Three bus stops in Mount Gambier are set to be converted into bus zones to remedy safety and accessibility concerns, City of Mount Gambier Council has announced.
Following a Council investigation, it was found that existing bus stops at Wehl Street South – Edward Street intersection, Wehl Street South – Shepherdson Road intersection and William Street – Bertha Street intersection do not currently provide a designated bus zone to allow buses to safely pull over to collect passengers at existing locations.
“This means that other vehicles can park in the bus stop areas at any stage and prevent bus access at these points,” said Council General Inspectorate Team Leader, Derek Ferguson.
To address the issue, designated bus zones will be installed at Wehl Street South (near the Edward Street intersection) and William Street (near the Bertha Street intersection).
Council has advised that a bus zone will be installed at the Wehl Street South (western side) bus stop south of the intersection to Edward Street, increasing from 44.5 metres to 66.5 metres in length between the hours of 8:30am and 5pm.
A bus zone will also be installed at the William Street (northern side) bus stop east of the intersection to Bertha Street, increasing from 5 metres to 25 metres in length between the hours of 8:30am and 5pm.
The existing bus stop near Reidy Park Primary School be relocated further from the Wehl Street South and Shepherdson Road intersection.
The Wehl Street South (western side) bus stop south of the intersection to Shepherdson Road will become a bus zone, increasing from 31.5 metres to 48.5 metres in length between the hours of 8:30am and 5pm.
“This will improve safety as the intersection can be extremely busy during school drop off and pick up times. This will restrict other vehicles from parking in these areas between 8:30am and 5pm” said Mr Ferguson.
The Council will install signage and line markings to highlight the bus zones and ensure compliance with relevant regulations and standards.
In addition, Council has started an audit on all existing public bus stops within the city of Mount Gambier to assess compliance and accessibility.
“Council meets with bus service provider LinkSA and representatives from Department for Infrastructure and Transport (DIT), to proactively discuss and make ongoing improvements to city bus services.”
“We are currently investigating the installation of a bus stop adjacent to Foodbank, how to improve accessibility at Mount Gambier Marketplace shopping centre and the possibility of improving direct access to bus services to the Mount Gambier Hospital,” said Mr Ferguson.
A consolidated report of the findings will be presented to Council later this year.
