Sunshine Coast Council is investigating ways to tackle “hooning, noise and speeding” along a main road in a growing suburb.
Authorities are studying possible safety measures at Recreation Drive, a key 1.1km thoroughfare that cuts through the middle of the Harmony estate at Palmview.
Multiple residents have raised issued about traffic there via a community Facebook page and nine official concerns have been submitted to the local council during the past year.
Local councillor Christian Dickson is pushing for solutions.
He told locals via video on social media that the speed limit could be reduced and traffic-calming devices installed.
“We’ve had a few accidents at the traffic lights and there a lot of people speeding up and down this road,” he said.
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“It’s currently 60km/h. We (council) are looking at potentially dropping the speed limit to 50km/h. I think that will help a lot.
“Where you’ve got pedestrian refuges that go across the road – there’s probably five or six of them – there could be speed cushions to slow people down.”
He said several locals had raised concerns to him.
“I get regular contact from people living along Recreation Drive about the hooning, the noise, the speeding,” he said.
“We are looking at it. The (council) staff will look at what we can do, do some design work (and) find out how much it’s going to cost us.
“I’m really supportive of seeing these works happen and I’m pushing very hard to make it happen.”
Recreation Drive caters for about 4000 vehicles per day but is expected to get busier as the suburb grows.
There are about 2700 homes and 7000 people now in Palmview but it’s estimated that there will be about 7000 homes and 16,000 people when construction is completed in about 2036.
Cr Dickson told Sunshine Coast News that he expected to see some progress within six months.
“This allows for time to design, engage the community, secure funding and deliver the project,” he said.
He said the road, built in stages from 2019, was a crucial connector.
“Recreation Drive is an important infrastructure element as it is currently the main link between Symphony Way (Bruce Highway connection) and Peter Crosby Way (in Sippy Downs),” he said.
It is expected to eventually join another area of Sippy Downs to provide another route in and out of Palmview.
“Recreation Drive will be extended to the north to connect into Creekside Drive … the timing of these works is linked to the roll-out of residential development,” Cr Dickson said.
“The construction of the road link, known as the Springhill Drive/University Way link, will be the last link to be provided and can only occur after the Southern Road Link (which will connect southern Palmview with Caloundra Road) has been completed.
“There is currently no definitive timeframe for these works to be undertaken, however, it is projected to be approximately 2030.”
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.
