Posts Tagged ‘motoring’

Adelaide has hook turns too!

When people think ‘hook turns‘ they immediately think of Melbourne and it’s trams – but Adelaide also has hook turns. King William Street and North Terrace northbound The first example is at the intersection of King William Street and North Terrace in the CBD, and is used by northbound Adelaide Metro route buses headed for […]

Google Maps mangling Melbourne’s freeway interchanges

Digital maps have taken over from traditional paper street directories and fold out maps, but it doesn’t mean the information made available to the reader is any better, if my recent experiences with Google Maps are anything to go by.

Southbound on the Bolte Bridge at the West Gate Freeway interchange

Keeping idiot motorists out of railway cuttings

Motorists crashing through fences and onto the railway tracks seems to be an ongoing theme in Melbourne. Whether driving too fast for the conditions or confusing the brake pedal for the accelerator – it doesn’t matter how, but their cars end up on the tracks, delaying rail services. So how are they prevented from ending up at the bottom of a deep concrete hole?

Between a tram stop and a hard place

During 2013 new platform tram stops were constructed along Elizabeth Street in the Melbourne CBD, giving tram passengers on routes 19, 57 and 59 a much safer place to wait than the former ‘safety zones’. However for road traffic, they present a few difficulties.

Z3.159 on route 57 stops at Elizabeth and Bourke Streets

How many crashes can one tram stop take?

On Melbourne’s tramway network, around one third of the stops are provided with “safety zones” – a fenced area in the middle of the road, providing an area for passengers to stand beside the tracks, while still being protected from car traffic. But how much of a pounding can these supposedly protected areas take?

Z3.165 stops for passengers on William Street, at the Collins Street stop on route 55 northbound