Switch-up for safety
TRAFFIC conditions on Racecourse Road will be changed this financial year to allow for additional parking and improve safety around three local businesses.
Charters Towers Regional Council voted to approve the concept for the precinct, which will result in access from Racecourse Road into Sellheim and Paradise streets being blocked to traffic.
In a report prepared for councillors, infrastructure services manager operations John Teague said the proposal had been considered and developed over a few years in discussion with various engineering consultants to improve the safety of the intersection.
The proposal will close off vehicle access to Paradise Street from Racecourse Road, requiring access into the area in front of Bodyfix Physiotherapy and Massage from the surrounding roads.
Parking in the area will increase to allow space for 29 vehicles, including two disabled bays.
It is also proposed that pedestrian safety will be improved with crossing points at chosen locations.
Councillor Graham Lohmann said the precinct was one that was reviewed by the Road Safety Advisory Committee last year. “There was clearly some hazards with the way people were parking in that area and the nature of the intersection is quite complex,” he said.
“There were a lot of issues being identified in there. The concept design … will improve safety for all road users, particularly motorists who are now not going to be reversing back on to Racecourse Road in a fairly blind area. And will also give significant additional parking to the three businesses — Bodyfix, Bright Horizons and Jenagar — which are in that immediate vicinity.”
Councillor Kate Hastie agreed, saying she had observed vehicles travelling through the area at some speed, and drivers failing to give way. “It’s quite dangerous,” she said.
The works are proposed in council’s 2020-21 capital works program for construction using Roads to Recovery funding. A key stakeholder consultation will be undertaken following council’s approval of the concept plan.