Arena Bus Bridge - Happy 1st Anniversary - not being used

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rolandp
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Arena Bus Bridge - Happy 1st Anniversary - not being used

Postby rolandp » Tue May 11, 2010 1:20 am

There is one major infrastructure which I pass each day and think why? It is the Arena Bus Bridge which is having it's first anniversary this month. This bridge was completed in May 2009, and has sat there now for 12 months unused. The cost to build it - $11.2M. It even won a civil construction award.

State Government has now gone out to tender for contractors to join the bridge to existing City of Perth urban road network at both ends. Wouldn't this have been agreed upon before starting to build the bridge?

Finally, at some stage the State Government will sink the railway in this area, which may then make this bridge redundant.

Couldn't this bridge have also been connected to join the northern shared path, which could have been diverted under the freeway and easily joined up to the new bridge? Maybe the State Government should also ask this as part of their tender - but then again spend a couple more $millions on a bridge that may not be needed in the next 2 years (depending on when The Link takes off).

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Re: Arena Bus Bridge - Happy 1st Anniversary - not being use

Postby redned » Tue May 11, 2010 10:14 am

Not "A Bridge Too Far" but "A Bridge Not Far Enough"

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Re: Arena Bus Bridge - Happy 1st Anniversary - not being use

Postby giwi2 » Thu May 13, 2010 12:58 am

in terms of sinking railway tedner fro site investigations out at the moment and PTA has also put out a request for Alliance proposals (just to pick the two mobs who will actually be allowed bid on the civil and construction works). I reckon works will start by about this time next year.
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Re: Arena Bus Bridge - Happy 1st Anniversary - not being use

Postby Double-Gee » Wed May 19, 2010 11:40 am

rolandp wrote:Finally, at some stage the State Government will sink the railway in this area, which may then make this bridge redundant.
I don't believe that there are any plans to remove the recently constructed bridge. There is equipment that was installed for the Mandurah line that will be removed/replaced with the sinking of the Fremantle line. Yes, the usual government efficiency. :(
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Re: Arena Bus Bridge - Happy 1st Anniversary - not being use

Postby fixed » Thu Jun 10, 2010 2:32 pm

This bridge was completed a year ago.

Would anyone be interested in getting the bridge open for cyclists to access the CBD via the Wellington St Bus Station.
It would require some integration with the Freeway PSP where it meets the western entrance of the Polly Pipe.

I would favour a short path alongside the eatern edge of the drainage sump, linking with the James St Freeway exit and a cycle only access route from the roundabout.

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Re: Arena Bus Bridge - Happy 1st Anniversary - not being use

Postby Thoglette » Thu Jun 10, 2010 4:18 pm

fixed wrote:This bridge was completed a year ago.

Would anyone be interested in getting the bridge open for cyclists to access the CBD via the Wellington St Bus Station.
It would require some integration with the Freeway PSP where it meets the western entrance of the Polly Pipe.
Sounds better than what it is currently being used for!
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Re: Arena Bus Bridge - Happy 1st Anniversary - not being use

Postby jet-ski » Mon Jun 14, 2010 12:50 pm

yeah that sounds like a splendid idea, would be the best cycle bridge in all of Perth.
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Re: Arena Bus Bridge - Happy 1st Anniversary - not being use

Postby mikedufty » Tue Aug 17, 2010 12:17 am

Seems to be something happening at the perth end of the bridge. I hoped it might be progress toward opening the bridge and reinstating the bike path along the railway. It can be seen on the lastest (1 Aug 2010) nearmap photo.

http://www.nearmap.com/?ll=-31.94825,11 ... d=20100801

Unfortunately the same aerial photo shows the other end of the bridge still definitely not connecting to anything.

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rolandp
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Re: Arena Bus Bridge - Happy 1st Anniversary - not being use

Postby rolandp » Wed Aug 18, 2010 12:01 am

Information from PTA shows what the northern side will look like. Warning, it does take a little while to bring back the PTA image of James St.

EPRA also responded to my request (they responded in hard copy, so little hard to link to their response), but just located their master plan for cycling infrascture in this area. See Perth City Link Master Plan - Part 3 - The Place and search for Figure 4.13 Bicycle Infrastructure elements.

It shows that access will be along Roe St, which somehow (potentially due to sinking of the railway line), and back to Market St. So that is great if you are travelling East-West, but access from North into Perth is not improved by dedicated cycling or even shared paths. They even use the wording 'on-foot cycle link' to descibe bridges which you need to get over to get from Roe St into Perth. Sounds like a Traffalgar Bridge all over again.

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Re: Arena Bus Bridge - Happy 1st Anniversary - not being use

Postby fixed » Thu Dec 16, 2010 6:38 pm

http://www.inmycommunity.com.au/news-an ... h/7578330/

THE long-awaited bus bridge linking James Street to the Wellington Street Bus Station is scheduled to open before the year’s end.

Completion of the project will mean shorter trips for more than 14,600 passengers each day of the working week, with buses re-routed to run via the bridge, which crosses the Joondalup and Fremantle rail lines, and Roe Street.

Public Transport Authority spokeswoman Debra Bishop said road modification works on James Street were underway to connect the new bridge to Fitzgerald Street in the lead-up to its opening.

“We anticipate the bridge will open before the end of this month – the exact date depends on installation of a Main Roads’ new traffic signal box,” she said.

“A bus-turn signal phase will be added so that turning buses are separated through the intersection.”

The bridge is part of the Perth Arena project.

In June 2008, the State Labor government predicted the bridge would be finished by mid-2009 at a cost of $14 million.

Following the City of Perth’s approval in May 2009, detailed design and contract documentation were prepared and tenders called.

“The first tender closed in late November 2009, but did not produce acceptable submissions,” Ms Bishop said. “The Project was re-tendered and construction contracts subsequently awarded in June and July 2010.

“Works commenced on site in August 2010.”

She said the bridge would ease congestion and speed up the daily 876 bus services to and from Wellington Street Bus Station.

“A major benefit is the reliability of journey time that the bridge will provide for commuters and that it will typically save up to three minutes on the current journey,” she said.

“The current bus route requires buses to cross rail tracks via Roe Street level crossing, which means buses are held up by train services – particularly peak train services.”
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Re: Arena Bus Bridge - Happy 1st Anniversary - not being use

Postby mikedufty » Thu Dec 30, 2010 7:16 pm

I saw a bus driving over the bridge today.
Hopefully they might think about reinstating the bike path where the buses used to go now.

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Re: Arena Bus Bridge - Happy 1st Anniversary - not being use

Postby fixed » Fri Dec 31, 2010 1:16 pm

The bus bridge has been located adjacent to the Arena building, I doubt there is enough room there for the original bike path to be reinstated.
Therefore the bike lane will have to be placed in the existing buslane and move the buses over to the north.
This should all be happening as part of the Northbridge Link project, but pessimism says "No"
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Re: Arena Bus Bridge - Happy 1st Anniversary - not being use

Postby mikedufty » Thu Jan 06, 2011 5:38 pm

The lane the buses have been using to get to the rail crossing should no longer be required and would make a perfectly good bike path. Just needs a ramp to get down to it and some fence work. Probably won't happen though.

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Re: Arena Bus Bridge - Happy 1st Anniversary - not being use

Postby rolandp » Wed Mar 26, 2014 12:38 am

Dragging up an old topic.

This bridge has been closed since the beginning of the year, around the time the Roe St temporary bus station was implemented.
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More than likely it will be closed for several months whilst the new bus station is installed.

It is a shame we can't use it from the northern PSP, to avoid some of the diversions implemented around Perth Arena or Roe St.

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Re: Arena Bus Bridge - Happy 1st Anniversary - not being use

Postby wellington_street » Wed Mar 26, 2014 2:03 pm

Its disappointing that an extension of the busway to bypass James St is not being built while its out of use.

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Re: Arena Bus Bridge - Happy 1st Anniversary - not being use

Postby jaseyjase » Wed Mar 26, 2014 2:20 pm

anything physically stopping us to use it ? barriers or fences?

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Re: Arena Bus Bridge - Happy 1st Anniversary - not being use

Postby wellington_street » Wed Mar 26, 2014 5:44 pm

Yes there are barriers.

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Re: Arena Bus Bridge - Happy 1st Anniversary - not being use

Postby Thoglette » Tue Apr 22, 2014 12:04 pm

wellington_street wrote:Yes there are barriers.
At the southern (Milligan st) end they consist of concrete blocks. Which look eminently avoidable.

What's at the northern (James St) end?

(ps - one would still need a cunning plan to get from James St to John St -and then on to the PSP entrance at Aberdeen st without having to backtrack onto Fitzgerald St)
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Re: Arena Bus Bridge - Happy 1st Anniversary - not being use

Postby wellington_street » Thu Apr 24, 2014 11:44 am

There are the large water-filled plastic barriers at the northern end. At least one, possibly two sets.

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Re: Arena Bus Bridge - Happy 1st Anniversary - not being use

Postby Thoglette » Sun Apr 27, 2014 12:02 pm

Saw a ped. walking northwards over the bridge on Thursday night. So perhaps the way is not closed?
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Re: Arena Bus Bridge - Happy 1st Anniversary - not being use

Postby wellington_street » Mon Apr 28, 2014 7:08 pm

Looks like someone has made a small gap on the north approach

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Re: Arena Bus Bridge - Happy 1st Anniversary - not being use

Postby Thoglette » Sun Jul 13, 2014 9:44 pm

wellington_street wrote:Looks like someone has made a small gap on the north approach
Late last week I saw someone riding southwards across the bridge
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Re: Arena Bus Bridge - Happy 1st Anniversary - not being use

Postby nachoman » Fri Sep 18, 2015 6:26 am

Charles Street Bus Bridge (Main Roads)
Scope of works
This project will see the construction of a new bus bridge and associated bus priority measures. this will enable buses from Perth's northern and north-western suburbs to avoid congested roads, including four sets of traffic signals in the Northbridge area.
The bridge design detail will be developed through the competitive design and construction tender process during 2015 with award in 2016.
Current plans include:
New bus lanes including a (approximately) 110 m bus bridge of Graham Farmer Freeway (from Charles Street to the existing James Street bus bridge)
New off-ramp onto Roe Street to replace James Street off-ramp
Approximately 500 m of new bus lane on Charles Street
Increased turn pocket to two lanes at Charles Street off-ramp
Carr Street / Charles Street intersection reconfiguration
Improved access to bus layover area at James Street
Minor intersection improvements with James Street, Wellington Street off-ramp and Newcastle Street/Cleaver Street

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rolandp
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Re: Arena Bus Bridge - Happy 1st Anniversary - not being use

Postby rolandp » Fri Sep 18, 2015 7:49 am

Timeframe
Construction start: May 2016 (estimated)

Construction completion: March 2017 (estimated)


Does this mean this bridge won't be used again until 2017? If so, it will have been used for 3 of the 8 years since been build in 2009. We could have been cycling on it for 5 years and avoiding the poor diversions currently in place for the area. At least for those joining the northern psp.

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Re: Arena Bus Bridge - Happy 1st Anniversary - not being use

Postby Thoglette » Fri Sep 18, 2015 10:21 am

rolandp wrote: We could have been cycling on it officially for 5 years and avoiding the poor diversions currently in place for the area. At least for those joining the northern psp.

Fixed it for you. My observations are that it's regularly used, even if it doesn't connect to the PSP directly
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