Gympie’s busy Hyne Street Excelsior Road intersection explained

Confused? You’re not alone. Now we reveal who exactly has right of way and who does not at the busy Hyne Street Excelsior Road intersection near McDonalds. A picture paints a thousand words and this graphic makes it as clear as day:

Gympie Regional Council has explained the reasoning behind the design of the busy intersection of Hyne Street and Excelsior Road, and made it clear exactly who has to give way to who (see graphic below).

This follows changes to the intersection late 2020 which have left more than a few motorists scratching their heads about who has right of way.

Council installed the changes to the intersection in November 2020, following discussions with traffic engineers “associated with an adjacent commercial premise upgrade” and the Department of Transport and Main Roads.

The reason behind the change was to provide priority to traffic accessing the eastern end of Hyne Street (McDonalds and Aldi), as this was where the greatest traffic demand was. Traffic volumes are significantly higher on those parts of the intersection (Excelsior north and Hyne east).

“The changes allow for greater vehicle storage and functionality for the signalised intersection (highway), i.e outbound vehicles can queue in Hyne Street (east) and have priority once the signals allow without the need to be impeded by inbound traffic,” a Gympie Regional Council spokesman said on Wednesday.

“We have been monitoring motorists behaviour since.

A graphic explaining who has right of way at the confusing intersection of Excelsior Road and Hyne Street in Gympie.

“During the monitoring phase two main issues were identified:

· Some drivers were in the habitat of stopping at locations as per previous intersection arrangements; same reason people drive through the give way signs on Normanby overpass when it re-opened.

· Some drivers were confusing the line marking associated with the Keep Clear as being a stop bar.

“Council undertook some additional line marking alterations before the 2021 Easter holiday period and placed additional signage to assist drivers in identifying the route priority.”