HOW TO SHAVE TIME OFF YOUR NORTHERN COMMUTE: MP’S GOT A PLAN
Traffic lights feature in highway solutions
BETTER sequencing of traffic lights along the Captain Cook Highway at Cairns North will be among several options being examined to improve the traffic bottleneck for motorists.
Barron River MP Craig Crawford has the stretch of highway between Tobruk Pool and the Machans Beach roundabout in his sights as part of his broader plan to improve the daily commute between the city and northern beaches.
Population growth to the north of the city has resulted in the regular 20-minute drive between the city centre and Smithfield taking more than 45 minutes during peak periods in recent years.
To alleviate some of this pressure, the Palaszczuk government will spent $152 million on a Smithfield bypass with work due to begin in 2018 and likely to be completed within three years.
The Bill Fulton Bridge expansion, which will be completed soon, will also help reduce the traffic snarl along the Cairns Western Arterial Rd. Mr Crawford said the Cairns North bottleneck would be the third major project to improve traffic conditions within his electorate that he would focus his attention on.
“I’ve got Main Roads working on some ideal solutions for that stretch of road,” he said.
“There’s been a lot of focus in the past purely on the 40km/h zone area there.
“But I believe it’s more than that. What I want to see is some solutions from Main Roads that I can then take to government for funding that would make that area work.”
The first-time Labor MP suggested a simple fix such as traffic light optimisation could make a difference, improving synchronisation among the signals in order to adjust traffic flow in the area. But he said there needed to be more than just a Band-Aid solution.
“I don’t want Brisbane to be able to come in and spend a couple of million dollars to do something small, tick the box and say they’ve fixed the problem,” he said.
He said he expected the Department of Transport and Main Roads to be able to report back to him with a solution within the next couple of months.