Cairns Esplanade speed limit cuts and traffic closure planned for dining precinct
The days of cars cutting laps down the Esplanade are numbered with a guillotine finally about to drop on vehicular traffic – but not before another bout of mass confusion. VOTE IN THE POLL
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THE days of cars cutting laps down the Esplanade are numbered with a guillotine finally about drop on vehicular traffic – but not before another bout of mass confusion in Cairns Regional Council.
A tortuous shemozzle dragged out in the most recent council meeting as elected officials butted heads over how traffic should be curtailed on the pedestrian glitter strip.
Multiple motions were put forward, voted down, withdrawn – and then re-withdrawn after it became apparent meeting protocol had not been followed – and in the end no decision was made.
“I’m more confused than I’ve been at any stage in this now,” Mayor Bob Manning said after a string of failed motions.
Even a 25-minute adjournment failed to bring satisfaction and the meeting ended with a question mark hanging over what would be done about the Esplanade.
Whatever the final decision, one thing is certain – vehicular traffic is going to be drastically reduced, if not cut altogether from the area.
The iconic waterfront tourist zone was officially reopened in June after a fast-tracked $28m overhaul, with its budget siphoned away both from plans to build a new public pool in Edmonton and the $16m household rollout of smart water meters.
There was plenty of talk of making the area pedestrian-only but there was no appetite from the council.
Repeated warnings from Esplanade traders who have witnessed near-misses involving children, explicit calls from the Queensland Police Service and recommendations from engineering firm GHD have since shifted that stance.
Division 5 councillor Amy Eden tried to get traffic cut every day from 11am to 11pm but failed to get the numbers.
She cited a survey of traders taken in August which found overwhelming support for slashing the speed limit from 20km/h to 10km/h, and general support for full road closures.
Cr Eden also quoted Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner Brett Schafferius who said officers had been issuing warnings for vehicles travelling between 20-30km/h and fines for vehicles exceeding 30km/h over the past fortnight.
However, they were simply “enforcing the law but not mitigating the risk”.
“So I ask you, do we want to tie up our police officers’ time on traffic enforcement along our world-class dining precinct when they could be focusing on other pressing and safety concerns such as juvenile crime?” Cr Eden asked.
“Do we want to reallocate spending from the suburbs to increase our regulated parking budgets to enable 24-7 management of the precinct when the road can simply and effectively be closed?”
Several other attempts to find consensus failed, including a push to only allow commercial vehicles.
Deputy Mayor Terry James then pointed out the GHD engineering report council officers had relied upon was only a draft and stipulated it “must not be relied upon”.
That discovery caught all other councillors by surprise.
“GHD reserves the right to at any time without notice to modify and retract any part,” the disclaimer continued.
The mayor became increasingly agitated as the absurd administrative ballet played out, bristling at the suggestion a decision could still be made given the engineering report was not even a final copy and contained a no-responsibility disclaimer.
“I don’t think we can be bringing any credit upon ourselves by people watching us, and I’ll take my share of the blame for that,” he said.
“But this is not a good way to make decisions at all.”
It finally came to an end as each and every motion either failed or was withdrawn, and the likelihood of a special meeting being called later this week once the council had time to collect its thoughts.
The meeting was the first since the abolition of Unity Team-stacked committees last month, and clearly some bureaucratic lubricant is required to get the cogs turning effectively again.
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