Traffic Problems Looming in Royal Drive
If you live in Royal Drive at Kawungan you will already know who hard it can be to get out of your driveway. What is supposed to be a fairly quiet suburban road and is relatively narrow has turned into quite a busy access road.
It has also turned into something of a race track for the residents of some other parts of town and that makes it difficult for the residents too. Now we’re facing the very real threat of it all getting a whole lot worse.
Hervey Bay City Council currently has a building application before it for the town plan to be altered for the land at the end of Royal Drive. The plan has always allowed the building of quite a few single residences in what is now the cane field at the end of Royal Drive but the building application includes the construction of a number of multi-storey home units that were never part of the town plan.
The building application suggests that vehicle access will be made available from Main Street and Royal Drive but anyone living in that new area won’t be using Main Street to access the local school or a number of the amenities in town - instead there’ll be even more traffic added to Royal Drive.
If you live in Royal Drive you will know that the street won’t be able to handle that extra traffic so you need to lodge an objection to that application. At the very least the development needs to limit road access to just Main Street and ideally the multi-storey development needs to be knocked on the head too.
Objections must be lodged within the next 14 days so don’t delay - get down to the Council Chambers next week and object!
January 26th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
I would have to say that article is a little bias. Sure, the traffic will be worse off on Royal Dv, but what about the rest of the town? You’re not able to stop construction to this town, and it is getting bigger every year!
More than Royal Drive needs to be fixed, this town needs to employ an engineer who can map out how the roads all over this town need to be fixed, not just Royal Drive. I’m sure you’d agree there are worse off streets..
January 27th, 2007 at 5:43 am
Of course I’m biased Ben, I live in Royal Drive. It’s a narrow street that was never designed to handle the amount of traffic that uses it every day.
And now if this building application goes ahead it’s going see a lot more traffic and conditions will become even more difficult for the residents who are trying to get in and out of their own driveways.
If residents in other parts of Hervey Bay are having problems with traffic flows in their streets I’ll be happy to give them somewhere to air their complaints. Until they do I can only ‘report’ on what I know and experience first-hand every day - and that happens to be Royal Drive.
January 27th, 2007 at 10:50 am
I’m not sure about how long you’ve lived in Royal Drive, but it’s been pretty obvious for ages that the area where Keppel, Musgrave, Lindeman Courts etc are now, were always going to be developed. Add to that the fact that Royal Drive just finishes at a cane paddock not far from the centre of town, it has always been a fair bet that this would be developed also. I can understand your frustration about the traffic, but I don’t think exaggerating the facts by saying ‘how hard it is to get out of your driveway’ gives your complaint much credibility. I deliver in that area quite regularly, and I often can travel right down to the end of Mackay Drive without passing a single car in the opposite direction. Maybe there are busy periods and quiet periods, but that’s NOT what your “report” stated.
January 27th, 2007 at 11:10 am
Hi Patricia - thanks for your comments and just let me respond with two points.
1. You’re right - the area at the end of Royal Drive ends in a canefield that was always destined to be cut up into building lots. However I’m told that the subdivision was never intended to include multi-story units.
Your also right about the developments that run off Mackay Drive but I’m told by residents that have lived here much longer than I have that the Council was supposed to be providing those developments with access to Main Street that would have taken their traffic away from Royal Drive - but that’s never happened.
2. When you have backed out of our driveway then you will be in a position to determine whether or not I’m exaggerating anything - until then perhaps you should be a little more open-minded.
The fact is that it can be a bit of a lottery as to whether or not you get in or out safely. The street can be quite clear in both directions as your leaving the driveway and then someone rushes around the corner from Mackay Drive and you’re in trouble if they aren’t looking where they’re going.
Even getting into our driveway can be hazardous as people driving behind us don’t seem to realise that by putting the indicators on and slowing down as soon as we’ve passed Queben Ct might mean anything other than I’m turning left in Mackay Drive.
The number of times both my wife and I have come close to being rear-ended is quite alarming.
I’m sorry Patricia but I don’t think that making deliveries in this area gives you quite the same insight into the problems that the residents might have. You may have not have seen much traffic in this street but in the short while that it has taken me to type this reply 12 cars have gone by.
January 27th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
I guess the point I was tryinig to make was that I deliver to areas all over Hervey Bay, and I don’t find the area around Royal Drive and Mackay Drive to be particularly busy at all. And I definitely don’t feel that Royal Drive in particular is ‘relatively narrow’. By your own admission, it is clear that your particular driveway is difficult to get into and out of safely, and the problem is only going to get worse with more traffic. But your particular driveway isn’t what this is about. Could I also suggest that the proposed road that will link Boundary Road and Urraween Road will also provide access to the proposed development, so that may provide some relief. However, regardless of whether this development goes ahead with or without the multi-level development, the problem negotiating your particular driveway will still be present. As my late mother used to always tell me, “It’s not all about you”.
The next time you are driving along Old Maryborough Road, check out the driveway at Burkes Bricks and Pavers. Now spare a thought for the drivers like me who have to somehow reverse a prime mover and trailer into that driveway in peak hour traffic, and then tell me again about your driveway in Royal Drive. Perhaps then you could re-visit your last paragraph where you brushed aside my comments by saying that making deliveries in the area doesn’t give me an insight into your problems.
January 27th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Ah Patricia - this is not all about me. I can point to all the neighbours around us who have similar problems - and it’s not because we have a difficult driveway - it’s just a normal driveway.
Unlike the neighbours, we’re not tied to Royal Drive. We could move if we don’t like the traffic.
As for brushing you aside - yes, I admit I did and I apologise. I didn’t realise that you were talking about deliveries in a heavy articulated vehicle. I wasn’t even thinking of deliveries in a courier’s van.
I too have considerable experience in driving heavy articulated vehicles in difficult situations so I can commiserate with your situation and understand your experience. I also hope that the Boundary Road/Urraween Road proposal will take some of the traffic away from Royal Drive.
But right now we have enough traffic being funnelled through Royal Drive and we don’t need more.
January 27th, 2007 at 6:50 pm
I drive around Hervey Bay quite a lot and I must say that Royal Drive would have to be the busiest street that I have come across.
I have friends in Royal Drive and you are right…it is very hard to back out….and also sometimes it is close to a rear ender when turning into their driveways….as drivers seem to think that I am turning at the next street to the left…..and then they sometimes have the audacity to honk their horns when you turn into a driveway.
The traffic is fast….and lots of it……
Lets hope that there will be another way to access the new developement as there is a limit to the amount of traffic that a street can handle without accidents happening.
January 28th, 2007 at 9:47 am
Hi Rick, and thanks for your comments. But how can you seriously suggest that Royal Drive is the busiest street in Hervey Bay? Comments like that, especially when submitted as an objection to a development proposal, will certainly be overlooked. Please stick to the facts, and don’t exaggerate if you want your objection to be taken seriously. To suggest that Royal Drive is busier than streets like Boat Harbour Drive, Boundary Road, The Esplanade, Urraween Road, Main Street, just to name a few, is at best, laughable. Look at any map, and you’ll see that Royal Drive was always intended as a feeder road into future developments. In fact, if you look at the “Pocket Book” maps, it is even shown in Bold. We can’t stop development, but what we can do is stop the problem with hoons, and people speeding. We can also encourage people to use other access points to the new development by means of traffic calming stratagies.
January 28th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
Hi Patricia,
When I said that Royal Drive was the busiest street that I had seen….I was talking about small residential streets….not main roads…..and I would love to see a traffic counter used for a week long period and you might be amazed at the results….and you are right…..the speeding and hooning problems need to be addressed.
January 28th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
Rick-
Main St, Esplanade, Boat harbor Drive, etc all have houses on them, and some how, the residents are able to back out onto the road and get out.
I live on the Corner of Dundowran Rd, and Pialba-Burrem Heads Rd, and I sit at the front for about 15 - 20 mins on business day mornings with the amount of traffic. If I go via Old Maryborough Rd, I still have to wait for traffic.
This town has not been planned for the amount of traffic we unfortunately receive.
January 28th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
Ben,
What I hate about your intersection is the way those tip trucks with their dog trailers stop at the stop sign, and then turn left UP the hill. No matter how much they try, they can’t get over 10 or 15 kph until after the top of the hill. By this time, there’s a 50 metre line of traffic behind them (in a 100kph zone). There’s no point blaming the truckies as there is no other alternative route. But the car drivers behind them get frustrated, and then take unnecessary risks to overtake the truck, which has already resulted in very serious accidents.
If I’m heading towards the middle of town from your direction, I go down Lower Mountain Road, and across the Maryborough/hervey bay road into Urraween Road and then onto Boundary Road. It may be slightly longer, but time-wise and traffic-wise, it’s a lot better.