Concerned locals have urged Sunshine Coast Council to make an increasingly busy road one-way, amid fears of serious crashes.
Residents of an apartment complex have made a submission to council in an attempt to safeguard a relatively steep 230m stretch of Queen of Colonies Parade at Moffat Beach.
Rhonda King said they welcomed a 40km/h speed limit that was recently introduced but said more could be done.
“It needs to be one-way going down to the bottom of the hill,” she said.
“It has become a major safety issue with the amount of traffic and young children trying to share the space, particularly during summer.
“It gets very crowded with some drivers having no consideration for the danger that speeding up the hill presents.”
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Ms King, who also said vehicles posed noise and pollution issues, detailed how the neighbourhood had changed in recent years.
“The area is far busier with traffic and people,” she said.
“We first came here in 2002 and the beach was not particularly popular: it was seen as a surf beach only.
“Since then, and mostly in the last five or so years, traffic and visitors have substantially increased.
“There are only a few more residents, so it seems that the increase is mainly from people having found this beautiful little corner of the Sunshine Coast as a place to visit.
“We are pleased that they have (but) we want to try and have some sense and safety made of the traffic flow.”
She said the flat stretch of road at the bottom of the parade should remain two ways “so people can get in and out of the car park” but the rest of the sloping road should be westbound only.
Locals behind the submission also called for at least two speed humps to be installed and said drivers should park only on the seaside of the road.
They also pushed for a bicycle lane on the residential side of the road and possibly a viewing platform where the Queen of Colonies memorial is located.
Community members have also had the chance to express their views on the suburb’s future during a community consultation phase for council’s Moffat Beach Place Plan.
Council did not provide specific answers to Sunshine Coast News’ questions about Queen of Colonies Parade but pointed to information about the plan, available online.
The plan is focused on developing a vision and guide for Moffat Beach’s public spaces including streets, parks, paths and gathering spaces, with community input.
Council will move to a second stage of community engagement after the ‘Have Your Say’ phase ends, before a draft place plan is created later this year.
The aerial imagery in this story is from Australian location intelligence company Nearmap. The company provides government organisations, architectural, construction and engineering firms, and other companies, with easy, instant access to high-resolution aerial imagery, city-scale 3D content, artificial intelligence data sets, and geospatial tools to assist with urban planning, monitoring and development projects in Australia, New Zealand and North America.
