DPTI Matters 9 August 2019

A word from the Chief Executive

Local government reforms

Our team from the Office of Local Government has this week delivered an important discussion paper aimed at driving the reform and modernisation of local government legislation and practices.

The approach to this project has been highly collaborative, with submissions and surveys informing the document’s preparation. The discussion paper will now be open for consultation until November 1.

The Reforming Local Government in South Australia Discussion Paper is an impressive document that will help shape the future of our state and I congratulate Alex Hart and her team on a well planned and executed project.

Find out more about the discussion paper here.

Rail Safety Week

Next week is Rail Safety Week and DPTI will again be supporting this vital initiative, which is aimed at raising community awareness and promoting safer behaviour around trains, trams and rail lines.

Fatalities, incidents and near misses on the rail network can cause severe and lasting trauma to the employees involved, as well as to the families of the people injured or killed.

Being safe around the rail network is quite simple but takes effort to guard against dangerous behaviours that people often don’t consider.

I encourage you to visit the Rail Safety Week web page to find out more.

Conference role

It was good to see DPTI staff engaging with the wider industry at the Australian Institute for Traffic Management and Planning national conference recently.

The conference provided a forum to discuss exciting innovations, practices, challenges facing the industry and promotion of technical debate relating to traffic and transport networks.

DPTI was at the forefront of the success as the Government sponsor of the conference, which attracted  more than 400 delegates from around Australia. Executive Director of Policy Strategy and Program Development  Wayne Buckerfield presented the opening address and several DPTI employees presented papers and actively participated in workshops.

DPTI employees represented on the conference committee include Jason Yii, Jasmina Jovanovic, Mark Hennessy, Zhimin Ma and Edi Winkler.

Conference organisers, including a number of current and former DPTI staff members.

Prize results

The Marine Safety team is seeing great success with a survey designed to help DPTI better understand South Australians’ knowledge of boating regulations and how to apply them, thanks partly to some very customer-focused thinking.

Survey participants are placed in a draw to win boating safety-related prizes, with the first of five winners announced this week.

While government staff and families aren’t eligible for the draw, anyone with an interest in boating is encouraged to take the survey.

Matthew Harrington is presented with an automatic inflatable lifejacket by Service SA branch Assistant Manager Chloe Brown.

Reaching out

Our teams have been touching base with community members as part of the Paradise Park ‘n’ Ride project, with two information sessions held in the past week.

Locals embraced the opportunity, taking time to find out more about the project and ask questions of the team, and to view early design plans.

This project forms part of the North East Public Transport Study, which is investigating improving public transport for the north-eastern suburbs.

It will consider how improved travel times, reliability, and access can be achieved for public transport customers in the north-eastern suburbs, including opportunities to enhance how the three existing interchanges at Paradise, Tea Tree Plaza and Klemzig function, and extending options to extend O-bahn services to Golden Grove.

Discussion on construction at one of the information sessions.

Quick view

This week we released  some time-lapse footage of the incredible work that was completed during the CBD tramline closure as part of the City South upgrade project.

Take a look at the video below to get an idea of what a massive task this was and how well our teams worked together to turn it around in such a short time.

Community thanks

The bollards our department recently installed in front of Glenelg Primary School appear to already have played their part in keeping people safe.

The school sent a letter of thanks for the installation of these bollards, noting that one has “already been hit quite heavily by a vehicle”, as the picture below shows.

This highlights why projects like these are so important in providing a safe environment, especially in this case in an area heavily frequented by primary school children on a busy road.

The bollards outside Glenelg Primary School, including one that appears to have been hit by a vehicle.

Friday Flashback

Today’s Friday Flashback shows the western roadway in Victoria Square, south of Franklin Street, in 1946.

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Photo: Adelaide City Council