A TRIAL ban on right turns at the Beaufort Street/Walcott Street intersection has seen a massive drop in accidents and will be made permanent.
Getting the ban in place took years of bartering between Main Roads and Vincent and Stirling councils, before a one-year trial started in June 2017.
It was so problem-free no one caused a fuss when the year was up.
The intersection used to be in the top 10 black spot locations based on frequency and severity of accidents, but since the right turn ban it’s dropped to number 95 on the list.
The average of 30-odd crashes a year has dropped to 10, and the number of “killed or seriously injured” crashes per year’s gone from 5.3 to two.
Traffic’s dropped only a smidgen, about 2 per cent.
Vincent council recently noticed the trial had “drifted” and wrote to Main Roads and Stirling.
All three support making it permanent with Vincent councillors to sign off on a recommendation at the June 16 meeting.
By DAVID BELL
Where was the community consultation as a consequence of this trial?
No issue with no right turns during business days and peak hours but on Sundays I should be able to turn right to get to the Queens instead of clogging the back streets. Same with late at night, I should be able to turn right to travel less distance for a cheaper fare.