Upgrade delay tipped

Wet season, extra work hold up intersection project

A MUCH-ANTICIPATED intersection upgrade at Caravonica could be delayed even further because of the impending wet season.

Construction on the project, designed to improve traffic flow at the relocated Caravonica School 100-bay car park and 1000-home Botanica development, started late last year.

It was initially expected to be finished for the start of the 2017 school year.

But yesterday Barron River MP Craig Crawford confirmed Department of Main Roads would tip in an extra $500,000 into the $3.8 million project to allow construction of a fourth lane at the new intersection.

He said late stage additions had to be made to accommodate the forecast extra traffic flows through the expanded section of the Cairns Western Arterial Rd at Redlynch.

Mr Crawford hoped everything would be finished by the beginning of the 2018 school year but said wet weather could cause more delays.

“The project has been growing since it first started,” he said. “There have been some issues with the water main, which caused delays for up to eight weeks, and we are trying to do the work with minimal impact on the school.

“The developers are waiting for school to finish for the year, then they’ve literally just got to run a dozer through the existing car park and then they can build without any interruptions.

“The new car park is com- plete, it just needs lightposts and a few plants.

“Ideally we want it open before school starts but the total project might still linger on a little longer than that.”

Botanica Property Group director Rob Wallace said the extra funding was “great news”.

“It has impacted us a little bit, but it’ll be better for every- one once it’s in there. It’s a great result,” he said.

Mr Wallace said a development application to build homes would be submitted after the intersection was finished.