General News
27 May, 2022
Roundabouts To Go At Beach Suburb Turn-Offs
TRAFFIC lights will be installed at Yorkeys Knob, Holloways Beach and Machans Beach turn-offs, according to Department of Transport and Main Roads technical plans obtained by Cairns Local News.
BY ROBYN HOLMES
The revelation has sparked a stern response by Northern Beaches Councillor Brett Olds who has labelled the plan “lunacy” and accused the State Government of treating locals as “second class citizens” who are “dished up band-aid” solutions” which will fail to reduce lengthy travel times endured by northern residents trying to get into and out of the Cairns CBD.
The technical drawings* (see image) show that in addition to lights being installed at the three turn-offs, the highway will also be “straightened” where it crosses Thomatis Creek bridge, going through what appears to be private properties and existing buildings.
The news comes on the back of plans by the department to install more traffic lights along Cairns Western Arterial Road (CWAR), which will result in seven sets of traffic lights in a 5km stretch from the Smithfield bypass through to the other side of the Barron River bridge.
The department says master planning for the Cairns Ring Road, including a stage approach for the upgrades, is expected to be completed by the end of the year, and “extensive consultation with impacted property owners and community consultation” is underway and will continue throughout the project.
Member for Barron River Craig Crawford says he has “not seen any plans for any changes” to any of the roundabouts of Captain Cook Highway.
“DTMR may be doing scoping studies, but to suggest anything else is jumping the gun,” he said.
But the plans provided to Cairns Local News clearly show that engineering consultants Aecom has prepared technical drawings for all three beaches turn-offs for the department.
Cr Olds is fuming that traffic lights will replace the roundabouts and believes every resident living north of Cairns should be “very worried”.
He claims that during a recent Cairns Regional Council briefing from the department, he asked a direct question as to whether “stop lights”, as he calls them, would be installed at the Captain Cook Highway turnoffs.
“They stopped short of admitting this was the case and only said that options would soon be getting looked into here. Seeing these (technical) plans now unfortunately doesn’t come as any surprise to me! What a joke,” he said.
“I am very confident that the majority of residents that live north of Cairns will feel the same way that I do. Stop lights achieve exactly what their name suggests – they stop traffic.
“It seems that the State Government is committed to trying to make traffic flow well when it comes to the south of Cairns, and are happy to spend Federal dollars to build overpasses and long merging lanes for vehicles, as well as pedestrian overpasses for safety, but when it comes to the northern side, we just seem to be an afterthought and only get band aid solutions, with the quickest and cheapest fixes they can come up with.
“Putting in three sets of stop lights, to go with the large stop lights recently installed at the CWAR intersection, will only achieve one thing – it will slow people’s commutes and add to their daily frustrations.”
Cr Olds puts the blame squarely on the shoulders of Mr Crawford who, he says, is “badly wanting” as a local representative.
“We have been ripped off by this current State Government for over a decade now. Our taxes get used to build awesome roads and highways in Townsville, Toowoomba and all over the State, but only get crumbs when it comes to getting back what we’ve already paid for,” Cr Olds said.
“When it comes to having somebody, anybody, fighting for us at the State level, we are left badly wanting. The worst part of this sick joke is that our local MP for Barron River, is a dual Minister and sits in Cabinet and should have more pull and influence than most.
“I hope the community sees what is being planned here and stands with me to fight against these outcomes.”
Cr Olds has been a long-time critic of the Smithfield Bypass and stands by his stance that the works have done nothing to reduce commute times to and from the city in peak hour.
While it had appeared to be working when it first opened during school holidays, Cr Olds said once school traffic returned and people returned to their workplaces after COVID, the commute now was just as bad.
“In fact, some mornings can actually take a minute to two minutes longer! For about 21 hours a day though, the bypass helps out and works well, but it’s not working to do what it was designed to do,” he said.
“We told them this years before they built it – one lane each way, directly into stop lights won’t solve any issues – and it didn’t.
“We were right then and we’re telling them again now – these ludicrous plans for the Captain Cook Highway will not help commute times and will only be a waste of time and money.”
