Source : Perth Now news
The fate of a busy Fremantle road known for “near-death” pedestrian experiences has been put to the public.
The Douro Road and South Terrace roundabout in South Fremantle was identified as needing road resurfacing, traffic calming modifications and pedestrian safety improvements after several dangerous accidents. An 81-year-old man was fatally hit by a truck in 2022 trying to cross the intersection.
The roundabout connects to South Beach, Wilson Park, North Coogee and a range of cafes and shops, and for years, locals have been pushing to make the busy area safer.
Following public consultation and a road safety audit, city officers presented a concept plan to install two new pedestrian crossings and modify the median strip. Trees and some parking spaces could be removed to accommodate the additions.
Council voted last week to support the plan going back out for consultation.
Cr Williamson-Wong said a community-led town team survey last year had revealed the project’s importance.
“The community conversation that was held with the town team’s grant showed that out of 60 people, every single one has a good experience of that roundabout if they’re in a car. And out of 60 people, every single person has a bad experience if they are trying to cross it,” she said.
“We know that traffic calming helps pedestrians but it also means that cars are still the centre of why we are changing something, and actually this project is clearly about pedestrians.”
The pedestrian crossings would be installed on the northern and western legs of the roundabout, which city director of infrastructure Graeme Tattersall said were the safest areas.
Two mature Norfolk pine trees on the median strip were marked for removal in the concept plan to ensure drivers could properly see the crossings.
Cr Williamson-Wong said in her experience, it was “not feasible” to keep the trees and create a safe crossing.
“It will be very sad to lose two of those big Norfolk pines, but . . . I feel quite confident in the analysis that to provide a safe sight line to make sure that when a child or a pet or something small with a large adult is crossing that intersection . . . there is a very decreased risk that they will get caught behind a tree and then get clipped, which is obviously the worst outcome,” she said.
“It will be a very interesting and good test about how our community feels about trees and about pedestrian priority, and how we do that balancing act.”
Cr Sullivan proposed amendments for officers to consider incorporating on-road cycling paths and revegetation opportunities along the verges to offset the tree removals.
Cr Graham did not support the amendments, questioning the need to spend “bucketloads” of money on cycling facilities along “a road for cars”.
“We’ve got to think Douro Road is a road for cars. I don’t think that we should start really messing around with cycle lanes on this stretch going down to Marine Terrace,” he said.
“There’s no budget for any of this. There’s been no costing for any of this that, I’m aware of.
“If it eventually all goes through, the roundabout that’s trying to be fixed up, whatever that’s going to cost, it’s going to end up costing another bloody $500,000 to put in all these other little add-ons.”
He suggested bringing the project back to budget estimates so it could go through “the right process”.
Cr Williamson-Wong said locals have been “shouting out the rafters” for better bike infrastructure for years.
“The amendments don’t request any further funding or the design of those cycle lanes right now. All it’s saying is that this council favours future implementation subject to further detailed design,” she said.
“We have allocated a budget to this project. I hope that it falls within that budget obviously because that’s why we have budgets made up.”
The council initially allocated $400,000 in the city’s 2025/26 budget for safety improvements along South Terrace and Douro Road. A further $600,000 has been proposed for the 2026/27 draft budget for pedestrian crossing treatments.
Cr Sullivan emphasised the proposal is going out for consultation and the city is not locked-in to any decisions.
“It’s all subject to further detailed design as specifically stated in the amendment,” he said.
“There have been multiple near-death incidences, including deaths on Douro Road.
“The elected member request that went into the budget a couple of years ago was principally about improving pedestrian functionality at that intersection. That is what we agreed to and put into the budget as a legitimate process and project.”
The amendments passed 8-1. Councillors voted unanimously to put the concept plan out for further community consultations.
