Entrance roundabout redevelopment to leave 'memorable' impression
Entrance roundabout redevelopment to leave 'memorable' impression
Friday December 5 2014, 11:30am
Port Douglas will finally be getting a definitive ‘entrance statement’ as plans to redevelop the roundabout connecting the town to the Captain Cook Highway are released for public comment.
Douglas Shire Council has placed three different options for the final design of the roundabout up for public view on its website, with residents able to leave feedback until December 22.
Works will begin on the chosen design shortly afterward, with the roundabout expected to be finished between four and five weeks after that.
The redevelopment is designed to give Port Douglas a more recognisable and memorable entrance off the highway than the current utilitarian roundabout, which was installed in December 2013 after a major safety upgrade.
Council awarded the roundabout redevelopment contract to Mossman company Papillon Landscapes during a closed session of its meeting on Wednesday.
Papillon in turn has kept the other aspects of creating the roundabout local, hiring architect Kate Hewitt to design the installation and Raw and More Landscape Supplies to provide raw materials.
Papillon owner-operator Peter Murphy said he and his company were excited to have an all-local team in creating the new roundabout.
“We’re pumped, we’re excited - we’ve got three local companies involved in the project and that’s definitely the way we wanted it,” Mr Murphy said.
“We all decided we’d jump in together and make it happen.”
The roundabout project calls for a design that reflects Port Douglas’s central environmental themes of ‘Where the Rainforest Meets the Reef’.
Safety and infrastructure restrictions from the State Government mean that designs for the roundabout feature mainly concrete and stoneworks in the central circle, with the verges to feature more vegetation.
The State Government rules do not permit any irrigation, lighting or plants thicker than 50 millimetres.
Mr Murphy also said Papillon wouldn’t just focus on the central circle of the roundabout.
“We’re actually making a very conscious decision to also concentrate on the verges and doing those verges up nicely,” he said.
Douglas Shire Council mayor Julia Leu said despite the restrictions, the finished project would provide an instantly-recognisable entrance to Port Douglas for motorists.
“While safety criteria imposed by the Department of Transport and Main Roads places major limitations on what can be achieved on the roundabout itself, this proposal ticks all those boxes and creates an entrance worthy of our world-renowned destination,” Mayor Leu said.
“It incorporates the existing landscaping on-site into newly created gardens on the verges while using the roundabout as a centrepiece for a uniquely designed piece of art.”
Tourism Port Douglas and Daintree executive officer Tara Bennett said a redeveloped roundabout would be fitting for Port Douglas's status as a premier tourism hotspot.
"Port Douglas is a world-class tourism destination and it's very important how we present ourselves," Ms Bennett said.
"The presentation of the destination is critically important to business perceptions.
"[The roundabout] will be a fantastic opportunity to showcase the beauty of the region."
Works on the roundabout will be designed to minimise traffic delay, with road closures of no more than five minutes in a two-hour period permitted to allow workers to move equipment and materials to the site.
Member for Cook David Kempton helped secure $100,000 in State Government funding for the roundabout project.
Check out the alternate proposed designs for the roundabout below: