Community & Business
25 January, 2022
Wombat heights to be rectified
MORE works are in store for Mareeba’s main street as the Department of Transport and Main Roads (DTMR) reveals it is investigating laying more asphalt along the street to decrease the height of the wombat crossings.
Mareeba’s main street saga has been an ongoing issue for nearly a year now as DTMR installed new wombat crossings and replaced the pedestrian crossing at the post office centre with a signalised crossing.
Now during a recent Mareeba Shire Council Traffic Advisory Committee meeting DTMR representatives revealed they will now investigate laying asphalt along Byrnes Street to decrease the height of the wombat crossings.
“We are considering options to improve driver comfort when crossing the raised pedestrian facilities,” a DTMR spokesperson said.
The plan is to make the rise of the crossings smoother by laying new asphalt on either side to make a more gradual incline and decline. The council has stressed that the concrete curbs will need to be ground back to ensure there will be no trip hazard after laying the new asphalt.
There have already been multiple attempts to rectify the heights of the crossings by smoothing them out so now DTMR has decided to change the height of the road instead of the crossings.
Mareeba Deputy Mayor Cr Kevin Davies said council had had lengthy talks on Byrnes Street with DTMR and representatives had “promised they would look at the exit and entrance elevations” of the wombat crossings.
“We’ve been onto DTMR about how steep the crossings are, we think they’re 100mm more than they said they were going to be,” Cr Davies said.
“They’re looking into what they can do to rectify it, not saying that they will be gone but at least they will be more motorist friendly.”
Signs advising through traffic to keep in the right lane would also be installed, with the original ones taken away when the wombat crossings were established.
Council understands that traffic disruptions during any reseal of Byrnes Street will be minimised, with DTMR indicating it would undertake the works at night.
Meanwhile the signalised crossing has finally been turned on and the old zebra stripes removed, meaning motorists will now only need to stop if there is a red light. However, pedestrians should take care when crossing the road as the new rules will take some time to get used to.
