The first stage of the Beulah Road bike boulevard has been completed, with the
re-shaping of the roundabouts in Norwood and new pedestrian and cyclist
signalised crossing of Portrush Road.
This is the first time that a series of roundabouts has been reshaped to
encourage slower motorist speeds and the State Government and NPSP Councils
are to be congratulated for putting safety above speed in this way.
The photos below compare one of the new roundabouts with a more traditional
roundabout, further up on Beulah Road at Beulah Park. (The Beulah Park
roundabout in on the left.)
In the left photo you can see that cyclists can pass through the roundabout
travelling in more or less a straight line. This is not possible with the new
roundabout. Similarly with cars: motorists now have to slow down.
The differences are quite subtle; hopefully subtle enough that motorists simply
think that they’ve not taken enough care if they hit the kerbing when trying to
travel at normal speed. (There were soon black tyre marks on the kerbing.)
The NPSP Council has let a tender for the next stage of the boulevard: designing
the roadway between the roundabouts.
Further east in the Burnside Council, there are no plans at this stage to reshape
the roundabouts. However the Council is installing a one-lane slow point just
west of Glynburn Road in an effort to discourage rat runners, who tend to be the
fastest motorists using the route.
The road has been closed at that point for several weeks while construction has
progressed. Hopefully the residents have felt that the advantage of a nice quiet
street has outweighed the inconvenience. Who know, perhaps they might agitate
for a permanent closure — with a bypass for cyclists, of course!
Pdf version is available to download (pdf file – 723 Kb)