Mary Nance Forster

Question 1

Can Banksia Avenue and Banksia Avenue North be connected in order to provide a third route from Noosa Junction to the Calile Hotel in Serenity Close in order to alleviate traffic congestion and to provide a third exit in case of emergencies.

Response from Shaun Walsh, Director Infrastructure Services

Thank you for the question. Council’s traffic engineers have assessed the proposed Calile development application and consider the use of Grant Street and Katharina Street as being appropriate for the traffic generated for the proposal. The proposal to connect Banksia Avenue north and Banksia Avenue needs more consideration as it may have an unintended impact on the network, potentially altering current traffic patterns and increasing demand on surrounding infrastructure. As a result, a comprehensive analysis of the redistribution of traffic flow will need to be conducted to identify and address any potential congestion points, delays, or capacity issues. In particular, rat running in local streets, to avoid traffic congestion in Noosa Junction, needs careful consideration. It is noted that Council has commenced an update of the Noosa Traffic Study, that considers traffic networks and functionality across the shire, using updated traffic figures. Council can commit to raising this proposal to connect Banksia Avenue with Councils Traffic Study consultants, and determine any benefit or impact. Any changes to the local traffic network can then be considered in a wholistic manner, and any changes fully considered by the Council and future community engagement necessitated by any changes.

Thank you for raising this possible traffic improvement for our further consideration.