City to get Tokyo-style crossings

A TOUCH of Tokyo life will be injected into the CBD as Cairns Regional Council creates new diagonal “scramble” crossings at two key intersections.

Pedestrian crossings where Shields St meets with Abbott and Grafton Sts are set to undergo drastic changes in the coming weeks.

The little green man will mean go – in any direction – while vehicular traffic comes to a dead stop.

Council staff will soon start line marking and constructing ramps to complete the scramble crossings, similar to Shibuya in Japan.

The omnidirectional crossings are a sign of things to come, with the council yesterday unanimously voting to investigate other opportunities to revamp crossings.

Division 5 Cr Richie Bates said the project would make the roads safer for pedestrians and motorists, as well as streamlining the general flow of traffic.

“I think it’s a really good idea in those spaces because it provides the connectivity for the Shields St heart that we’ve never really had,” he said.

“There’s the potential to keep these crossings going all the way along Shields St down to Cairns Central.

“It has been suggested, but we will have to wait and see.”

The decision marks an end to the freeze on CBD works Mayor Bob Manning introduced last year following a backlash from business owners complaining about excessive construction.

The revitalisation of Shields St between Abbott St and the Esplanade was put on hold, and a plan to cut Grafton and Lake Sts from four lanes to two was canned.

Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo is considered the world’s prototypical scramble intersection, attracting a multitude of tourists eager to get the perfect selfie for Instagram.

Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney also have versions of the willy-nilly connection. A similar scheme rolled out in Darwin last year attracted criticism from one local government official who said the experiment had failed due to a shortfall in foot traffic.

Cr Bates said traffic studies showed the Shields St intersections warranted the change.

“It’s logical to do it in those two spots,” he said.