Work on roundabout finishes

Improving road safety was the driving focus for a roundabout at the Racecourse Road and Peek Street intersection.

Construction has now finished for the fifth roundabout to be built in Charters Towers.

Councillor Bernie Robertson, whose portfolio includes roads, said the new roundabout will improve traffic flow and safety for road users.

“A report presented to Council highlighted this intersection as a particularly dangerous one in Charters Towers,” he said.

“It found 32 conflict points at the intersection.

“This roundabout has reduced that number to eight, making it significantly safer for anyone travelling through the intersection.

“The design of it will also reduce the severity of crashes as motorists have to lower their speed when approaching the roundabout,” Cr Robertson said.

Some of the issues identified in the report were the high volume of traffic that used the intersection, the poor sight distance due to the horizontal alignment and private nature strip plantings and the wide roads providing a false sense of driving speed and safety for motorists.

Cr Robertson said Council’s roads team had done a great job of constructing the roundabout and thanked the community for their patience.

“The team encountered a few unforeseen issues during construction which unfortunately pushed back the scheduled finish date by a few weeks.

“It was great to see the community continue to observe the signage during construction and use the detours to ensure we were able to get the work done as quickly and safely as possible,” Cr Robertson said.