In July the Lake Clifton-Herron Residents Association (LCHRA) sent a submission to Main Roads WA about the perceived dangerous set of intersections at the Forrest Highway/Lake Clifton Road/Dorsett Road/Rest Areas interchange. This submission suggested improvements such as removing access from the Rest Areas directly to Forrest Hwy, an 80 kph speed restriction, rumble strips, lighting at night and improving sight lines.
The reply from Main Roads indicated that they “acknowledged that the adjacent rest areas influence traffic movements in the area, and ….. that Main Roads is currently reviewing option so rationalise the entry/exit points to the John Tognela and Waroona Rest Areas”. Otherwise the status quo remained.
The LCHRA felt that this response didn’t reflect that Main Roads WA really grasped how unsafe commuters felt at this intersection. We had also received a communication from a school bus driver stating his concerns about this intersection. A stronger voice was needed. The LCHRA approached the RAC, a well-respected organisation with respect to road safety, and requested that they assist us in our advocacy to Main Roads. The LCHRA sent the RAC a copy of its submission and the communication from the bus driver. They agreed to advocate for us, which we really appreciated.
The result of this advocacy was really positive. In October we had an e-mail from the RAC informing us of Main Roads revised response to the safety at this interchange:
“Main Roads have advised it is considering removing the existing toilet facilities located in the rest areas as they are nearing the end of their useful lives, and facilities are provided at the service centres to the north and roadhouse to the south. This would enable the exit points onto Forrest Highway to be closed and traffic redirected back to the adjoining local roads where access to the Forrest Highway will be via Lake Clifton Road and Dorsett Road.
As part of this rationalisation of access points onto the Forrest Highway, Main Roads have advised that it will seek funding to undertake a review of the Lake Clifton Road and Dorsett Road intersection layouts, along with associated factors such as traffic movements, the speed environment, lighting, signage and line marking, with a view to seek future funding to undertake any upgrades required. In the interim, to improve sight lines some existing infrastructure will be re-located enabling traffic exiting the western rest area to have an unimpeded view of northbound traffic.
We are pleased to see Main Roads is investigating this issue, and hopefully this is good news for the Lake Clifton-Herron Residents Association.”
This is indeed good news. We hope Main Roads carries out these undertakings, in the first instance, and then proceeds with a full review.
The LCHRA thanks the RAC for its help in this matter. We weren’t getting anywhere on our own. Thanks also to those residents and other intersection users who advocated via the Risky Roads Survey.
This is the start of, probably, a long process to get extra safety improvements at this interchange, but the LCHRA along with the RAC, hopefully, will be monitoring what happens in the short term and continuing the advocacy for extra safety improvements in the future.
This is a win for the Lake Clifton-Herron Community and for all users of this interchange.
Regards
Jenny Rose
President, Lake Clifton-Herron Residents Association