SUMMARY
Council has received an
application and Traffic Control Plan (TCP) from Greg Alderson & Associates
on behalf of Look Up and Live Pty Ltd for Falls Festival 2018/19 at
North Byron Parklands in Yelgun, which is to be held during the New
Year’s period of 2018/19.
The festival will be held from
31 December 2018 to Tuesday 2 January 2019.
Camper bump in will commence on
30 December 2018.
The camping areas close on 3
January 2019.
LTC is requested to endorse the
temporary traffic management and regulatory changes within the series of
Traffic Control Plans, as relates to the Falls Festival to be held at the
North Byron Parklands site Yelgun between 31 December 2018 and 2 January 2019
inclusive, subject to specified conditions.
BACKGROUND
The Falls Festival was held at
North Byron Parklands for the first time during the 2013/14 New Year’s
Eve period and held each year since that date. All festivals were a success
from a traffic engineering perspective with no major impacts on the public
roads during peak arrival periods.
This is the fifth year in the
five-year trial period for North Byron Parklands (NBP) as an event site.
This year, approval exists for
one large trial event up to 32,500 which was held in July 2017, one medium
trial event (anticipated to be up to 25,000 patrons) and one small trial
event (up to 15,000 patrons). Falls 2013/14 was the first medium trial event
to be held at the site and was held around New Year’s 2013/14.
Falls Festival 2018/19 is the fifth medium trial event and is to be held
around New Year’s 2018/19.
Falls Festival 2017/18 was
generally a success from a traffic engineering perspective but with two
concerns arising. Firstly, a higher volume of arrival traffic on the first
day led to a level of service on Tweed Valley Way below LOS C. The KPI for
Tweed Valley Way is to maintain a LOS C or better. Secondly, traffic lengths
extended onto Tweed Valley Way / Brunswick Valley way beyond the turning
lanes. The maximum queue length onto Tweed Valley Way / Brunswick Valley Way,
beyond the turning lanes, is 0m.
In the words of this
year’s TMP:-
There were two minor
failures in regard to the given Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s). A
higher peak flow on the first arrival day than has been experienced before
led to queuing from the site and onto the Tweed Valley Way. This also
resulted in a LOS less than C for 1-2 hours during the peak ingress period on
Saturday the 30th of December.
Probable factors contributing to the observed traffic
issues were:
· Higher ratio
of day 1/day 2 car pass sales than previous years
· Higher total
number of festival patrons than previous years
· First arrival
day being a Saturday providing opportunity for concentrated peak ingress
period
· Reduced
vehicle occupancy (2.29ppv for FFB2017 compared to 2.4ppv for FFB2016)
Methods recommended for consideration in the Traffic
Evaluation Report for reducing the opportunity for queueing on the Tweed
Valley Way for future events include:-
· Reduce the
ratio of day 1/day 2 car pass sales
· Introduce
more granular car pass ticketing (i.e. car passes for arrival before
1pm/after 2pm) in order to spread the arrival distribution across the day
· Separate
pick-up/drop-off traffic arrivals by utilising Gate D
· Provide
incentives for increased vehicle occupancy (i.e. added value for 4+ person
vehicles)
It would also be appropriate to have available
contingency Traffic Control Plans in case queueing occurs again, to ensure
safe traffic management.
It is noted that a Contingency TCP has been provided.
KEY ISSUES
1. Congestion
caused by the event will directly affect a RMS controlled asset –
Pacific Highway.
2. Separate
approval of the TMP & TCP required by the RMS Traffic Engineering
Department.
COUNCIL IMPLICATIONS
§ Budget/Financial
The event organisers to be
invoiced for the relevant Approval of Road Events pursuant to s144 of the
Roads Act fee as per the Fees & Charges 2018/19.
§ Asset Management
N/A
§ Policy or Regulation
Regulatory traffic signage as delegated
to council for authorisation in conjunction with NSW Road Rules.
§ Consultation
A condition of the
endorsement of this event is that appropriate consultation is undertaken, including:
· Advertising the
impact of the event in the local newspaper and on the Council website.
· Informing
community and business that are directly impacted.
· Liaising with
bus and taxi operators.
· Consulting with
emergency services.
§ Legal and Risk Management
Congestion caused by
the event will directly affect a RMS controlled asset – Pacific
Highway. Separate approval of the TMP & TCP required by the RMS Traffic
Engineering Department.
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