‘Death risk’ crossing divides community

Eatery owner says council plan will add needed car parking places WHAT YOU SAID ON FACEBOOK

A FOUR-LANE pedestrian crossing outside Reef Hotel Casino has been dubbed the worst in Cairns – a hotbed for near-misses that will end in injury or death unless drastic changes are made soon.

Cairns Regional Council’s plan to fix the crossing by cutting a stretch of Abbott St to a single lane in each direction has received mixed reviews.

While taxi drivers have blasted the proposal over concerns it would aggravate traffic congestion, Piccolo Cucina restaurateur Kieran O’Connor and his staff have given it their full support.

“Having seen that crossing for the one year that I’ve owned this restaurant, I’ve seen about 40 people almost getting run over,” he said.

“It is well lit around here, which is great.

“But in my view that crossing is incredibly unsafe.”

Mr O’Connor has another reason to back the council’s preferred option, which has an estimated cost of $60,000, compared to $300,000 for establishing traffic signals, or $30,000 for removing the crossing altogether.

Cutting a lane of traffic in each direction would add another 23 valuable parking spaces to the short stretch of road, as well as three motorbike bays.

“The whole street needs a bit of a lift,” Mr O’Connor said.

“If this is going to bring in more carparks to the area, that’s fantastic.

“It’s not a through road – it’s more of a destination area.

“I don’t think it will change traffic because I’ve never seen any traffic jams here.”

Acting mayor Terry James said Australian road safety standards had changed dramatically since the casino and crossing were built in the mid-1990s.

“It might have complied back then.

“But the standards relevant now are from 2009,” he said.

“When it was put in, nobody had smart phones.

“Now you can look beside you and see a P-plater on their How about clean the vegetation and plants from the middle so drivers can see, that’s the only problem I have when passing through there. I can’t see people walking because of the plants and trees. James Gould Slow down when you see a pedestrian crossing? Just a thought. Steven Kal-Elarde If you slow down and pay attention to the mirrors that are provided to see the blind spot then I don’t see how it needs to be changed. The crossing has been that way for years so we should be aware of it. Faith McIntyre Put a warning light that pedestrians can push to notify oncoming traffic that people are crossing! Cheapest option. Henry Marnock Why are the council intent on creating a rabbit warren in the city? Jenny Murphy Cairns taxi drivers need to stop driving through green man crossing ... I’ve almost been hit twice. Jacqui Baxter Since when did taxi drivers dictate what happens on our roads? Kerrie Emery

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smart phone texting with a person on the pedestrian crossing looking at their smart phone.”

The proposal has been put out to community consultation with submissions accepted until February 9.

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