City set to back slow points

The City of Albany council is set to support the installation of slow points on Bathurst and Nelson streets at a council meeting next Tuesday.

With ongoing traffic issues since 2010 the two streets underwent a two-week trial with six temporary slow points in February.

The slow points aim to narrow the road to create a single lane, allowing for the movement of only one direction of traffic at each point.

The trial period resulted in decreased average speeds while the community consultation registered positive feedback from 88 per cent of respondents that lived on Bathurst or Nelson Street.

In a response to the council report, one Nelson Street resident thanked the City for the temporary chicanes. “I … found that traffic in Nelson Street decreased in volume over the trial period for the chicanes,” he said.

“It seemed that general traffic, except for the same loud vehicle each morning, had slowed in speed as well.

“If the barriers had been made of concrete instead of sandbags, I am certain there would be an even greater effect in both traffic speed and traffic volume.

“My vote is to have permanent traffic barriers.”

There was some negative feedback, however, with some respondents believing the slow points do not promote safe driving.

“I just want to say that they are terrible — very dangerous and do not make people slow down at all,” one respondent stated.

“I have witnessed several cars using the road as a rally driving strip and seeing how fast they can go, swerving all over the road.

“The chicanes are so sharp that I can barely turn through them without running over the edges.”

Rubberised speed cushions were installed along the two streets in 2012; however,they were removed in 2015 after a number of noise complaints and reports of dangerous driving.

The installation of the new slow points is expected to cost about $25,000.