LIMITED PARKING ALONG MARINE TERRACE SOUTH

 

Fremantle Council will on Wednesday debate if they should start with time limited and/or paid parking along Marine Terrace in South Fremantle and at South Beach, due to the fact that the parking bays in the area during weekdays are occupied by the cars of commuters, who hop on the CAT bus to Fremantle Station, and by the vehicles of Notre Dame university students and backpackers.

This means that local residents, shoppers and those who want to go to the beach often can’t find short-term parking, so the officers are putting the following recommendation to the elected members:

OFFICER’S RECOMMENDATION Council: 1. Implements a two hour time restriction on the east side of Marine Terrace and the west side of Mews Road with the time restriction applying from Monday to Friday between 8am to 5pm and the parking being unrestricted after these hours and on weekends. 2. Implements a four hour time restriction in the portion of South Beach Car Park 58 north of South Beach Café which faces the beach. 3. Authorise the Chief Executive Officer enter into negotiations with the Department of Transport and Fremantle Sailing Club to implement a four hour time restriction in the Dog Beach Car Park and that these time restrictions apply from Monday to Friday between 8am and 5pm with the parking being unrestricted after these hours and on weekends. 4. Authorise the Chief Executive Officer to extend the four hour time restriction to other portions of South Beach Car Park 58 and to South Beach Car Park 59 if the current time restrictions are not achieving the goal of ensuring that there is sufficient parking available to beach users. 5. Implements a $3.50 per day fee on the west side of Marine Terrace adjacent to the railway line and the east side of Mews Road south.

 

Roel Loopers

SOUTH FREO PAVEMENT PLACEMAKING PARTY

 

 

The first South Fremantle Precinct placemaking pavement party on the corner of Little Lefroy Road and South Terrace was a big success during the late afternoon of Thursday.

Young and old and dogs turned up to connect with the local community and celebrate the new street furniture and traffic slowing project.

Many of the South Freo celebs turned up and so did Mayor Brad Pettitt and Councillor Jon Strachan.

Well done to all the volunteers who beautified the area and organised the event!

Roel Loopers

CALOGERO’S ALFRESCO DECISION DEFERRED

 

 

The future of the alfresco area of  Calogero’s is still uncertain after Fremantle’s Planning Committee last night decided to defer it and give the owners the opportunity of sourcing for a location in the vicinity for two parking bays.

Personally I don’t see what the fuss is all about as that area from Little Lefroy Road to Jenkin Street along South Terrace has become a really lovely community hub, and even more so since the City of Fremantle improved the streetscape.

Parking in the area is always at a premium, but that applies to Pakenham Street in the inner city as well, and I doubt that Bread in Common and others there had to provide parking for their patrons.

Councillor Adin Lang was all for retrospective approval of the restaurant, while Councillor Dave Hume said that Council needed to become more flexible about parking if it wanted more activation and higher density in Fremantle.

This evening from 5.30-7.30pm there will be a community placemaking event with games, music, etc. at the little hub so come along and meet your fellow South Freo community members! See you there.

Roel Loopers

SOUTH TERRACE PAVEMENT PARTY

 

 

The South Fremantle precinct group is hoping to create a bit of David Engwicht style placemaking this Thursday, to celebrate the traffic calming and new streetscaping between Little Lefroy Road and Sydney Street along South Terrace.

The South Terrace Pavement Party is from 5.30-7.30 on December 6 and the organisors hope that local residents will bring chairs, couches, board games, musical instruments, etc. to connect with the local community.

The street facelift of new furniture, trees, bike racks and painted road service is only stage one of the City of Fremantle’s project, that will go all the way to Douro Road to emphasise it is a residential area and encourage motorists to slow down along South Terrace.

Roel Loopers

FREO’S CREATIVE TRAFFIC CALMING

 

 

The traffic calming along South Terrace in South Fremantle has become a bit more creative with the City of Fremantle painting red patterns on the road near the intersection with Lefroy Road.

It looks great CoF!

Roel Loopers

SOUTH FREMANTLE TRAFFIC CALMING CONTROVERSY

 

 

The first stage of traffic calming along South Terrace in South Fremantle is now completed near the intersection of Little Lefroy Road.

Footpaths have been widened, new trees planted, new benches installed, and four of the hated speedhumps have been removed.

But there is already criticism on the South Fremantle Precinct Facebook page with people complaining about the power lines still being above ground, alleged shoddy workmanship, and that traffic would now divert onto other roads and become a nuisance there.

All these issues were addressed during the lengthy and thorough community consultation process, and we should acknowledge that the whole process started at the request of local residents who wanted a safer environment for pedestrian and cyclists, and who complained that entering South Terrace from side streets was a hazard.

Most councils require local property owners to pay a substantial percentage of putting power under ground, and that was not supported at the community consultation sessions.

It is common knowledge that impatient motorists will always try to find alternative routes when they feel that traffic calming slows them down too much, but South Terrace was considered more of a residential area that warranted traffic calming and slower speeds than Hampton Road and Marine Terrace.

Roel Loopers

MAKING CROSSING SAFER FOR BEACY SCHOOL KIDS

 

The community information session about safer pedestrian crossing-especially for Beacy Primary school students- at Hampton Road near the Scott Street intersection raised more questions for me than it provided answers.

It is good to see City of Fremantle staff together with Main Roads experts willing to answer questions from community members and parents, and it was also good to see the Member for Fremantle Simone McGurk there and South Ward Councillor Jon Strachan.

But my first question is why did the City only do a trial for option 1 and closed off the right turns into Scott Street, when the initial thinking was that the pedestrian crossing would be safer if moved 40-50 metres south from the intersection?

Now they prefer to go ahead with the moving of the pedestrian crossing south, but still want to keep the restriction of turning right into Scott Street. Why not do a trial and move the pedestrian crossing and re-open Scott Street and test what happens, before doing both?

I also did not at all get the point the Main Road engineer made that a push button pedestrian crossing light was less safe for children than lollypop attendants, because supposedly motorists might not be able to stop in time for the red light in wet weather while the kids are already on the road. Surely the same danger applies with lollypop people in attendance, and for everyone on the road really.

I was also flabbergasted to hear that Maxwell Street, which now gets a lot more traffic since the no go right turn into Scott Street, does not get the flashing 40kmh school hours lights because it is not within the school zone. Hale Road runs east along the school and Maxwell Street west along the Beaconsfield Primary School, so why do Hale Road and Scott Street have such flashing school zone hour lights but Maxwell Street is not considered to be in the same school safety zone? Sorry, but that is Yes Minister kind of nonsense.

You can have your say till August 22 on the My Say section on the City of Fremantle website, and help make sure that the State Government’s $ 200,000 allocated for the improvements will be well and wisely spent to the satisfaction of the community.

Roel Loopers

 

 

SOUTH FREO DEVELOPMENT WELL ON TRACK

 

 

The M/28 three-storey apartment development opposite The Local hotel in South Fremantle is well under way and on track to open early next year.

The Match group is developing twenty 2-3 bedroom apartments with large balconies. Some will have views of Fremantle Port.

I took this photo yesterday when I walked by on my way to the CBD.

Roel Loopers

NO PEDESTRIAN CROSSING LIGHTS FOR BEACY PRIMARY KIDS

 

The City of Fremantle is keen to do the right thing for the South Fremantle community, which has been demanding safer pedestrian crossing at Hampton Road for children and parents going to the Beaconsfield Primary School, but there won’t be pedestrian lights installed.

Main Roads has indicated to City officers that it won’t support that because of the low number of pedestrians crossing at the Scott Street intersection. On average only 83 pedestrians crossed in the mornings and 53 in the afternoons, while the Main Roads criteria is for at least 350 pedestrians crossings daily to support traffic lights.

So now another community consultation is under way with affected residents receiving letters in the mail from CoF.

Option 1 is to replace the pedestrian crossing bollards with flashing lights and to adjust the kerbing on the median island that was installed last year to allow vehicles to enter and exit properties on Hampton Road from the right. It still means no right turn into Scott Street when coming from the south on Hampton Road and that has increased traffic in Maxwell Street a lot.

Option 2 is replacing the bollards with flashing pedestrian crossing lights before and after school crossing times and improve the pedestrian refuge by widening the median island at Scott Street.

The preferred community option of moving the pedestrian crossing 50 metres south closer to Lloyd Street, preferred by 65% appears to have been abandoned, so neither options will please the community I assume.

A community information session will be held at Beacy Primary on Thursday August 2 at 6pm and you can have your say at: http://www.mysay.fremantle.wa,gov.au

 

Roel Loopers

 

SOUTH FREO SOUTH TERRACE UPGRADE STARTED

 

 

 

Works to improve the streetscape along a section of South Terrace in South Fremantle have started

The upgrade, at the intersections of South Terrace, Sydney Street and Little Lefroy Lane, will create new road surfaces and footpaths painted in vibrant colours inspired by Fremantle’s street art. It will also include new bike racks and seating, street trees, rubbish bins and drainage improvements.

The placemaking includes the widening of the footpath which will create a bigger, pedestrian-friendly area and increase the amount of alfresco space, while the new paving, street furniture and trees will make it a better lingering node space for people to enjoy,

It is anticipated that reducing the width of the road will make it safer for people to cross the street and encourage drivers to slow down, which will also allow the removal of the very unpopular temporary speed humps in that section of South Terrace.

The project is being funded with the assistance of a $200,000 grant from the state government’s Local Projects, Local Jobs program.

The design was the subject of community consultation in November last year, with 73 per cent of respondents supporting the changes. Several other public meetings organised by the South Fremantle precinct, and attended by South Fremantle Councillors and City of Fremantle staff, were held at The Local last year to hear community concerns and ideas.

This is only stage one of the improvements to South Terrace in South Fremantle, so let’s hope that they work for traffic calming and making the area more pleasant and safe for all. The entire stretch from South Street to Douro Road is due for a traffic calming and an upgrade that will hopefully result in Mainroads allowing the City to lower the speed limit to 40kph.

Roel Loopers