A Friday Note - 20 of January 2017

Dear all

Wild weather has wrought havoc yet again, causing damage to tram and train lines and blacking out traffic lights – perhaps the storm gods could give us a break.  Lightning, wind and heavy rain has impacted across our networks. As for our people, a lot of them are exhausted.

SAFETY

Safety is at the very heart of our response to this week’s incident involving the cycling/pedestrian path of the South Road tram overpass. It is our utmost responsibility to ensure the safety of the public at all times. Our engineers, in conjunction with external experts, worked diligently to assess the structural damage and design temporary measures to put in place while a permanent solution is devised. The disruption to motorists, tram passengers, cyclists, pedestrians, residents and businesses has been significant but we can never compromise on safety. This department works to the highest standard to ensure rigorous checks and balances are in place. With this incident, we have commenced a full and thorough investigation to see what has occurred. I thank everyone involved in the response, including local councils, and the public for their patience.

PROJECTS

The teams working on the Outer Harbor rail overpass across South Road also have safety in full focus as they carry out significant works. This week, they performed the challenging task of pouring concrete to construct the bridge deck and have now completed the approach slabs.

Solid progress is being made on other works as part of the wider Outer Harbor/Grange rail package, including the $4m upgrade of the century-old Port River Rail Bridge.

METRO MATE

We have been receiving some excellent customer feedback about our new public transport app metroMATE since its launch on Apple’s app store a month ago. We’re now looking for staff to test the Android version. 

WELL DONE

Kevin Johnson went to great lengths this week to maintain the state’s emergency marine radio system. I’m told he quietly got on with the job to ensure essential services for marine users. Much of the work done on the Marine and Government Radio Network within DPTI goes largely unnoticed and Kevin is to be commended for his dedication.

SPORT

With the Tour Down Under in full swing, SASI is on the lookout for cycling stars of the future. Its Girls Pedal2Podium talent search has set up shop in the Tour Village in Victoria Square this week to unearth potential top-flight female riders, putting them to the test with sprints on stationary bikes.

Already, scores of promising youngsters have taken part eclipsing last year’s numbers and the results are impressive. Find out more about the program here.

Have a good weekend

Michael Deegan