Turns banned on traffic-prone road

DRIVERS will be banned from turning right on to Fullarton Rd from four Kent Town streets, under a State Government plan to improve traffic safety.

The Transport Department plans to underground powerlines along Fullarton Rd, between Balliol St and Beulah Rd.

Twenty-one Stobie poles would be removed during stage one of the works, which are expected to start this month.

There have been four accidents where cars have hit Stobie poles on that stretch of Fullarton Rd in the past five years, according to Transport Department figures.

A solid median strip would prevent right-hand turns from Chapel, King William, Little King William and Little Rundle as part of stage two.

Fullarton Rd between North Tce and Beulah Rd would also be widened by 2m.

Details of the plan were in a report presented to Norwood, Payneham & St Peters Council last week.

"The reason for placing powerlines underground in this section of Fullarton Rd is due to the number of vehicle accidents involving collisions with Stobie poles when compared to other locations in Adelaide," the report stated.

"That is considered a relatively high occurrence rate."

NP&SP Mayor Robert Bria said the council welcomed the Transport Department's commitment to upgrade the road but was concerned about the proposal to ban right-hand turns.

"We're hoping it will facilitate better traffic movement and reduce the number of accidents with Stobie poles," Mr Bria said.

The council backed stage one of the project but wanted more information about the consequences of banning right-hand turns before it supported stage two.

"We don't want reduced access because that will only increase the bottleneck of Fullarton Rd," Mr Bria said.

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