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Technical Considerations
The attached provides comments regarding public transport, parking, traffic management and emergency vehicle access for the proposed Masterplan of the Edith Cowan University – Joondalup Campus.
Public transport - Buses
Currently 6 services operate past the campus. With the projected growth of students and staff additional services will be required.
A survey of staff and students to ascertain the current modes of travel showed that car travel was the dominant mode.
To encourage increased usage of buses, will require an innovative approach to be taken.
Kendrew Crescent forms the focus for the education precinct made up of the ECU Campus, TAFE and the Police Academy and as such it should also be the focus for public transport access. A major bus stop should be located here with all bus services being directed along Kendrew Crescent. This will assist in providing a high level of bus access to the precinct.
Prior to a train station being established in the vicinity of the intersection of Joondalup Drive and Hodges Drive a high frequency service should be established between the Joondalup Railway Station and the Education Precinct at Kendrew Crescent. This could be made up of a mixture of local bus services and a dedicated shuttle service as currently operates for Curtin University.
The external road layout and the proposed internal ECU campus road layout allows future flexibility in deciding bus route options including use of part of the internal ring road.
The internal ring road for the campus has been designed to accommodate buses and hence when the demand was reached it would be possible to operate an internal bus service to connect the various building on campus.
The development of an efficient and effective bus service to the education precinct would also assist in demonstrating the need/demand for a rail station in the vicinity of the campus.
Public Transport - Rail
The closest railway station to the ECU Joondalup campus is located some 800m from the site at Joondalup.
A study of BSD Consultants reviewed the possible location of an additional station near the ECU and Education Precinct site. The three sites reviewed were immediately north, under and immediately south of the Joondalup Drive/Hodges Drive Intersection.
A station at one of these locations would provide ready access to the ECU campus for staff and students.
Discussion with the Department of Transport showed that the location of a new station close to the existing Joondalup station was of concern because of its likely impact on the existing train operation and the high cost of providing such a facility. Indicative costs in the order of $5M were given, not including parking or bus interchange facilities.
For the Department of Transport to give consideration to the provision of a new station in the vicinity projected rail passenger numbers by time of day, would be required together with the impact such a station would have on the operation of the existing and projected Northern suburbs rail service and any likely financial contribution towards the cost of the station.
Parking
A survey of current staff and students has shown the major travel mode to the Joondalup Campus is by car. The current car parking bays to students is approximately 1:3. This compares to 1:2.07 for Murdoch University and 1:4.23 for Curtin University.
If the current ratio of 1:3 is retained for the full development of the campus to 18,000 student and 2,000 staff this will equate to 3,000 bays of it is assumed 9,000 students are on campus at any one time. This number of bays equates to approximately 90,000 m2 in area, including access ways, roadway median, etc.
Such a large area has a significant impact on use of the campus site as well as land available for buildings and other uses. A major issue for the University is to develop a clear understanding and strategy for how the students and staff are expected to get to and from the campus and hence the level of car parking to be provided. Worldwide trends are to reduce the dependence on car travel and to increase the usage of public transport.
The layout of car parking proposed has been distributed around the site to minimise concentrating all access at any one point with the ensuring traffic problems. Also a mixture of multi-level and ground level parking areas have been provided.
With the existing and projected high level of traffic for Joondalup Drive and Grand Boulevard the car parking location has been biased towards access from Lakeside Drive. In this way the majority of the vehicular traffic entering and leaving the campus will do so on Lakeside Drive which is expected to carry significantly less traffic than Joondalup Drive and Grand Boulevard. This will provide a safer and more efficient level of traffic operation. The intersection of Lakeside Drive/Joondalup Drive will require the installation of traffic signals to ensure campus traffic can safely access Joondalup Drive.
Grand Boulevard separates the campus and to assist in managing the traffic flow, on street parking has been provided to service those businesses fronting the road. This on street parking will introduce "side friction" which will assist in reducing the operating vehicle speed and thereby improve safety and amenity.
Traffic Management
The traffic management of the campus site has been structured to provide an internal ring road with accesses from Joondalup Drive, Lakeside Drive and Kendrew Crescent. This allows access to be distributed in a controlled manner around the campus site.
Access to campus buildings and the various car parks is from the ring road via local access roads with the ring road having a width of 7.4m and the local access roads a width of 6m.
Access to on-site parking areas is to be via the access roads directly from Kendrew Crescent, Joondalup Drive and Lakeside Drive. It is not intended that students should use the internal ring road to travel around the campus to get to a parking area. Rather they would use the external road system to get to their desired entry point and then take the shortest on site route to the car park. Every effort should be made to minimise circulating traffic volumes on the ring road to preserve the amenity of the campus and maximise safety especially for pedestrians.
The internal ring road on the campus is not continuous near Kendrew Crescent. Internal service vehicles can bypass this section and remain on campus by using the campus car park and pedestrian walkway near the Kendrew Crescent roundabout. However, students would be required to use the roundabout and the "T" junction on Kendrew Crescent for circulation.
The advantage of this arrangement that it allows land to be used for other purposes rather than a ring road in this area. Also the roadways outside the Campus boundary would be maintained by others thereby providing a saving to ECU in road maintenance works.
The Edith Cowan University entry from the roundabout on Kendrew Crescent is not intended to be a major traffic carrier for the campus. It is intended to be more of a ceremonial entry with some other traffic. The majority of campus traffic would use the other entries which are located near major car parking points.
The "T" Junction in Kendrew Crescent east of the proposed roundabout is fully located within the road reserve and will operate as any other "T" Junction. The Road Traffic Code 1975 requires drivers on the stem of the "T" Junction to give way to all other vehicles and hence no regulatory signing is envisaged at this point.
With the expected spread of traffic using Kendrew Crescent during the day, no operational problems are expected.
Major internal intersections are controlled by roundabouts with the remainder by sign control. All access from the campus onto the adjacent road system is via sign controlled intersections with no traffic signals being proposed.
The design of all intersections on the campus is for single unit trucks and buses. Also it is envisaged the speed limit for vehicles on campus would be no more than 40kmhr.
Lakeside Drive has been chosen as the focus for vehicle entry onto the site because of the lower projected traffic volumes on this road which also assists in reinforcing the connection of the ECU campus with the City of Joondalup by removing the obvious presence of many motor vehicles at the "front" of the campus. This also helps with the integration of the two parts of the campus on each side of Grand Boulevard.
The lower projected traffic volumes on Lakeside Drive allows easier and safer access without having to resort to more expensive forms of traffic control such as traffic signals. The City of Joondalup has agreed in principle to the provision of two median breaks on Lakeside Drive to facilitate right turn in and right turn out movements from the campus.
The Joondalup Drive Campus entry is close to the very busy Joondalup Drive/Hodges Drive/Grand Boulevard intersection. To maintain operating efficiency and to serve Joondalup Drive required function, it is extremely unlikely the campus entry/exit would be controlled by anything other than STOP or GIVE WAY signs. Therefore, it is essential the volumes of the traffic using this access be controlled to a level that would maintain an acceptable level of safety and efficiency.
The entry/exit point for West Coast College onto Kendrew Crescent between Grand Boulevard and the roundabout is proposed to be "left in, left out", with no break in the median island. This is proposed in order to improve traffic flow along Kendrew Crescent.
Traffic exiting the West Coast College and wishing to go to Grand Boulevard would turn left into Kendrew Crescent, go around the roundabout and then travel west toward Grand Boulevard. This will remove any right turning conflicts and delays for traffic entering or leaving West Coast College.
The campus area between Grand Boulevard and the railway line has been designed as a low speed environment with a high level of on street parking. Such an arrangement is conducive for an environment where the motor vehicle has a low impact.
Grand Boulevard is projected to carry in the order of 29,700 vehicles per day and as this road divides the campus it will have a major impact on connectivity between the two areas. High levels of pedestrian access across this road can be expected and will have to be catered for using both at grade and grade separated facilities.
The proposed on street parking along Grand Boulevard will assist in reducing the vehicle operating speed and improving the safety and amenity for campus students and staff
The management of traffic on Grand Boulevard, as it grows, will be crucial in the development of the aesthetics, amenity and safety of the education precinct and in particular the ECU campus.
The Lakeside Drive access points would be controlled by STOP or GIVE WAY signs and suitable intersection treatments including left slip lanes and right turn pockets. They are intended to be the major campus entry points for students to access the on-site parking areas.
Allowance has been made in the internal road design for a grade separated access under Grand Boulevard between the two campus sites as well as one under Joondalup Drive for when the need arises.
Emergency Vehicles
Ready access onto the main campus site has been provided for emergency service vehicles. Access is available from Joondalup Drive, Lakeside Drive and Kendrew Crescent. The site next to the railway line has access from Grand Boulevard and Collier Pass.
The internal ring road on the main site allows quick access to any part of the site with connections to at least one side of each building via a paved road or pathway. The site next to the railway line has paved access available to all buildings.
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