We’ve had some in the community ask us about traffic and the current need for upgrades to the Sunshine Motorway near the Coolum Roundabout, particularly after the tragic accident last May. Further to this, locals have also highlighted the current congestion, which occurs mainly around school pick-up and drop-off times. At present, the school has very limited facilities on School Road. A parent wanting to pick up from the Barns Lane side often has to circulate back through the roundabout on Coolum-Yandina Road if their children are not ready when they arrive. This adds to the congestion and the frustration of all.
As part of the Barns Lane Farm development, we are creating 360 car parks on-site, to which we have committed to allowing parents access during these peak times. We are a family-first establishment and see this as just another way to support local families and connect with young families. We will also upgrade Barns Lane to create another 50 to 80 car parks along this road.
Additionally, as part of our Development Application, we have been conditioned by the Department of Transport and Main Roads (DTMR) to upgrade the School Road roundabout to two lanes heading east, where it currently merges into one lane. The new lane will be for left turns into School Road or travel straight ahead, while the existing lane will be for right turns to the south. This will create a better free-flowing movement through the roundabout.
However, the ultimate solution for the School Road roundabout is for it to be converted into a signalised intersection so the traffic controllers can “flush” the traffic through at times when congestion starts to back up. DTMR is currently working on that design as part of the overall plan to upgrade the Sunshine Motorway from Maroochy River through to Coolum-Yandina Road. This upgrade has been long promised but not yet delivered.
We understand the frustrations and concerns of locals around this and we want you to know, that we are on your side.
From our meetings and interactions with DTMR, we’ve been assured that the design for the upgrade, including the school road roundabout has commenced. We believe this to be true and have seen the first stages of the community consultation.
We want to minimise the disruption associated with doing the upgrades to the School Road roundabout as two separate pieces of work, and we are exploring with DTMR, the opportunities to work together to implement the ultimate solution straight up – which is the signalised intersection. This may involve Barns Lane Farm contributing the funds we would have spent to upgrade the School Road roundabout, and DTMR doing the works as part of the larger Sunshine Motorway upgrade. At this stage, we just don’t have the answers but we will keep working towards the best community outcome.
There is a lot of goodwill on both sides and DTMR, like us, wants to see the best outcome for the local community. While we understand many locals have concerns about the Sunshine Motorway stretch, we believe this will assist with the traffic flow and lead to the larger works planned for the Motorway. We hope our involvement will assist in these works happening sooner rather than later.
We will keep you posted as to how things progress.
Jason Grant, Co-Founder, Barns Lane Farm