d492379 The intersection outside the Raffles Hotel.
Camera Icond492379 The intersection outside the Raffles Hotel. Credit: Supplied/Jon Hewson

Why it’s going to get harder to get to Raffles Hotel

Aaron CorlettMelville Gazette

IT is going to be harder to get to the Raffles Hotel for residents and patrons when changes are made to the intersection of Canning Highway and Canning Beach Road.

Motorists will be forced to use Moreau Mews and other side streets to access the hotel because the median island on Kintail Road will be extended, taking away the option for highway traffic to continue directly to the beach road.

The work is scheduled to take place in May or June and will take one week, after the City of Melville received $105,000 funding through the Federal Government’s Black Spot program.

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The move has frustrated some locals, with residents attempting to put together a meeting with the City and Bateman MLA Dean Nalder.

Raffles Hotel resident Ian Chalmers said it was an issue for residents and patrons, as well as for the South of Perth Yacht Club and Heathcote Cultural Precinct.

“The impact is that you won’t be able to go directly into the carpark and you’ll need to use Kintail Road and Moreau Mews and come back around,” he said.

“It’s something that has been a bit under the radar. We had one meeting with the City and about 30 residents in February and they outlined what they were doing; it was spoken about as a fait accompli.

“Some of the residents suggested other options and they claimed it wouldn’t work.

“I can sympathise with the City. I’ve seen one accident there myself and I’ve seen a few near misses but I feel like the City could have looked at other options, like a stop sign on Kintail Road.”

City of Melville chief executive Marten Tieleman said they had been investigating the intersection for several years following 42 crashes over a five-year period.

“Letters were distributed to residents and affected businesses in the area advising them of the proposed upgrade and the importance of the upgrade to improve road safety at the intersection and reduce crashes,” he said.

“A meeting was also held with the Raffles residents and information was displayed on the City’s website.”

The City considered alternatives including: • Replacing the give way sign with a stop sign but Mr Tieleman said there the intersection did not meet the criteria for the installation of stop sign by Main Roads WA and an analysis of crashed found it would be ineffective in reducing crashes. • Installation of a roundabout but Tieleman said there was not enough area to accommodate it. • Installing a traffic signal and linking it to the traffic signal in Canning Highway but this was not considered feasible.

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