Project: Entrance to Port Sorell

Update August 2023:

The layout has been finalised in consultation with Department of State Growth representatives, however the detailed design will now be outsourced due to a loss in internal design capacity.

Status: Preliminary plans of the Port Sorell main roundabout improvements

Budget: 

Update November 2022: Council’s Roads and Drainage Engineer has provided preliminary plans of the Port Sorell main roundabout improvements.

Several updates have been made, including:

• A 2.5m wide shared footpath and new pavement on the Port Sorell Main Road/Alexander Street corner.
• A 2.5m wide shared footpath on the Alexander Street/Wilmot Street corner.
• A blister kerb and 1.5m wide footpath on the Wilmot Street/Parkers Ford Road corner.
• Splitter islands on all approaches, to shelter pedestrians/cyclists when crossing.
• A new bus shelter and perforated bin enclosure on an existing slab on the south side of Port Sorell Main Road.
  • The design of the bus shelter is the same as the one used on Poyston Drive at the Woolworths shopping complex. This design has been selected due to specific site requirements leading up to the roundabout.
• A concrete bus boarding point opposite, on the north side of Port Sorell Main Road.

Both bus stops will be indented to allow buses to pull off the road.

Preliminay Design - Port Sorell Roundabout

Scope: In 2020, Council Officers submitted a proposal for works to the entrance to Port Sorell at the intersection of Port Sorell Main Road, Alexander Street, Wilmot Street and Parkers Ford Road. Significant works will be undertaken, including installation of kerb and channel, footpath extensions, adjustments, and grading. A budget allocation of $250,000 was made at Council’s August 2020 meeting, allowing for the preparation of detailed designs by a surveying/design consultant based on previously prepared concept drawings.

The survey work at the roundabout was completed and drafting work commenced. The plan outlining the proposed changes at the roundabout have been approved in principle by the Department of State Growth and the designer given direction to proceed on that basis.

One of the potential issues raised at the most recent Port Sorell Community Information Evening was that of a fence blocking the view of the traffic coming into the roundabout. That concern was raised with the engineers, who provided feedback that leaving visual blocks encouraged cars to slow down as they reached the intersection, thus reducing the speeding issue that had also been raised by locals as a safety concern.

It is important to note any accident at the roundabout has the potential to result in a full closure of the intersection. This would be determined by emergency services on the scene. Alternative routes exist if the roundabout becomes non-operational.

Since the March 2022 Port Sorell Community Information Evening, Council Officers have re-worked several different iterations of the roundabout design. As a result, the footpath and kerb on the corner of Alexander Street and Wilmot Street will be further extended into the roundabout, designed to direct approaching cars (on Alexander Street) to slow down and further increase the visibility of these cars to approaching cars on Wilmot Street.