General News
25 November, 2025
Ceola Drive bollards are set to go
BOLLARDS along Ceola Drive are being removed following a public survey in which more than 80% of respondents denounced their installation.
“The people have spoken,” Mareeba Shire Mayor Angela Toppin said at the council meeting last week.
The decision follows a report to council on a community survey conducted during October.
The controversial bollards were installed in July 2024, through the Department of Transport and Main Roads’ “Lighter Affordable Effective Pilot Project”. (LAE)
Ceola Drive was one of five sites targeted by the pilot to get pedestrian safety installations to create a continuous and safe walking and cycling route across key areas in Mareeba.
Mayor Toppin said that while the changes at most of the five sites have been well-received, community response to the Ceola Drive installations had been “mixed”.
The public survey was conducted to gauge residents’ opinions and found 79.33% (142 out of a total 179 respondents) voted to “remove the pedestrian safety installations”.
“Council has taken this feedback on board and will be removing the kerb from tomorrow,” Mayor Toppin said last Wednesday.
“Council intended to improve pedestrian safety and reduce traffic speed along Ceola Drive.
“We partnered with TMR for this grant-funded pilot project to trial this approach as a quicker and more affordable alternative to a traditional footpath. However, we are listening to our residents and will be removing the kerb as a matter of priority.”
The removal, which was a “comparatively minor cost”, will be met through the council’s operational budget.
However, upon examining the bollards last Thursday, contractors found that removal would cause some damage to the road surface.
“As a result, additional measures will be planned to ensure the area is suitably reinstated over the coming weeks,” a council statement said.
“The full length and width of Ceola Drive is scheduled for bitumen resealing in early 2026 as part of council’s annual reseal program.”
During discussions on the decision at the meeting last week, Cr Amy Braes said the trial had offered up an opportunity to test methods of providing safe walking and cycling pathways, as well as to deter speeding.
“One of the key learnings we can pass back to TMR is that while those solutions might be beneficial in certain areas, they are simply not suitable in others,” she said.
“We found on Ceola Drive the impacts on rubbish collection, bus routes, and on street amenity really have outweighed the potential benefit. So I’m happy to support their removal.”
Cr Ross Cardillo agreed and added: “It’s important to note that it hasn’t cost our rate payers anything to run this project, and four out of the five projects have been very, very successful.”
There would be no plans to build a pathway as an alternative for pedestrians along Ceola Drive.
