Falcon residents call for City of Mandurah rethink on roundabout approach
Falcon residents are calling for braking at roundabouts, which their council says is needed to improve road safety.
The City of Mandurah has received $382,478 in Blackspot funding in 2023 for the intersection of Lynda Street and Baroy Street in Falcon.
Work on establishing an intersection there is planned to begin this month.
However, at last month’s meeting, a petition with 60 signatures was presented to the council requesting that the intersection not be opened until other options are evaluated.
Lynda Street resident Hollymaree Modolo told council “almost the entirety” of the street was against the roundabout.
He said after an on-site meeting in January, city staff told residents the design would be reviewed, and in February residents were told that had happened.
“We followed up again after two months because we still hadn’t heard anything,” Ms. Modolo said.
“Just over a week ago the council informed us that design reviews had been completed, no changes would be made and work was planned to begin in June.
“If we had not followed up, residents may not have been told anything more before work started. “Respectfully, this is not enough.
“Affected residents should not have to keep hounding the city for essential updates on work that will permanently impact the street in front of their homes.”
City built and natural environment manager Matthew Hall told the council meeting the roundabout design had been reviewed and approved by an independent, certified road safety inspector and was supported by Main Roads WA.
It was designed to cause vehicles to slow down on each approach and included road surface treatments, lighting and warning signs.
Mr Hall said there had been five significant crashes in the area since 2020.
“Traffic speed data on Baroy Street shows that the 85 per cent speed east of Lynda Street is around 60km/h, which may also be a factor affecting the severity of accidents, meaning it is around 10km/h above the legal speed limit for these roads,” he said.
“It appears that the incidents occurred because the vehicles failed to yield, rolled or moved across the intersection and collided with vehicles in the opposite direction.
“The pre-detour roundabout, as designed, aims to reduce speeds on approach to and through the junction and will result in a one-way flow through the junction.
“This improves road safety by forcing drivers to slow down and move in one direction, reducing the expected speed and collision point at the intersection and, in turn, the severity of collisions.”
Cr Jacob Cumberworth asked whether the city was looking at diverting traffic onto Galatea Road to reduce congestion on Lynda Street.
Mr Hall said this was not considered because it would have positive impacts on Galatea Road.
“Galatea Road and Baroy Street are classified as local access roads in the city’s road hierarchy, so there is no distinction between the two in terms of the vehicle volumes they must carry,” he said.
