School zone cutbacks on agenda for council Reduced windows decision due today

A SCHOOL zone shake-up is about to sweep across the entire Cairns region with major changes set to affect every motorist on the road.

The traditional two-hour 40km/h setting on weekday mornings and afternoons has become ingrained since standardised school zones were introduced.

However, so far 16 councils across the state have deviated from the mean and successfully introduced reduced windows after arguing two hours of snail’s pace traffic, twice a day, was excessive and unnecessary.

Cairns Regional Council has joined that bandwagon and convinced the Department of Transport and Main Roads to reset the clock.

Today’s council meeting will decide whether to put the recommendation into action and reduce school zones to 1.5 hours in the morning and one hour in the afternoon.

Only three schools – Our Lady Help of Christians School, Cairns West State School and Parramatta State School – will be different, with 1.5-hour slots for both mornings and afternoons.

“Council received responses from 23 schools with two schools objecting to the changed morning time and six schools objecting to the changed afternoon time (total of seven schools),” a council report states.

“Council officers consulted further with schools that had concerns and two schools subsequently accepted the proposed school zone times.”

Whitfield dad Dav Hicks, whose son Brady is starting prep this year at Mother of Good Counsel School in Cairns North on Sheridan St, did not mind the time change at the notorious pinch point for northern beaches motorists heading to the CBD.

“As long as it covers the times when the kids are going in and coming out of school to make sure they’re safe, it’s good if traffic’s not held up,” Mr Hicks said.

The changes will come into effect from March 2 if approved.

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