WHAT ARE FREMANTLE’S PARKING REVENUE ALTERNATIVES?

 

The Covid-19 pandemic has been a challenge for all of us, and a huge life changing one for very many people. It also severely affected the City of Fremantle when cafes, bars, pubs and restaurants were closed, when many shops closed and Notre Dame University went on-line and students no longer came to Fremantle.

On the plus side that meant there were thousands of vacant car bays every day, but that meant a big loss of parking revenue for our city, reportedly up to $ 2 million a month in revenue was lost during the restrictions we had the last three months.

Now that most restrictions have been removed by the state government parking fees will again apply in Fremantle from July 1, but Fremantle Council does have a conundrum to deal with, because it will need to find new revenue streams to make up for the future loss of revenue from parking fees and fines.

The last three Councils under Mayor Brad Pettitt have had the ideology that they want to make inner city Freo more pedestrian and cyclists friendly through discouraging cars from coming into the CBD. If that succeeds in the long term parking revenue will drop, so where else can Freo City earn money from to make up for that?

Add to that Council’s desire to have light rail, probably a trackless tram, running from the Roundhouse through High Street, the Cappuccino Strip and South Street to Murdoch  and maybe even Curtin University, with a link to Cockburn, and many people will see that as an attractive alternative and leave their cars at home. More parking revenue lost.

I have little doubt that within the ten next years autonomous vehicles will start becoming popular, and they will just pick up and drop off passengers, so no need to park, which will again lower parking revenue for Fremantle.

So how is Fremantle Council planning for a future where parking bays are no longer as important as they were, and is it good governance to plan for more car parks, such as the one in Parry Street, when they might fast become unused relics of the past?

Roel Loopers

PEDESTRIANS BUMP-DON’T PUSH!

 

 

It is a good idea that slowly the PUSH signs at pedestrian crossing lights are being replaced with BUMP signs, that encourage people to use their elbows instead of their hands, to stop the spread of Covid-19.

It would probably be a good idea to make the BUMP signs a permanent feature for hygiene reasons.

Roel Loopers

LOWER SPEED LIMIT FOR FREO CBD

 

Fremantle Council will ask the Commissioner for Main Roads to approve the lowering of the speed limit in the inner city, west of Parry Street, from 40 km/h to 30 km/h.

The Cappuccino Strip already has a speed limit of 30 km/h but the port city Councillors believe that cyclists and pedestrians would benefit from lowering the speed limit in that area of the CBD.

The desired 40 km/h zone from South Street to Douro Road along South Terrace in South Fremantle is also waiting for Main Roads approval.

Roel Loopers

GO SLOW IN FREMANTLE INNER CITY

 

Fremantle Council is considering to lower the speed in the CBD from 40km/h to 30km/h, west of Parry Street, to better accommodate all road users.

Conflicts between motorists and cyclists are common, and pedestrians are often ignored when trying to cross the road. Council wants to try to better manage those conflicts in the pursuit of better places and lifestyles.

1. Reiterate the benefits of balanced transport planning and management as outlined in the City’s Integrated Transport Strategy, including:
2. a. A more functional and sustainable movement network. 
3. b. More amenable neighbourhoods and streets.
   c. More successful activity centres and places.
   d. Improved public health outcomes.
4. e. Greater opportunities for social equity and connection.
5. Support the introduction of a reduced speedlimit for the City’s central business district (CBD) to improve all road users’ safety and provide a long term platform for the sustainable growth and prosperity of Fremantle as a key activity centre.
6. Progress a formal application to MainRoads WesternAustralia to approve a 30km/h zone in the City’s CBD.

I support that in general because most of the inner city roads are not suited to drive much faster anyway, but there might be issues at Phillimore and Beach streets and Elder Place, where many motorists ignore the 40km/h already.

Roel Loopers

FREMANTLE’S UNLAWFUL CLOSURE OF PEDESTRIAN ACCESS

 

 

On March 10 this year the WA Statutory Planning Committee ruled for the second time that it does not support the closure of the PAW-Pedestrian Access Way between Swanbourne Street and Kellow Place in Fremantle, but nearly three months after the ruling the gates are still locked and access denied to use the PAW.

This has been a long saga with the first 12-months trial closure starting in April 2016. Permanent closure was then endorsed by Fremantle Council, although there was strong opposition from local residents who argued that the claims of criminal behaviour were not true, and police records showed there was no increased crime in the area.

The WASPC refused the City permission to close the PAW permanently, but Council then directed officers to negotiate with the WASPC to see if they would be willing to change their ruling. That was rejected on March 10 this year, so why is the PAW still closed?

To be fair, residents received a letter from the City of Fremantle that because of Covid-19 the removal of the gates would be delayed, but surely that should not take a quarter of a year. That is unacceptable!

Open the PAW immediately, Freo City. It is not a big job and can be done in a few hours.

 

Roel Loopers

HIGHWAY TO CAR FREE HEAVEN

 

 

Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt writes on his blog that the Highway to Hell event, where the entire Canning Highway was closed off to traffic from 4pm to late at night on Sunday, shows what potential there would be for place making if Perth was not such a car dependent city.

It was indeed fantastic to see thousands of people walking and cycling along Canning Highway, and I fondly remember the car free Sundays we had in Germany during the global oil crisis, where Autobahns became cycle ways and events were organised. Yes, those good old days, hey!

Closing parts of the city is always going to be a challenge and will receive criticism and praise, as it will inconvenience those who live and work there, and it requires a lot of, not very forthcoming, flexibility from the Public Transport Authority.

There are still Fremantle people who would like to see the High Street mall reopened to  traffic, and presumably also let cars run through the centre of Kings Square at the High Street reserve.

We had car free trials on the Cappuccino Strip on Sundays, but according to the City of Fremantle traders in the CBD did not support that. The trials were in my opinion not that good though, as they did not engage in real place making, and instead created a huge alfresco area for the traders on the strip, and the ugliness of far too much pine used, to make those alfresco spaces.

The Highway to Hell was a great creative, big thinking, idea that worked really well, but there are plenty of people who complain about it. A world where we all agree is as utopian as a car free world.

Roel Loopers

FREMANTLE ALFRESCO NEEDS MORE CONSIDERATION

 

 

Here comes my first ‘whinge’ of the new decade. Fremantle cafe, bar and restaurant operators and retailers need to be more considerate when putting tables and chairs, or A-frames, on the footpaths and realise they are sometimes creating an inconvenience.

The MONK on the Cappuccino Strip has put two new high bar benches out for patrons, but they are too close to the steps of the venue, and the gap is so narrow that it is a nuisance for people with prams, and near impossible to get through for people in wheelchairs and gophers, or mothers with a double pram.

A -frames are also often thoughtlessly put on the pavement and that makes it difficult for vision-impaired people to navigate their way through Fremantle.

A little consideration goes a long way!

Roel Loopers

SHOULD FREO HAVE ARTY PEDESTRIAN CROSSINGS?

 

 

Fremantle has already implemented some arty road painting to slow traffic down in South Fremantle, but wouldn’t a zebra crossing like this one in China be a great way to slow down motorists, and no doubt it would become a tourist attraction as well.

The optical illusion no doubt would make me slow down before driving over it, and it looks great.

Roel Loopers

NEW LIGHTS AT ESPLANADE ZEBRA CROSSINGS

 

 

Fremantle City Ward Councillor Rachel Pemberton  pointed out to me that there have been new lights installed at the new zebra crossings on Marine Terrace, as required by the Main Roads department. I mentioned in a post yesterday that the new lights were missing, so that shows my power of observation-not!

But someone needs to reset the timers of the lights as they were on during the day at 11am this morning and that is not needed.

Roel Loopers

FINALLY ZEBRA CROSSINGS ON MARINE TERRACE

 

 

Two well-overdue pedestrian zebra crossings have finally been installed at Marine Terrace near the corners of Essex Street and Collie Street. It will make life a lot easier for pedestrians to get from the CBD to the Fishing Boat Harbour, so well done City of Fremantle.

There are no pedestrian crossing signs yet and the additional lighting required by Mainroads is still not done but I am sure that will happen in due course.

 

Roel Loopers