Hello all and welcome to the next instalment in my 'walk the street' initiative. This week I chose a street close to the middle of the area I walk simply because I drive past it every day but have never ventured down that way before. It is off Ravizza Drive roundabout on the left side of Logimier Rd where there is a very small but compact group of houses surrounded by the obligatory 6ft fence.
The number one thing you will notice in this area is the size of the blocks. They are absolutely tiny, filled with house and you can almost reach over the fence and touch your neighbours walls. Backyards are apparently unnecessary and provided you can fit in the clothes line that's all the space you should ever need. 'The neighbours are lovely though', I was told by many, they probably all get along well because they are forced to due to the close proximity to each other. This street is definitely in a funny little pocket of the world, sandwiched between the creek and a huge cane farm they are sort of isolated from the rest of the suburb but link two suburbs together so they are really smack bang in the middle of it all.
While this street is fairly small, I still didn't get a huge amount of people at home so in this instance I will focus on just one issue as it came up in every home.
The usual responses were gathered........Cultural Precinct, too expensive (although this time around they were not as dismissive of the project so perhaps the advertising is working). Sugarworld, hurry up and open it up. Councillor, who?
One thing they are all in agreement over is the road outside their back fence. This is Logimier Road. It runs from the roundabout towards the new Coles shopping centre but abruptly stops about 300 metres from Walker Road. This means that if these residents want to visit Coles for groceries, they can see it from their homes, but can't get there unless they go backwards all the way to Mill Road roundabout and up to the back of Edmonton. The long way round is very frustrating for those living here as they are so close, but must travel so far to get there.
The road is also used by hoons who travel along to the end, then hit the dirt track at speed, doing beautiful doughnuts and flying along to the end of the proposed road, mostly late at night.
The completion of this road is part of the Edmonton Town Centre plan. When built, one side will be the Town Centre, the other will run alongside the Leisure Centre. At this point in time, the Leisure Centre is earmarked for building in mid 2011 and the Town Centre still has no dates for a start. If the Leisure Centre goes up first then these residents will feel even more isolated, as it will back onto their street, yet they will not be able to access it without travelling all the way around.
I have no idea how difficult it would be to take the road off the Edmonton Town Centre plans and make it a stand alone project, building it immediately. This road is straight, short and a much better access to the back of Edmonton for not just this street, but the entire of Bentley Park.
The residents of Ravizza Drive are living in permanent fear that someone will plough through their front yard. It's a windy, long Drive that was never intended to be the access between the suburbs but is used for that purpose every day, by hundreds of vehicles. They have put in traffic calming measures, reduced the speed limit to 50, added mirrors, put in raised dots on the corners so you can feel your car crossing the line and they do regular police blitzes. All in a effort to reduce the risk.
Completing Logimier Road will not stop all traffic on Ravizza. Those wishing to access the highway or Piccone's will still travel this way. If the destination is Sugarworld, Coles, Isabella School, The Leisure Centre, GP Super Clinic, Edmonton Town Centre, SES, Domino's Pizza, Chemist or anything else near Walker Road, Logimier Road will be the safest, quickest and easiest route to those destinations.
Personally, I travel down Ravizza Drive approximately 6 times a day. With Logimier Road there I would reduce this to 2.
It's worth a re-think at the very least.
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