Release of the Guide to Traffic Impact Assessment
The Department of Transport and Main Roads has released its new Guide to Traffic Impact Assessment (GTIA), which provides guidance for development proponents on how to assess the traffic impacts of a proposed development on the state-controlled road network.
In line with the commencement of the State’s new planning framework, the GTIA came into effect on Monday, 3 July.
The GTIA will replace the existing Guidelines for Assessment of Road Impacts of Development (GARID), which has been under review for several years. The Property Council has lodged numerous submissions with TMR over the review period, noting serious concerns with the review being undertaken in isolation of other Government policies, and the cost impost the framework places on members.
The new guide is significantly different to GARID, and includes:
- strengthening the emphasis on proponents to assess safety impacts
- adopting the principle of no worsening to safety and infrastructure condition, and no net worsening to efficiency across the impact assessment area
- adopting a preferred impact mitigation hierarchy of avoiding, managing and finally mitigating impacts
- clarifying key traffic assessment concepts including the impact assessment area and the impact assessment year for a development.
Given many traffic impact assessments for applications yet to be lodged (or already underway) will have been undertaken utilising GARID, during the transitional period, TMR will continue to accept these assessments.
Further information and a copy of the GTIA can be accessed here.