Australian road markings

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Peter Freeman
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Re: Australian road markings

Post by Peter Freeman »

Here's a case of something commonplace for the UK but unusual in Australia: signalisation of a large roundabout.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Ku ... 53.0568433

The sequence of images below shows what was done. The end result is not quite a roundabout - there are four signalised 2-stage crossroads, each carrying only one-way roads. I believe this is a better outcome than simply signalising the approaches and the circulatory carriageway: easier to understand, easier to drive, and probably safer. However, it does involve some re-shaping, so it's more expensive. The outcome, of course, while an improvement, is still unsatisfactory. A diamond (standard, diverging or single-point) beats it, so you'd never build this from scratch.
Kuluin sequence compressed NEW_7347.jpg
Last edited by Peter Freeman on Sat Jan 13, 2024 06:00, edited 1 time in total.
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Bryn666
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Re: Australian road markings

Post by Bryn666 »

Peter Freeman wrote: Wed Aug 04, 2021 13:53 Here's a case of something commonplace for the UK but unusual in Australia: signalisation of a large roundabout.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Ku ... 53.0568433

The sequence of images below shows what was done. The end result is not quite a roundabout - there are four signalised 2-phase crossroads, each carrying only one-way roads. I believe this is a better outcome than simply signalising the approaches and the circulatory carriageway: easier to understand, easier to drive, and probably safer. However, it does involve more re-shaping, so is more expensive. The outcome, of course, while an improvement, is still unsatisfactory. You'd never build such a thing from scratch.
Kuluin sequence compressed NEW_7347.jpg
Oh, we would.

That is how you should be doing signalised 'roundabouts' though - if you retain the geometry of a normal roundabout and simply put signals on it, you remove the intervisibility, you have drivers needing to crank their necks to make sure someone hasn't shot the light, etc, and the overall driving experience is made worse. This version also increases stacking space whereas conventional roundabouts with signals have stop lines barely 50 metres apart in places.

The layout you have is suitably low speed to remove the risk of high speed collisions which conventional roundabouts with wide entry deflections don't do, you can - if need be - provide direct NMU routes and incorporate walk-with traffic staging much easier, and the use of perpendicular crossings improves the experience for the NMU, they're not off desire lines and they're not also praying someone doesn't gun the light and run them over.

So once again, Australia has managed to improve on a concept even if it is still not a fully desirable finish.
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Re: Australian road markings

Post by crazyknightsfan »

This intersection in Brisbane is essentially the layout Peter posted above, but constructed from scratch like this (as far as I know):
https://goo.gl/maps/s79jZ2Az7SK4kAey7
It's definitely not a roundabout but functions the same as a signalised roundabout.

This may have been posted before, but Eelup Rotary in Bunbury WA signalised nearly 10 years ago and seems to function very well. With only two-phase signal operation required, it's a bit more efficient than a normal four-way signalised intersection would be, but it uses up a horrendous amount of land.
https://goo.gl/maps/AJqwzQR4QCsuMW43A
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Re: Australian road markings

Post by Peter Freeman »

crazyknightsfan wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 04:44 This intersection in Brisbane is essentially the layout Peter posted above, but constructed from scratch like this (as far as I know):
https://goo.gl/maps/s79jZ2Az7SK4kAey7
It's definitely not a roundabout but functions the same as a signalised roundabout.
That one's 3-level, so it's a 'square stackabout'. The USA has some of those. I still don't like it though: inefficient space usage and too many signals to pass through on the long-turns (turning right). The unusual 3-level single-point on Brisbane's Southern Cross Way is better.
This may have been posted before, but Eelup Rotary in Bunbury WA signalised nearly 10 years ago and seems to function very well. With only two-phase signal operation required, it's a bit more efficient than a normal four-way signalised intersection would be, but it uses up a horrendous amount of land.
https://goo.gl/maps/AJqwzQR4QCsuMW43A
Huge area indeed: typical UK design, though fortunately only two lanes. It will function well enough there, since they are not really traffic-heavy roads, but it's not "more efficient than a normal four-way signalised intersection". Yes, the signals at each arm have only two phases, and they may well be coordinated, but you do have to pass through three sets. When it became too congestion-prone, they should have performed a Melbourne operation on it: rip it up and lay out a large multi-lane 4-way cross!
Last edited by Peter Freeman on Thu Aug 05, 2021 14:51, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Australian road markings

Post by crazyknightsfan »

Peter Freeman wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 06:03
crazyknightsfan wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 04:44 This may have been posted before, but Eelup Rotary in Bunbury WA signalised nearly 10 years ago and seems to function very well. With only two-phase signal operation required, it's a bit more efficient than a normal four-way signalised intersection would be, but it uses up a horrendous amount of land.
https://goo.gl/maps/AJqwzQR4QCsuMW43A
Huge area indeed: typical UK design, though not multi-lane. It will function well enough there, since they are not really traffic-heavy roads, but it's not "more efficient than a normal four-way signalised intersection". Yes, the signals at each arm have only two phases, and they may well be coordinated, but you do have to pass through three sets. When it became too congestion-prone, they should have performed a Melbourne operation on it: rip it up and lay out a large multi-lane 4-way cross!
The signals are quite well coordinated for WA and manage the extreme holiday peaks a lot better than the roundabout used to. In normal operation the signals are timed so that the platoon entering on the first green reaches the third set of signals just as it turns green, so it's almost the same as a dedicated right turn arrow at a normal four-way intersection. For the minor right turn movements (N-W, W-S) it functions like a two-stage right turn with little delay.

The reason I suggest it's more efficient than a normal two-way intersection is:
1. Two phase operation means more green time per hour, than 3 or 4 phase operation that is required for a normal four-way intersection.
2. The roundabout geometry allows for northbound right turns to operate partly at the same time as southbound through movements, which isn't possible with a standard four-way intersection.
3. The large radius turning paths allow these movements to occur at higher speeds - say 50km/h instead of 20-30km/h - particularly helpful during holiday peaks.

Current traffic volumes on the approaches are:
- Forrest Highway - 31k vpd
- Robertson Drive - 17k vpd
- Sandridge Rd - 17k vpd
- Koombana Dr - ~15k vpd
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Re: Australian road markings

Post by Chris5156 »

Peter Freeman wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 06:03
crazyknightsfan wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 04:44 This intersection in Brisbane is essentially the layout Peter posted above, but constructed from scratch like this (as far as I know):
https://goo.gl/maps/s79jZ2Az7SK4kAey7
It's definitely not a roundabout but functions the same as a signalised roundabout.
That one's 3-level, so it's a 'square stackabout'. The USA has some of those.
In the US they're sometimes referred to as three-level diamonds or "volleyball interchanges". I think Brisbane's is a volleyball rather than a UK-style stackabout. Wikipedia agrees and has listed this junction on its page about three-level diamonds.
This may have been posted before, but Eelup Rotary in Bunbury WA signalised nearly 10 years ago and seems to function very well. With only two-phase signal operation required, it's a bit more efficient than a normal four-way signalised intersection would be, but it uses up a horrendous amount of land.
https://goo.gl/maps/AJqwzQR4QCsuMW43A
I expect a roundabout of that size would take signalisation better than most UK roundabouts. Its size means there's stacking space between each entry point, and angles of approach are fairly generous. It's actually a lot bigger than most roundabouts here (having a diameter of about 188m), and would be comparable in size to a signalised roundabout GSJ like this one on the M25.
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Re: Australian road markings

Post by Peter Freeman »

Chris5156 wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 06:42 In the US they're sometimes referred to as three-level diamonds or "volleyball interchanges". I think Brisbane's is a volleyball rather than a UK-style stackabout. Wikipedia agrees and has listed this junction on its page about three-level diamonds.
Yes, a 'volleyball'. I really don't like that name: '3-level diamond' is more descriptive and rational. The Wikipedia article is good. It comments, and Jackal has previously pointed out, that they are often built in the USA, especially Texas, as an interim measure, anticipating, with admirable foresight, a staged conversion to a 4-level stack.
I encountered at least one, in 2009, in San Antonio. Looking on Google Earth now, I can't be sure which one it was, but I do see interchange 151/16 that is obviously part-way through such a long-term staged conversion: https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Ra ... 98.7072294
I don't expect the Brisbane example to experience this process: one of the grade-separated roads is well below freeway quality.
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Re: Australian road markings

Post by Peter Freeman »

Here's another roundabout conversion project currently underway in Queensland, Australia. It demolishes one of the existing curved bridges (in order to provide more lanes, presumably in response to unbalanced flows) and retains the other one. I think it will still feel like a roundabout, but the assignment of lanes and the way they're marked out relate it also to a signalised diamond. Here are images of the current and future layouts -

Bruce Hwy - Nambour Connection Road 1.jpg
Bruce Hwy - Nambour Connection Road 2.jpg

A good outcome? Definitely an improvement, but building two new bridges instead of one would have allowed a DDI to be created instead.

This interchange is only a few km west of the rather similar conversion posted earlier in this thread, and is again indicative of AU's recognition of the unsuitability of a roundabout format for well-trafficked motorway interchanges. It's also only ten km north of QLD's first DDI (of three so far planned), and along with those DDI's it shows this road authority's willingness to innovate. Bruce Highway M1 here is currently only D2M, but the area north of Brisbane is populating rapidly. The location on google maps is here -
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-26.673 ... 201,16.39z

This adjustment is part of a low-key improvement to a few km of the M1. That project's website, with scheme diagrams and video fly-throughs, is here -
https://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/projects/bru ... terchanges
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Re: Australian road markings

Post by Peter Freeman »

Driving video from Australia #1. Mainly just for fun, but illustrates many characteristic features of AU motorways and the way we mark and sign them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGz_8LTuMn8

You'll notice some items British-looking, many American-looking, and some pure Australian. The driving too. This 80km route crosses Melbourne from an outer SE suburb to the northern exit from the built-up area. It traverses M1, M2, M80, M31 - four of our major freeways. Journey time 90 minutes (relaxed progress) condensed to 20. It seems to have been filmed in 2018, late on a cloudy summer evening, so the traffic's light. Video source not known to me. Each of these freeways except M31 have been partially widened since the video was shot.

Items of interest -

Sections of D2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.
Sections of HS, ALR, and our common 'semi-ALR' (shoulder tapers in and out where there's space left over).
Almost continuous smart features.
Smart gantries are never blank: speed limit confirms that the lane is open.
Arrows on gantries point upwards, not downwards (except in the tunnel).
Electronic signs (on M1) show calculated driving times to forward destinations.
Blue signs for tollways, green for freeways (a Melbourne-only convention).
Full-speed electronic tolling, harmonized and single-billed with all AU tollways.
Extensive 80km/hr speed limit through the central area.
Two-lane exit diverges with single lane drop and no ghost islands.
Clues to future widening allowance (space for more arrows on gantry signs).
Use of red X (11m25s) over M2 left lane at roadwork (for merge by under-construction M4).
Many glimpses of ramp meters (none active, and some difficult to spot). There's one (2 lanes wide) near the video's start (0m34s), on the ramp where M1 is first entered; and there's one (4 lanes wide) where M3 merges into M1 (3m25s).
Last edited by Peter Freeman on Fri Jun 02, 2023 04:23, edited 5 times in total.
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Re: Australian road markings

Post by Peter Freeman »

Here's an interesting example of roundabout navigational advice as executed in Australia. The intersection is in an outer suburb of Melbourne. It's the only triple roundabout that I'm aware of (we have several closely-spaced doubles, as I know the UK does). It works reasonably well, but I'm surprised that it's persisted in this form for so many years, and has escaped conversion to, for example, a triple T-intersection with coordinated signals.

If you're interested and can be bothered, you may figure out where each of the signs is located. Five are located on the approaches, and one is within the complex. Interestingly, some signs show the islands, while some don't, even though they could. Following the signs is remarkably simple, even if not familiar with the layout, if you know the name of your destination road.

On google maps : https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Mo ... !4d145.315

Mooroolbark_5418.png
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Peter Freeman
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Re: Australian road markings

Post by Peter Freeman »

Peter Freeman wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 13:21
... A good example is currently under construction on Melbourne's M80 ring road. A 4km length from Sydney Road to Edgars Road, covering junctions 16-17-18, experiences congestion at peak times. AADT is over 175,000. Junction 17, where the M31 merges into M80 both eastwards and westwards, is a 3-level directional T. J16 and J18 are diamonds (J16 single-point). The ring road's original build, almost 20 years ago, was D3M, with merging facilitated by single auxiliary lanes each way, making D4M between junctions.

The new layout will have ramp braiding between junctions 17 and 18. There is insufficient reservation to braid between 16 and 17, so an improved auxiliary lane layout will provide D5M relief for that length. Ramp metering and M2M connector metering will be added, and an existing cable-stayed footbridge will be significantly modified in order to accommodate the outer carriageways. The through-carriageways will remain D3 at their narrowest, but the works will expand the maximum width (including connectors and ramps) up to 14 parallel lanes. The cross-sections include HS, ALR and hybrid.

Location on Google maps - https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.688 ... 859632,14z
Project page - https://bigbuild.vic.gov.au/projects/mr ... dgars-road
This improvement is now almost complete. Info video for braided section here -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg6To0fW_ZY.
Note the flare to a 4-lane M2M connector meter where M31 merges with M80 eastbound, and meters at both diamonds' on-ramps (one flare 2 lanes wide, one 3 lanes wide). Such meters are now almost a standard design feature here, for busy new-build urban motorways.
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Re: Australian road markings

Post by Peter Freeman »

Driving video from Australia #2. If you enjoyed the video of driving across Melbourne a little way up-thread, and you have even more time to waste, you might enjoy this drive right around Sydney's Orbital Motorway. Driving time is 76 minutes, but the video duration is compressed to 26. It's nicely filmed (not by me - I wish ...), and fairly recent. Oz rock bands soundtrack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX1EecuzlCs

Interesting points -

Follows M7, M2, M1, M5.
Unfortunately the orbital, though complete, doesn't have a single number.
The drive travels through several of Sydney's older tunnels.
The M2 has some right-side bus lanes, and bus stops in the median.
Exit signs are map-style: resembling UK's, unlike Melbourne's.
No blue tollway signs in Sydney: all green.
No ramp meters on the orbital, but used elsewhere in Sydney.
Smart features are limited, so far.
HS width and presence varies.
You may spot a few of AU's large multi-trailer trucks.

The on-screen notes mention that the M7 (ie. the first few minutes of this drive) is still good to drive on and not too congested, for a D2M. Since the video was made, that statement's become outdated, and a needed D3M upgrade is now underway (as part of the M12 project - new motorway to 2nd Airport). There are also other orbital upgrades, including the Warringah Freeway, and braiding of one M5 ramp.
Last edited by Peter Freeman on Fri Jun 02, 2023 04:30, edited 4 times in total.
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Re: Australian road markings

Post by Peter Freeman »

The latest upgrade to Melbourne's M80 Ring Road (mentioned a few posts up-thread) has been completed.

Announcement: https://bigbuild.vic.gov.au/__data/asse ... Update.pdf.
Website: https://bigbuild.vic.gov.au/projects/mrpv/m80-upgrade
Location, but images on GE (partially) and GM (totally) have yet to catch up: https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.687 ... 828459,14z

The next section for upgrade is the western end, where it has interchanges with M8 Western Freeway and M1 Westgate Freeway. It's under traffic pressure now, which will increase when the Westgate Tunnel is completed. No timetable for the upgrade has been provided.
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Re: Australian road markings

Post by Peter Freeman »

Here's an interesting interchange design -
https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Be ... 16.0046049

In essence, it's simply a signalised diamond, but with unusual curved channelisation, and with nods toward a dumbbell and a banana-burger. It looks like it might be weird to drive through, but actually it's quite natural-feeling.

It's on Roe Highway, Perth's near-motorway semi-ring-road. The low-capacity, local Berkshire Road is the most insignificant road that GSJ's with Roe. The widths of the stop and yield lines are such that it might soon jam up if asked to work really hard, but it has no nearby strong traffic generators or busy roads. A perfect fit.

Apparently it's referred to as the 'tennis ball interchange'. That name makes about as much sense to me as a square-about stack being called a 'volleyball'.

I wonder whether it's unique. Posted here for interest, not a recommendation.
Last edited by Peter Freeman on Wed Sep 14, 2022 04:32, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Australian road markings

Post by crazyknightsfan »

Peter Freeman wrote: Wed Sep 14, 2022 04:18 Here's an interesting interchange design -
https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Be ... 16.0046049

In essence, it's simply a signalised diamond, but with unusual curved channelisation, and with nods toward a dumbbell and a banana-burger. It looks like it might be weird to drive through, but actually quite it's natural-feeling.

It's on Roe Highway, Perth's near-motorway semi-ring-road. The low-capacity, local Berkshire Road is the most insignificant road that GSJ's with Roe. The widths of the stop and yield lines are such that it might soon jam up if asked to work really hard, but it has no nearby strong traffic generators or busy roads. A perfect fit.

Apparently it's referred to as the 'tennis ball interchange'. That name makes about as much sense to me as a square-about stack being called a 'volleyball'.

I wonder whether it's unique. Posted here for interest, not a recommendation.
Main Roads claims it is unique but would be interested if anyone has seen this elsewhere in the world.

The objective seems to be providing signal control at the same time as reducing the travel speeds through the intersection, like a roundabout does, to improve safety. It is weird to drive through the first few times but is intuitive enough.
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Re: Australian road markings

Post by Chris5156 »

Peter Freeman wrote: Wed Sep 14, 2022 04:18 Here's an interesting interchange design -
https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Be ... 16.0046049

In essence, it's simply a signalised diamond, but with unusual curved channelisation, and with nods toward a dumbbell and a banana-burger. It looks like it might be weird to drive through, but actually it's quite natural-feeling.
Was it definitely designed that way from the outset, and not converted from a dumbbell?
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Re: Australian road markings

Post by Peter Freeman »

Chris5156 wrote: Wed Sep 14, 2022 19:24 Was it definitely designed that way from the outset, and not converted from a dumbbell?
It was a staggered crossroads, perhaps only partially signalised, before Roe Hwy's flyover was added in 2015 and the current layout was created.
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Re: Australian road markings

Post by crazyknightsfan »

Peter Freeman wrote: Wed Sep 14, 2022 19:55
Chris5156 wrote: Wed Sep 14, 2022 19:24 Was it definitely designed that way from the outset, and not converted from a dumbbell?
It was a staggered crossroads, perhaps only partially signalised, before Roe Hwy's flyover was added in 2015 and the current layout was created.
Yes only the eastern leg of Berkshire Road was signalised prior to the interchange.

Chris - the impression I always had was that it was designed as a dumbbell and then changed to signals at the last minute, however I have been assured by MRWA that is not the case and it was designed this way deliberately...
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Re: Australian road markings

Post by Peter Freeman »

crazyknightsfan wrote: Wed Sep 14, 2022 04:22
Peter Freeman wrote: Wed Sep 14, 2022 04:18 Here's an interesting interchange design -
https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Be ... 16.0046049

In essence, it's simply a signalised diamond, but with unusual curved channelisation, and with nods toward a dumbbell and a banana-burger. ... I wonder whether it's unique. ...
Main Roads claims it is unique but would be interested if anyone has seen this elsewhere in the world. ...
Actually there's a recent upgrade to M1J15 in UK that has some similarity.
Sabre topic - viewtopic.php?p=1213131#p1213131
Location - https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Ro ... d-0.892523
(satellite view not yet caught up).
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Re: Australian road markings

Post by Peter Freeman »

Here's driving video from Australia #3, for those who like them, this one in Queensland state.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zM89q-UE4o

I think these, in an easy visual way, best get across the atmosphere and feel of a foreign country's roads, short of actually visiting (avoiding 24 hour each way flights, and saving lots of fuel for the driving!). Sabristi with special interest in road marking, signage and signalling can spot AU differences, and perhaps pick up good and bad ideas. For example, at 14m03s is a sign that answers a question that has come up on Sabre: "How can you indicate lane assignments ahead that have more lanes than you currently see; and which side widens?" The white triangle shape seen there is the way AU does it (though it's not a good example, nor a good view of it).

This 80km stretch of M3+M1 Pacific Motorway connects Brisbane to Gold Coast, QLD's fastest-growing city. Upgrade and widening works are visible in the video at a few places, off to the sides, and now in 2022 are extensive.

There are many different interchange types (which QLD is notable for), though that's not discernable from road level. My favourite is a DDI at exit 87, slightly farther south than this video goes, but a super-SPUI that I posted about in the single-point topic is passed at exit 57 (11m45s in the video). BTW, exits are numbered by km (most other AU states number sequentially, like the UK).

Although quite large in scale, and part of the Sydney to Brisbane route, the Pacific Motorway here is an urban and commuter road: Brisbane and Gold Coast are gradually merging into a linear conurbation. It may seem surrounded by green at many points, but, mostly, just over the noise walls, is suburbia. Some smart features, and soon ramp metering, are being gradually added. Still, it has AU's characteristic pragmatism, including the hard shoulder being wide or narrow, intermittent or absent - no-one really minds or even notices. The motorway speed limit varies between 70 and 110 km/hr, while you'll see that city streets can go right down to 30km/hr.

The video starts with a few Brisbane streets, and ends on the streets of Surfers Paradise.
Last edited by Peter Freeman on Sat Nov 12, 2022 07:28, edited 1 time in total.
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