Compton, Russell and Owen Street

Compton Street, Russell Street and Owen Street form a key north-south ‘active’ cross-city link between Gouger Street at the Central Markets and South Terrace, as well as forming part of Council’s Bikeways Network.

Improving the quality and safety of walking and cycling infrastructure along these streets is part of Council’s strategy to increase the number of people who walk and ride in the city, whilst maintaining good vehicle access and on-street parking for residents, businesses and visitors.

Following feedback from the public consultation undertaken in November and December 2013 and consideration of the Adelaide Design Manual (aka Urban Design Framework) adopted by Council in 2014, the design has been revised and the detailed designs are currently being finalised.

The Compton Street, Russell Street and Owen Street cross-city link will cater for safe two-way (contra-flow) cycling and help to improve the pedestrian experience. Accessibility standards will be improved through the upgrade of kerb ramps and crossing points and Wright Street, Gilbert Street and Gouger Street will feature attractive landscaping.

The designs use components consistent with Council’s recently endorsed Adelaide Design Manual, which aims to create high quality and sustainable public domain outcomes.

There have been a number of improvements to the project since the consultation in late 2013, with the main changes including:

Widening the Gouger Street central median to four metres between the Gouger Street UPark signalised intersection and California Street to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists crossing. The median will also include new street trees and new bike parking.
Improving safety at the UPark signalised intersection by removing the existing lane merges on both sides of the intersection, and providing a dedicated left turn on the western approach and a dedicated right turn on the eastern approach into the car park.
Installing a continuous footpath across Compton Street at Wright Street to improve safety and amenity for pedestrians and contra-flow cyclists.
Installing footpath extensions and new kerb ramps at both Wright Street/Russell Street and Gilbert Street/Russell Street intersections to improve safety and crossings of the east-west streets for pedestrians and cyclists.
Installing water sensitive urban design (WSUD) garden beds at Wright Street/Russell Street and Gilbert Street/Russell Street intersections. This has been implemented as a trial and will be part funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as part of the Water Sensitive Urban Design demonstration sites funding grant.
Improving South Terrace/Owen Street intersection for pedestrians and cyclists by upgrading kerb ramps, providing a central median refuge and footpath extension on the south-west corner to slow down vehicles entering Owen Street.

Other minor design items to note include:

Motorcycle parking currently in Owen Street will need to be relocated onto South Terrace, on the west side of Owen Street. This will result in the loss of one on-street parking space (two hour area parking, Monday to Friday 8am-6pm).
The existing garden areas at both ends of Owen Street (at South Terrace and Gilbert Street) will need to be removed to cater for the intersection improvements noted above.
A continuous footpath was initially proposed across Compton Street at Gouger Street, and is now not included.

View a map of the changes by clicking here.

The project was presented to and endorsed by Council in September 2014, and designs have been finalised. The project commenced construction in early May 2015 at South Terrace, and will continue to move north along the corridor to Gouger Street. Owners/occupiers adjacent to the project will be notified of the works prior to construction commencing. Check out photos of the contraction here.