Whitsunday Regional Council have opened a consultation period asking the community’s opinion on whether to trial seven pedestrian crossings on Airlie Beach Main Street.
This move goes in hand with a Main Street upgrade which will see the lagoon and foreshore receive new landscaping, line marking, repairs, improved lighting, and deep cleaning of pavements.
The decision to trial the seven zebra crossings came from feedback gathered from a consultation period in 2022, which reported a majority of participants were in favour of prioritising pedestrians on Airlie Beach Main Street.
“The move to a pedestrian priority is a follow-up from a consultation last year,” a Council spokesperson said.
“This consultation showed there was a lean towards improving pedestrian priority.”
The last major upgrade to Airlie Beach Main Street occurred over 10 years ago, costing about $25 million for the project.
The current pedestrian walkways have been in place since this previous upgrade, and have signage stating, ‘Pedestrians only cross when road is clear’, giving motorised vehicles right of way.
“This new consultation is to gauge the sentiment for the number zebra crossings,” the Council spokesperson said.
The consultation period will run all of September, and members of the community are able to suggest ideas or share feedback through the Your Say Whitsunday Portal, or to Council at their stall at the Airlie Beach Markets.
Seven new zebra crossings have been proposed, with the community encouraged to share their thoughts to Council. Photo supplied
