. It just makes sense. We are getting more and more congestion. The government has had a passion for reducing our carbon footprint and making this city a carbon neutral city. Surely some of these initiatives, where you could have traffic flowing more quickly—we have all sat with a red light and no vehicles, when you could turn left quickly and get on with your business, whether it is a plumber, a handyman, a tradesperson, or whether one of the general public.

We are becoming more congested in Adelaide. Only six of our intersections allow for a left turn on red after stopping. There is obvious need to take action on this to help improve the traffic flow. These proposed amendments will help get traffic moving by allowing motorists to access the left turn on red option at appropriate intersections. It was proven, and strongly supported, by the locals of the Brisbane City Council to introduce more left turns on red after trials conducted at five intersections in 2013 and 2014. There are now 50 signed intersections with this change across Brisbane.

We have six intersections that we have been trialling in South Australia. It just seems logical and I beg members of this chamber, when we get to the committee stage of the bill, to support that amendment. It is a sensible amendment. It would make for easier traffic flow. It would reduce waiting times at intersections and reduce emissions. Brisbane is a bigger and much more complicated city, yet they are able to do it quite well. With those few remarks I ask that members, at the committee stage of the bill, consider that particular amendment. It is an important step forward, and I look forward to their support at the committee stage of the bill. I commend the bill to the parliament.

The Hon. T.T. NGO (11:42): I rise to support this bill. Nothing is more annoying than having to slow down because of traffic control devices left out on the road when there are no workers present. This morning there were huge traffic jams in trying to get to the city. I believe that was not from the traffic control devices, it was more about setting up the Clipsal V8 events for the end of the week.

While most people understand the need for traffic control devices to be in place when there are workers present, the effectiveness and legitimacy of these devices is diminished when these devices are consistently left out on busy roads at times when works are not occurring. Whilst the misuse of traffic control devices, or a lack of coordination regarding roadworks, not only comes at a social cost to people, whether it be time lost spent with loved ones or missing the bounce of the footy, but the resulting traffic congestion also comes at an economic cost.

This bill amends the Road Traffic Act to ensure that, moving forward, congestion does not become a major social and economic problem in South Australia, by implementing measures including the induction of roadworks permits. These roadworks permits will specify the periods in which the permits operate and can specify when works are to be undertaken. This should allow for greater coordination of roadworks to keep traffic moving. If works are conducted outside of hours permitted by these permits, then penalties for the designated authority involved will apply. Defying a permit will now result in a $20,000 fine for the first offence, and $50,000 for second and subsequent offences.

I understand that the bill will ensure that everyone is held to the same standards, with public authorities and utilities being subject to the permit regime, except when they are required to carry out roadworks as a matter of urgency. This should address the longstanding problem of a lack of coordination by utilities with the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI) when planning maintenance work, which can result in duplicated works, such as digging up a road which has just been resealed. This is now the quite vindicated pet gripe of many South Australians.

Another measure I am very supportive of in this bill is the introduction of different speed limits, depending on the level of danger posed to workers or road users. This will better align South Australia to nationally agreed roadwork practices as the norm if SA is to implement a 25 km/h speed limit, regardless of the level of danger posed to workers and road users. This bill sets new speed limits for different categories of work zones, with the use of 25 km/h and 40 km/h speed limit signs being used, depending on the level of hazards.

This will, no doubt, please many motorists who feel, on occasion, that the use of 25 km/h speed signs are excessive when compared to the level of risk posed to them and those working on the road or nearby. I am also pleased to see that the bill will allow DPTI staff, or any other designated authority, to remove speed limit signs when used inappropriately. For example, when workers are not engaged in the work area and the condition of the roadwork area is not such that it represents a greater than normal level of hazard for persons using the road.

I also commend the penalty provisions contained in the bill in relation to incorrect use of speed limit signs or other traffic control devices, as these hefty penalties will serve as a deterrent and reflect the cost of unnecessary congestion. Penalties covering the inappropriate use of different speed limit signs, whether it be 25 km/h, 40 km/h, 60 km/h or 80 km/h, are necessary, particularly to account for roadworks in the greater metropolitan area and regional areas of South Australia. Imposing penalties only for 25 km/h would deny the benefits to the regional communities of this state.

As the Hon. Mr Ridgway just mentioned, he will be moving some amendments regarding turning left on a red light. Obviously, our party has not made a commitment on that yet, but I personally think it is not a bad idea. It can be looked into further. I know there is one in Mansfield Park, where I go to church, where you can turn left, and I have found that very useful. Obviously, we have to consult with the traffic and safety engineers about whether it is safe to turn in some of these areas. If it is safe to turn left on the red, and these are my personal views, then I think it should be supported. On that note, I support this bill.

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (11:50): I rise today to speak to this important bill. Before I speak about the bill itself, I think it is appropriate, as we are on the topic of roads, to discuss the extensive transformation currently being undertaken to our road network in South Australia. The South Australian Labor government is currently undertaking record levels of investment to improve our road network, through projects on the north-south corridor (which is South Road, of course), the $896 million Torrens Road to River Torrens project, the $985 million Northern Connector project and the $620 million Darlington upgrade project.

This is in addition to the over $500 million being spent over four years on road improvements such as road resurfacing works; regional South Australia being the big beneficiary, with $322 million being spent in the regions to improve the important roads that are so vital to our road transport industry and those living in regional areas. These projects not only benefit the hundreds of thousands of people who use South Road every day but also are of great value to the road transport industry, as was recently explained by the SA Freight Council when they ranked them ahead of the unviable and uneconomic Globe Link proposal, which may cost up to $3.6 billion. It is an expensive project to protect four Liberal seats in the Adelaide Hills from the impending threat of Nick Xenophon.

In 2015, the government launched the Operation Moving Traffic initiative to improve efficiency, reliability and safety across the transport network. On 18 April 2016, the Operation Moving Traffic report was released by the Minister for Transport. The report consists of a number of proposed short to medium-term actions in key areas that will begin the process of change needed to keep people and goods moving in South Australia.

As many of you are aware, congestion on our roads not only impacts how people move in cars but also affects the reliability of our public transport network and our road transport network, which has a negative impact on our economy. Whether it be people arriving late for work, goods arriving late to businesses or people arriving late to football, people are affected by this.

The short-term initiatives include Australia's first smartphone app to give commuters real-time alerts on traffic congestion and roadworks using real-time bluetooth traffic data. This has now been released and is called Addinsight. It is free to download on both Apple and android, with over 11,000 downloads to date. I look forward to downloading it. Another short-term initiative is extending trials of new systems of traffic signals to key arterial roads, such as the South Road and Cross Road traffic corridors, to keep traffic moving. This bill also seeks to better manage roadworks.

Roadworks have long been a frustration for many motorists. While some of this frustration may be unwarranted, due to the improvements occurring to our road network, there have been many instances where this frustration is warranted. This is often due to poor planning of roadworks, for example, during peak periods, thus making people late to work or social events, or on the way home from work, or late at night when roadwork signage is left out even though there may be no workers present or any evident danger. This bill will reduce the frustration experienced by many motorists in regard to the incorrect use of road signage via increased penalties and the ability for authorised officers to remove speed limit signs when used inappropriately.

The bill also addresses another frustration experienced by the public, namely, the coordination of roadworks by the introduction of a roadworks permit. Many members of the public have complained about roads being resurfaced only to be dug up months later by utilities. This will be a thing of the past, hopefully, with DPTI and utilities such as a SAPN and SA Water now being required to submit a forward schedule of works, which will ensure that these works are better coordinated.

I commend the work of the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure for formulating this comprehensive approach to improve the way roadworks are conducted in South Australia, and I look forward to seeing the benefits once this bill becomes law.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.M. Gazzola.

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