FAQs

At a technical level this means what level of classification the road should be designed to. The level of classification (such as Distributor B) implies what the expected traffic volume capacity, types of traffic, design speeds, and level of amenity for pedestrians and cyclists should be.

The other way of describing this is to identify how the road should operate, and what the road should ‘look’ and ‘feel’ like, now and in the future.

The idea was raised by a former councillor around five years ago, possibly due to traffic concerns. The project was initiated in 2019 as the first part of a program of reviews of the larger roads in our network. The City of Kalamunda (the City) intends to continue with similar reviews in future years for Kalamunda Road up the hill, then Canning Road (town to Pomeroy), Hale Road, Lesmurdie Road, Hawtin Road, and so on.

In brief, these were: 

1. Identify how Kalamunda Road should function in the future.
2. Seek community involvement in how the road should function.
3. Improve road safety for all road users, and balance this against the future function of the road.
4. Identify when upgrades were needed, based on traffic modelling and other future impacts.
5. Provide concept designs and preliminary cost estimates to inform future works programs. 

It needs to be noted that in this type of review, the speed limit is considered to be an output of the process. That is: for the review project we were not aiming for any particular speed limit but will apply the limit that is needed to suit the road function and design.

This is a long term plan and the upgrades will be completed when the traffic levels warrant it. Indicative timing is for Cyril, Fernan and Hawkevale intersection changes within the next two to three years, while other upgrades may be ten to twenty years in the future. The need and concepts for these later projects will be reviewed again in future years.

The City engaged a specialist consultant, Cardno (WA) Pty Ltd, to model traffic in the wider network, and to model the intersections. Following the decision in July 2019 to plan for a ‘Low capacity main street’, the traffic modelling identified the maximum capacity of Kalamunda Road that was desirable, and then identified what the flow-on effects were to the surrounding road network. 

The capacity target was 15,000 vehicles per day, and the surrounding network included Roe, Abernethy, Great Eastern, Wittenoom and Newburn. All intersections on Kalamunda Road between Abernethy and Roe were modelled to see how they performed in terms of ‘Level of Service’. The result is the recommended intersection treatments as shown in the concept plans. Please refer to the Technical Report for more detail. 

As the Plan was endorsed to proceed in July 2019, and subsequently endorsed for public advertising in March 2020, and due to the need to manage future traffic growth of the road, the City will need to continue with the project. 

As the upgrades will occur over many years, there will be ample opportunity to provide feedback with each stage of work. 

The current designs are conceptual (known as 15 per cent designs) and may not accurately reflect all site conditions. Before proceeding to detailed design for any upgrade, the City will undertake local consultation to ensure all needs have been considered. 

If you wish to request significant changes, please provide a written submission and clearly outline the changes needed and provide reasons for the changes. The City will record all requests but may not change the concept designs (as they are only concepts).

The City will be seeking state and federal funding assistance, such as through the Metropolitan Regional Road Group Improvements Program that could fund two thirds of the project. 

This project on its own won’t change rates. 

The City balances projects to limit large impacts on rates. This is managed through the City’s Long Term Financial Plan, which levels costs over 15 years. As this project is being delivered in several stages, there will be many budget and rate settings before committing expenditure. 

If you have any other questions please contact the City of Kalamunda by phone 9257 9999 or email enquiries@kalamunda.wa.gov.au