New pathway could lead kids to danger, says resident

Jan Howting says a pedestrian crossing is needed on Lamington Terrace to cross Arundell Ave.

A new pathway linking residential areas to Nambour CBD was unintentionally compounding  a dangerous situation at a busy intersection, according to a local resident. 

Nambour’s Jan Howting said a newly completed 1km stretch of elevated pathway alongside Nambour Connection Road was a great improvement. But she said it would have the unintended consequence of encouraging more children to an already-busy and dangerous intersection close to town. 

“Council has done this lovely footpath which gets you down to the corner, but the corner is a death trap,” she said. “It’s like dodgem cars. It’s not like you can stand on the corner and negotiate traffic because you’ll get skittled!”

Ms Howting said she had seen children from Nambour Christian College struggle to get across the road safely.  “If the cross-traffic between Park Road and Arundell Avenue doesn’t get you the cars turning left or right off Lamington Terrace (and Currie Street) will,” she said.

“I’ve seen school children from Nambour Christian College and adults coming down and taking their lives into their own hands and I’ve tried to get across myself. It’s not good.

“They spent six months and heaps of money, but the problem is they haven’t installed a crossing at the endpoint. 

“I’m told Council can’t do it and it has to go to the Department of Transport and Main Roads. So goodness knows how long that will take. I’ve written to them and received confirmation that they received my email but I haven’t heard back from them since November.”

A spokesperson from Main Roads told The Gazette there were no recorded pedestrian crashes at this intersection in the past 5 years.

“Upgrading this intersection to include pedestrian crossing facilities would be particularly complex and attract significant costs due to the steep terrain, existing intersection geometry and nearby public utility services.

 “Transport and Main Roads is undertaking detailed assessments of this location, which are due to be completed this financial year. Any identified improvements will be prioritised against competing needs across the state-controlled network. 

“We receive many requests for intersection and pedestrian crossing infrastructure upgrades and funding is directed to areas of highest priority. We consider site-specific factors including recorded crash history using data from the Queensland Police Service, traffic and pedestrian volumes, road geometry and visibility.”