Albany to trial lights at crash-prone roundabout

Albany will get its first traffic lights as part of a trial at the Chester Pass Road roundabout tomorrow and over the Anzac centenary commemorative weekend.

If successful, they could become permanent.

Main Roads WA will install six temporary traffic lights that will flash amber and red at the roundabout tomorrow morning for a one-day trial in the lead-up to the Anzac event to allow motorists to familiarise themselves with the change.

Main Roads WA Great Southern regional manager Andrew Duffield said the traffic lights would be used over the Anzac weekend and would be considered in future.

“We will be looking to see how this trial operates and if it provides some benefit then we could consider it into the future,” he said.

There were 234 crashes at the Chester Pass Road roundabout in the five years to December 31, 2013, with 60 per cent of the crashes being rear-end collisions and 30 per cent side swipe crashes.

Traffic lights were installed at Bunbury’s Eelup roundabout in 2012, reducing crashes 70 per cent in the first year and a further 60 per cent in 2013.

Albany’s G&I Transport Services owner Graeme North, who has been navigating the roundabout with his road train for about 45 years, supports traffic lights.

“There’s a lot more traffic going through now than there was 45 years ago, and it’s a problem that is only getting worse,” he said.

FULL STORY AND MORE ON ALBANY’S ANZAC TRAFFIC PLANS IN TODAY’S ALBANY ADVERTISER

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