NEWS RELEASE

31 May 2012

Adelaide Road intersection upgrade starts this week

The upgrade of the busy Adelaide-Riddiford-John street intersection gets underway this week – to improve safety and traffic flows and to improve the look of the area.

This $2 million project, combined with a sewer main replacement and new traffic lights at the nearby Hanson Street-John Street intersection, is expected to be completed by the end of November.

The upgrade starts with around 100 metres of the western side of Adelaide Road, immediately to the north of John Street, being widened and realigned to create an extra southbound lane through the intersection. There will be a new lane for cars heading straight up Adelaide Road and two left-turning lanes into Riddiford Street. Vehicles turning right into John Street will have their own lane as they do now.

The road widening will take around three metres off the Zip Plumbing car park and a retaining wall built along this frontage. At the adjoining Loafers Lodge, the frontage of the building will be altered and the ground floor moved back to allow the public footpath to pass through a colonnade, with the footpath separated from the road by columns.

On all approaches to the John Street intersection there will be upgraded traffic lights, as well as street lights, footpaths, kerbs and gutters. Trees will also be planted on both sides of Adelaide Road – near the Hospital Road corner, on the western side near John Street and near the southern corner with Riddiford Street. A new median island will be constructed near the intersection with Hospital Road.

Some electricity and telecommunications services – along the eastern side of Adelaide Road and Riddiford Street between Hospital Road and the entrance to Wellington Hospital – are scheduled to be moved underground. Old wooden trolley bus poles will also be replaced by steel poles.

From September, work will be carried out around the new supermarket site. This includes slightly widening Adelaide Road just south of the intersection to create a right-turning lane into the supermarket car park and landscaping at the southern corner of Adelaide Road and Riddiford Street.

The Council’s Infrastructure Director, Stavros Michael, says the work to upgrade this part of Adelaide Road is an important project for Newtown – and for the city.

“As well as improving traffic flow through this very busy intersection, the upgrade will enhance the street environment around this area for residents, business owners and shoppers. We also have to manage the expected increase in traffic from the new supermarket, and make sure pedestrians have safe places to cross.”

Associated with the upgrade project, the Council’s water infrastructure company, Capacity, will take the opportunity to replace a section of sewer main in Adelaide Road from Drummond Street along to John Street.

Final road resurfacing will be done when the sewer main and the supermarket are completed, with road markings to include places for cyclists to wait at the traffic lights.

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