Cul-de-sac for Fawcett Road, Munster

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Consultation has concluded

Background

We sought your feedback on the proposed closure of Fawcett Road, Munster, between Albion Avenue and Coogee Road/McGrath Road to address safety.

The main purpose of closing the road is to discourage industrial traffic from driving through the residential area of Munster. See the aerial photograph showing the location of the proposed road closure.

Planning for the Australian Marine Complex (AMC), which was adopted by the Council in July 2006, identified that Fawcett Road would become a cul-de-sac approximately 200 metres south of Albion Avenue. This would separate the residential section of Munster from the industrial land use of the AMC and encourage motorists to use Rockingham Road and Stock Road instead.

The section of Fawcett Road between the road closure and Coogee Road/McGrath Road would then be closed and incorporated into the wetland areas either side of the road at the time that the land in Stage 2 of the subdivision is developed.

It has been more than 10 years since the structure plan was adopted and as development of Stage 2 of the subdivision has not yet proceeded it has been decided to fast-track the implementation of the planned road closure to address current safety and amenity concerns that have been raised with the City by residents.

The City has received complaints about the speed of traffic using Fawcett Road and a traffic survey completed in May 2015 confirmed that vehicle speeds were high. The traffic data collected by that survey is summarised in the following table:

Road

Average Weekday Traffic
Average speed
85th percentile speed1
Heavy vehicles2
Fawcett Road

622 vehicles
57 km/h
66 km/h
5.5%

1. The speed that 85% of vehicles are travelling at, or slower, under free-flow conditions.

2. Austroads Vehicle Class ≥ 3 or greater, on weekdays

Although the recorded traffic volume is not significant for an access road such as Fawcett Road, when considered in context of the survey location it does highlight that the road is being used primarily by through traffic because there are only a few houses there that would generate no more than 20 vehicles trips per day in total.

The high speed of traffic using that section of road is a safety concern, particularly considering that the road has a 50km/h speed limit and those high speeds probably reflect that most drivers are using that part of the road as a rat-run to other non-local destinations, and these drivers tend to drive faster than local residents.

Implementing the road closure would remove all through traffic and substantially reduce the traffic volume in the southern section of Fawcett Road. This should also benefit the residents further north along Fawcett Road and along West Churchill Avenue by reducing the volume of traffic.

Background

We sought your feedback on the proposed closure of Fawcett Road, Munster, between Albion Avenue and Coogee Road/McGrath Road to address safety.

The main purpose of closing the road is to discourage industrial traffic from driving through the residential area of Munster. See the aerial photograph showing the location of the proposed road closure.

Planning for the Australian Marine Complex (AMC), which was adopted by the Council in July 2006, identified that Fawcett Road would become a cul-de-sac approximately 200 metres south of Albion Avenue. This would separate the residential section of Munster from the industrial land use of the AMC and encourage motorists to use Rockingham Road and Stock Road instead.

The section of Fawcett Road between the road closure and Coogee Road/McGrath Road would then be closed and incorporated into the wetland areas either side of the road at the time that the land in Stage 2 of the subdivision is developed.

It has been more than 10 years since the structure plan was adopted and as development of Stage 2 of the subdivision has not yet proceeded it has been decided to fast-track the implementation of the planned road closure to address current safety and amenity concerns that have been raised with the City by residents.

The City has received complaints about the speed of traffic using Fawcett Road and a traffic survey completed in May 2015 confirmed that vehicle speeds were high. The traffic data collected by that survey is summarised in the following table:

Road

Average Weekday Traffic
Average speed
85th percentile speed1
Heavy vehicles2
Fawcett Road

622 vehicles
57 km/h
66 km/h
5.5%

1. The speed that 85% of vehicles are travelling at, or slower, under free-flow conditions.

2. Austroads Vehicle Class ≥ 3 or greater, on weekdays

Although the recorded traffic volume is not significant for an access road such as Fawcett Road, when considered in context of the survey location it does highlight that the road is being used primarily by through traffic because there are only a few houses there that would generate no more than 20 vehicles trips per day in total.

The high speed of traffic using that section of road is a safety concern, particularly considering that the road has a 50km/h speed limit and those high speeds probably reflect that most drivers are using that part of the road as a rat-run to other non-local destinations, and these drivers tend to drive faster than local residents.

Implementing the road closure would remove all through traffic and substantially reduce the traffic volume in the southern section of Fawcett Road. This should also benefit the residents further north along Fawcett Road and along West Churchill Avenue by reducing the volume of traffic.

Consultation has concluded
  • Project Update: December 2017

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    Thanks for your input. A summary can be found here.

    Fawcett Road, Munster will be closed, south of Albion Avenue, after Council decided in December 2017 it would be better for safety reasons and to deter non-local motorists from using the road as a short-cut to other destinations.

    See the Agenda Item 17.1 and the feedback report from residents.