Council raised several issues with RoadsACT on traffic issues on Streeton Drive and Heysen Street in March 2018. We have now received a response from Roads ACT. The issues raised and the answers provided today are outlined in full below:
Council e-mail of 16 March
I wanted to raise a growing issue with you in relation to a couple of intersections on Streeton Drive in Weston Creek.
With the growth of Molonglo we are seeing many more vehicles heading north on Streeton Drive in the afternoon and wanting to turn left at the Cotter Road/John Gorton Drive. This is resulting in tail back past Dixon Drive which causes issues for traffic coming from Woden via Heysen Street. Here traffic needs to wait for a break [there are no lights here at the moment] to turn right onto Streeton and cross to the third lane or where the third lane starts but with the tailback it causes some issues for traffic getting across the dual carriageway.
There is also an issue with line of sight to the left for traffic on Heysen Street waiting to turn right. They do get a break from traffic travelling south by the lights at Dixon Drive/Unwin Place but the sight is only partially clear as they look to the left on the other carriageway. I do have to say that the trees have been well trimmed so that only the trunks are there with branches being cleared to free up the vision for drivers.
Are you able to do a traffic flow count or look at the issues? I would be more than happy to meet with you or your staff on site to talk through this as to what solutions may be possible to ease this congestion.
RoadsACT Response
Dear Mr Anderson,
Please find below a response to your email of the 16 March 2018, regarding traffic increase in the Weston creek / Molonglo area.
Please accept my apology that this response has taken quite so long.
Streeton Drive is experiencing some increase in traffic, and this is likely part of the cause of the tailback from the Cotter/Streeton intersection. Part of the reason for the increase in traffic is the development of Molonglo. This is also probably exacerbated by all the road works on Cotter Road.
With the completion of the road works some traffic may change their routes and so traffic patterns may again change. We will continue to monitor the roads regarding this issue.
The current peak hour volumes on Streeton Drive are consistent with that experienced on other similar arterial roads.
| Time | Direction of travel | |
| Southbound vpd | Northbound vpd | |
| 8 – 9 am | 1225 | 980 |
| 5 – 6 pm | 1500 | 917 |
In peak periods, and especially the evening peak, traffic movements from Heysen to Dixon may experience some delays due to the traffic volumes on Streeton. This is similar to traffic conditions on other key road sections across the ACT.
Line of sight for vehicles exiting Heysen is considered adequate in both directions.
The Streeton Drive/Heysen Street intersection has a relatively low crash rate (approx. 3 crashes/year) and is low in priority for any improvement works. Crash data as follows:
o In last 7 years – 1 injury + 18 PDO
o Only 3 of the above 19 crashes were right angle crashes
o The remaining 15 were rear-enders between vehicles exiting out of Heysen
A possible solution could be implementation of some traffic calming on Heysen St (and Davenport St where we are now receiving many complaints about increased and speeding traffic!) to make this residential street route unattractive for any “rat-runners” – this could also reduce the number of people trying to turn right out of Heysen in the evening peak.
If I can be of further assistance on this issue then please contact me
Yours sincerely
Ben Hubbard
Senior Manager
Traffic Management and Safety