Glenloch Interchange?

Well came through earlier than usual at around 7.30am and have to say managed to stay at 80km the whole way. However the GDE/Caswell was consistent full traffic from Ginninderra drive through to the parkway.

So I suspect 15 minutes later and those who push in from the merging lanes and those who brake or slow markedly to let them in and the whole traffic will slow. I hope I’m wrong.

I agree with other comments to the effect that if they made the GDE two lanes southbound just from the Aranda entry ramp to the Parkes way Civic exit with a form one lane (instead of a merging lane) which is probably doable with paint and signs given the old road that you travel on was two lanes, then it might make it cope with the peak traffic for another year or so. Of course they didn’t bother the widen the old bridge enough to also have a cycle lane, so that was a bit of an oversight.

lemaChet said :

5) for a new road, the quality of the surface in many places is not very good.

Actually I was thinking that the other day … not the Glenloch Interchange but was driving on the GDE from Belconnen out to Mitchell … and the road really is rough as guts; worse than some roads that have been around for 20+ years; it’s about the equivalent of Torrens Street in Braddon.

Ah well – if it saves the tax payers $50 million to go with a cheaper contractor then I’m ok with that. A road’s a road. As long as they don’t waste the savings elsewhere – such as promoting wellness footprints 🙂

The bottleneck at Barry Dr/Clunies Ross was due to a large number of people not knowing that the whole mess had finally opened.

Makes no difference to my trip times in either direction. I’m lucky with my times though.

Couple of things though:

1) despite the fact that most canberran’s dont realise this – the left hand lane is the ‘go faster’ lane. It’s illogical, and probably even dangerous, to have an exit (from WH DR) on the left hand side (onto caswell/tpw)
It’s going to end up backed up.

2) an entrance ramp on the left hand side also (from TPW onto PW) for the same reasons.

3) from caswell, 2 lanes going, with an onramp (coming off WHD) going into 1 lane.

4) the roads need to be 2 lanes everywhere. It’s not future proofed.

5) for a new road, the quality of the surface in many places is not very good.

6) the top end of glenloch, where it becomes WHD, is frickin insane. it’s hard to work out which lane is actually meant to do what. needs to be cleaned up and painted up properly.

(ok, more than a couple.)

bigred said :

well the morning bottleneck around Barry Dr/Clunies Ross was just as bad as ever this morning. Took me 45 minutes from Lyneham shops to Tuggers Town Centre. No difference. However, northbound Parkway traffic seemed to be travelling a lot more freely.

Should anyone really expect to do that drive in less than 45 minutes on any working day?

cranky: Nope, it’s gotten rid of two old sets (the Caswell/William Hovell ones and the one right in the middle).

Woden to Calvary hospital in less than 15 minutes during peak hour, Woden to Mitchell in 15 minutes late last night – GDE, you’re hardly perfect, but I luv youse all anyway!

Typical that the CT would drag up a couple of henny penny peak fuel protesters and save the ridge bedwetters to besmirch what is a pretty decent road.

Nice to see all the positive comments on riotact, and happy not to be locked in traffic with you nuts any longer – lol just kidding, I luve youse all too.

The GDE harassment.

Melonhead, I love that word chicane. I’m going to say it all day tomorrow. “The chicane between Parkes Way and the Hovel is still there. Well, less chicane and more a sort of dog leg leading to a randomised 3 into 2 lanes.”

Wiki says..
The word Chicane comes from the German word Schikane, meaning Harassment. German Grand Prix drivers of the 1920s, and 1930s would describe the close alternating turns as being “harassment”.

BigRed, try going up Ginninderra Drive then Gungh Drive to Tuggers. I’d love to know if it’s quicker than taking Clunies Ross and Ldy Denman to get onto Parkway from Lyneham Shops…

Well it was pretty stupid to begin with saying “it would be open on monday” then the department obviously made some rushed phonecalls to local radio stations on monday morning to add it opens at midday.

Anyway, moronic opening a mostly one lane road, despite the public transport arguments (we will get caught behind more buses instead?). The merging lanes are absolutely rediculous. Lesson one on canberra drivers: they CANNOT merge. I liked the story on WIN news about the traffic jam on caswell this morning and Vicki Dunne driving past waving lol. Funny enough the same traffic jam existed the other night after the raiders game too.

I had a great run in this morning from Tuggeranong straight through about 5 mins quicker than my normal route along lady dedman dr. Stupid having to be in the outside lane to go straight ahead, plus going from 2 lanes to 1 then back to 2 for the fun of the Glenloch.. not so much of an improvement from the old?

Going south home is the same, funny that the parkway is now only a turnoff from parkes way, one lane, with enough road for two lanes but they draw lines down somewhere near the middle, then we still have the morons from belconnen forcing their way across to go down lady deadman. It’s no improvement, it’s less than what they had before.

38 emails later and I’m starting to regret posting this … but not to worry; good discussion, good feedback. Hope the ACT Government is listening!

well the morning bottleneck around Barry Dr/Clunies Ross was just as bad as ever this morning. Took me 45 minutes from Lyneham shops to Tuggers Town Centre. No difference. However, northbound Parkway traffic seemed to be travelling a lot more freely.

Good to see that our friends in the ACT public service who are responsible for street signs have managed to include a couple of mistakes, as per usual. Heading west along Parkes Way, the directional sign gives the road name for the clover-leaf entrance to the interchange as Gungahlin Drive. It isn’t. That road is still Caswell Drive, up to Belconnen Way, at which point it becomes Gungahlin Drive.

A question for the wise.

Are there any traffic lights left in the Interchange?

The traffic was considerably less on Coppins Crossing Rd this morning than previous to new Glenoch Interchange. BTW it takes me exactly 45mins to ride my pushy from Stromlo to Mitchell (or vice versa) via Coppins Crossing/Coulter Dr/Ginninderra Dr/William Slim Dr/Barton Hwy. Usually takes 30mins in the car.

StawW

I live in Gungahlin area too, and need to travel to Woden quite often. I get on the GDE (just past Mitchell), and just keep going straight. Read the signs for Tuggers/Woden, and before you know it, you’re on the Tuggers Parkway looking for the left turn to Hindmarsh Drive which takes you to Woden. EASY! No lights, no roundabouts, no turns, no stopping!

Very quick, even during peak periods. Going from Gungahlin through the CBD would slow you down considerably, not to mention the numerous lights – at a guess, I count at least 8 sets of traffic lights even before reaching Adelaide Avenue!

GDE is your best bet for Gungahlin to Woden, and from my experience, travelling the opposite direction from Calwell to Gungahlin yesterday was a breeze – no complaints at all.

WIN news just had some great footage of the traffic banking up this morning with all the merging from Caswell Dve heading to Parkes Way. Blind freddy could see all that merging was never going to work with peak hour flows. The evening peak hour drive home seems to be fine though as not as much merging is required. So as it stands if you travel from Gungahlin in the morning you take about 15 minutes to get to Aranda, then 15 minutes to get a few hundred metres from Aranda to the Parkway! Brilliant!

The Northbourne route could take as long as 45-60 minutes in peak hour.

yeah it certainly sounds like its going ok at the moment. That’s a pretty good time to Woden certainly makes working on the southside more appealing. thanks again

Thanks for your advice Thumper 🙂 Would that route take about 20 mins or so?

How long until someone drives into that bike-riders-holder bar in the middle of the road when you’re driving towards Woden/City from Belconnen?

Wondering if anyone can answer this question. I am new to the area and live in the Gungahlin area. I was thinking of accepting a job in the Woden area – would I use the Glenloch and GDE to get there? thanks

But they haven’t taken all the road blocks down. The chicane between Parkes Way and the Hovel is still there. Well, less chicane and more a sort of dog leg leading to a randomised 3 into 2 lanes. I am sure it will be finished before the next election.

I reckon they opened it at midday monday so the govt didn’t have to pay Sunday rates to the workers who took all the road blocks down.

I braved the interchange from Holt to Woden this morning. Usually I go via Coppins Crossing in the morning to avoid the hassle of GDE. But this morning was great – other than the lights being out at Coulter Drive and Bindubi St – but there were policemen there waving their hands around. It took me about 20 minutes for the trip – left at 7:20 and at work, in the chair, looking for coffee by 7:45. So I was pretty impressed. Hope it stays that way!

I wanted to ask this question yesterday but didn’t want the barrage of return emails, haha. Thanks to NathanaelB for being braver than myself!

Just had to do an interview with WIN TV about this. Given I don’t drive the GDE, appreciated the assessments of various RA posters for background info.

On the single/dual lanes argument, this is always going to be a balance between continuing to support the insatiable beast that is road construction vs getting serious about public transport. But for sure, the closer you get into the CBD, the more important those additional lanes are. It’s just too easily blocked up by little incidents – like old ladies breaking in half…

The guy from Perth who turned their rail and bus services into such winners was on 666 again this morning, and calling the bluff on Mr Stanhope’s repeating on Monday of the $1Billion cost for light rail. He pointed out that development can pay for rail through improved property values or even direct contributions as a result of being near PT being more attractive (one less car in the garage…). He pointed out that the WA govt had paid off the new rail line to Mandurah this way before the line had even opened.

JD114 said :

“I was unlucky enough to be behind a 112 year old woman who nearly caused a major accident by breaking suddenly” Jesus! Where did she break? Across the tum tum, or did her legs fall off? Nice one, oh CanberraResident 🙂

Sammy said :

Heh, it’s astonishing the number of people who fail to use the correct instance of ‘break’ and ‘brake’. My favourite advertisement for a 4WD posted at the local shops included such gems as:

* Upgraded breaks (does it break better now?)
* Duel fuel tanks (are they always fighting?)

Oh my goodness, if I had one of those red-faced emoticon things, it would go right here. Usually, I regard myself as a bit of a spelling Nazi, and to make such an obvious error is very embarrassing indeed. Thank you, but the 112 year old was still kiking larst thyme I seen her. 😉

Heh, it’s astonishing the number of people who fail to use the correct instance of ‘break’ and ‘brake’.

My favourite advertisement for a 4WD posted at the local shops included such gems as:

* Upgraded breaks (does it break better now?)

* Duel fuel tanks (are they always fighting?)

“I was unlucky enough to be behind a 112 year old woman who nearly caused a major accident by breaking suddenly”

Jesus! Where did she break? Across the tum tum, or did her legs fall off? Nice one, oh CanberraResident 🙂

Caf wins Pedant of the Week.

I used the newly opened ramp from Parkes Way onto Caswell Dr this morning – concur about the shower of tarred gravel.

The new sign in this direction has a flaw – it uses the National Route marker for the Barton Hwy (black & white) when it should use the National Highway marker (green & gold). It’s far from the only sign around here with a similar problem though.

1. I’ve not driven though myself yet, although it looked good on Saturday when I went past.
2. Why open it on a Monday? Having it open on the weekend as a sort of orientation period would have been good.
3. I was foreseeing that the difficulties wouldn’t be at the Interchange but rather further along, e.g. exiting Parkes Way into the city during peak. Anyone had any issues there or elsewhere?

Yeah, fooled me. I thought it would be open yesterday AM and got caught in the shambles. Did it this morning (Parkway N to Parkes Way), all good except for the Parkes Way off ramp shambles on to C’wealth Avenue.

Who heard our illustious leader this morning, telling us his run Bruce to Civic was fine, ergo there are no problems. ANd that if there are problems, what do you expect, to live in a city and to be able to drive without sitting in a car park?

The man’s a clown.

Generally positive comments. Have I slipped into a parallel universe without realising?

Bit concerned about the number of mergning lanes within a short distance – but I don’t usually use it during peak times.

I had reason to travel from Hoskin St, Mitchell to Brisbane Ave. Barton yesterday to pick up the ‘significant other’.

Left Mitchell at 4:35 and was at Barton at 4:55, best thing was no stop lights till the croquet court Canberra Ave.

Can’t complain about that.

I was in gridlock for 15 minutes coming from Belco, but then it eased. Not looking forward to when even more suburbs are populated.

Freudian slip? Oops, I CAN’T find a reason to whinge.

Take 2.

Good things about Glenloch

Well designed, well signposted.
Dual lanes up the hill on Caswell to allow overtaking of slower vehicles up the hill.
Changing of dual lanes from Parkes Way to direct to William Hovell and people heading south veer off to the Parkway.

Bad Design
Should be dual lane from Aranda to Glenlock heading Southeast. Its the bottleneck that causes all the problems in the morning.

I made the run from Belco through to Barton via Glenloch today at 8ish. No delays, some minor slowing (maybe sown to 40k’s)where the Woden folk merge on one side and the Gunghalin types on the other, otherwise a good run. All round, maybe 20mins to work.

I used GDE yesterday afternoon around five. I was unlucky enough to be behind a 112 year old woman who nearly caused a major accident by breaking suddenly, and veering left at snail pace at the last minute.

It will take some time for people to get used to this new intersection. One thing people need to remember is to read the signs. It is very well signed.

BTW, it was a dream run all the way from Johnson Drive at Calwell, to Gungahlin, except for the little hiccup. Love the new road. Personally, I can find a reason to whinge but I s’pose everyone has their own view.

I think this map is current, for anyone who wants to refer to the plans:

http://www.tams.act.gov.au/__data/assets/image/0013/12325/gde-map-glenlochinterchange.jpg

Given the amount of money spent I would like to see it work! But with the amount of lane merges very close together I fail to see how a large amount of peak hour traffic will be able to do it at anything close to the posted speed limit. For example travelling from Caswell Drive heading to Parkes Way you merge with traffic coming from Aranda and then a bit further you merge with the two lanes of traffic coming from William Hovel Dve and then the left lane you just merged into disappears and you have to merge right again!

Heading west along Parkes and then north up Caswell around 5.30… easy. Thank god I had the windows closed though – the rain of rocks on the car was spectacular!