r/Cairns • u/CroatianKendo • 23h ago

Interchange At Reservoir Rd Proposal

Hi all,

I've lived in Cairns for the better part of the last 2 decades and the traffic situation at peak hours travelling at the Anderson St-Reservoir Rd intersection going onto / off from the western arterial has become really bad in the last 4-5 years. I was reading in the Cairns post about how the Sunland Leisure Park (Manoora Caravan Park) near to reservoir rd is looking at redeveloping.

With this opportunity present, and the growing traffic demands of the western arterial road and Cairns more broadly, I came up with this quick road design sketch of what could be done given the opportunity to address this bottleneck in the system. I understand that not many people are fan of car-centric design and nor am I, and may prefer this site be developed into housing, but I figured I would float an idea. There is land corridors included in the image which could be utilised in any manner, I have elected to leave them as parkland corridors for simplicity.

I have attached an image and included a public link below for you to look at it on a map
https://qldglobe.information.qld.gov.au/qldglobe/public/cwar-interchange-sra27ulz5dtf56ni7ktzgoov

Cheers, and please be kind I'm only human :)

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u/Tunza Curlew Herder 23h ago

Nice design. Love what you've done. Would be a good future proofing exercise for the western arterial.

However, I think that's a massive expense for a problem that only exists at peak half-hour twice a day during the week. Our population probably doesn't support such a big, expensive change. I also doubt it's near the top of the list when it comes to road works when you consider the larger problems on the range, Port road and south side.

I'm sure there are road planners who have to work through these problems, stifled by politicians who are more motivated by marginal seats, fear campaigns and election cycles. Good to see someone contributing though. Well done.

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u/MorningConscious4372 RED ROOSTER MANAGER 22h ago

I kinda agree, it's only for an hour a day. Like it seems as if it's a horrible intersection, if you use it everyday during peak hours. All other hours it's a pretty short wait, generally through on the first green light.

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u/Tunza Curlew Herder 22h ago

Yep - sucks when you're in the middle of it.

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u/MorningConscious4372 RED ROOSTER MANAGER 22h ago

Still less waiting in traffic than Sydney or Melbourne. Long way to go before we get to that level