A 30km/h speed limit and car parking changes are among ACC plans being considered for an upgrade of O'Connell Street in North Adelaide.
The council’s Infrastructure & Public Works Committee on Tuesday considered a series of upgrades to the high-profile street, including fast-tracking footpath works next to the Eighty Eight O’Connell apartment development.
The plan also considered reduce speeds from 50km/h to 30km/h, stating that the 50km/h speed limit results in “a high frequency of rear end crash incidents at the Main North Road intersection”. Reduced speed limits are subject to approval from both the council and the Department of Transport. Cutting the speed limit and changing car parks is also the focus of changes to Hutt Street being considered by the council.
Eighty Eight O’Connell is built at the former Le Cornu site, which the council bought in 2018 for $34 million, and comprises two 12-storey-high towers and one 14-storey tower, due to be complete in mid-2025.
The footpath upgrades in front of the development, between Archer Street and Tynte Street will be the first works implemented as part of the overall main street upgrade to O’Connell, with the rest of the works slated for 2026. The plans rely on the underground parking at Eighty Eight O’Connell to take the pressure off when their main street upgrade will limit street parking in peak hours.
The development, which reached its full height of about 61 metres in July, will include a below-ground car park, retail and hospitality tenancies, commercial suites, amenities and about 160 apartments.
Between 7am and 9:30am, there will be no parking in 51 spaces at Southbound lanes on O’Connell. From 3pm to 6:30pm, there will be no parking in 48 at Northbound lanes. According to the plans, Eighty Eight O’Connell will have 116 publicly available parks and will be free for the first two hours, which results in no parking loss despite the new restrictions in peak hours.