Lane-cut no longer in hands of council

CAIRNS Regional Council is taking a step back from a proposal to cut lanes on Abbott St while pushing forward with a new pedestrian link to the city’s cultural attractions.

Deputy Mayor Terry James said tenders had been called from engineers able to knuckle down on a concept for the Florence St foot-traffic connection.

Roundabouts will no longer be a fixture of the busy roadway.

“We’ve got two brilliant pieces of infrastructure there, Munro Martin Parklands and the Cairns Performing Arts Centre opening later this year,” he said.

“That’s the link to the Esplanade, which links to the rest of the city.”

Cr James said the work had to be done as a matter of urgency, although it was unlikely to be completed before the performing arts centre’s opening night.

“You can’t physically walk masses of people around those roundabouts at the moment,” he said.

“If you try it, it’s a pinch point and it’s just super dangerous.

“That has to be fixed, so the roundabouts are going out and traffic lights are going in.

“We’re widening the footpath so it’s a good experience, so you can do the full walk link around the city.”

Cr James said an independent consultant had been hired to investigate options for a dangerous pedestrian crossing outside the Reef Hotel Casino on Abbott St.

“That takes our guys out of the system,” he said. “The report is imminent.” He said there was no clearcut decision on whether lanes would have to be cut, with new technologies such as interactive LED warning lights being actively explored.