General News
27 May, 2025
A long and winding road for roundabout project
A NEW roundabout at the busy Constance/Herberton St intersection in Mareeba is complete, with a final touch delivered last Wednesday.
The roundabout, which was announced in June last year, has been the talk of the town as electrical and other infrastructure issues plagued the works.
Councillor Amy Braes raised the milestone completion at the council meeting last week noting it was now the “topic on most people’s lips”.
The roundabout is a key access route for traffic heading over the John Doyle Bridge crossing the Barron River to Anzac Avenue and the growing suburbs east of town, and as short-cut for those connecting to the Kennedy Highway heading towards Kuranda and Cairns.
With a notorious traffic accident history, the intersection was the subject of a Mareeba Traffic Management Study, which included local feedback. Council had “listened to the community”, and the intersection upgrade was designed to address congestion, speed and visibility issues.
“I know I’m going to sleep better, now that it’s complete” Mayor Angela Toppin said.
While there was no ribbon cutting or champagne bottles launched last week, the roundabout marked an “absolutely huge effort” by the team of council workers.
“They had to work around a sewage system that needed to be upgraded, the water main that needed to be replaced, the electricals upgrade, the road works, the rocks found in the road, the challenging traffic management,” a council officer told the meeting.
“It’s been a very long and arduous project, but one that really delivers the benefits.”
A precarious pedestrian crossing had also been removed and replaced with a refuge in the centre of Herberton Street.
And should anyone admire the roundabout’s slightly skewwhiff design, it was based on pragmatism, not style.
“We have the main power poles running down the road, and if we wanted to move one, it would have almost doubled the cost,” a council spokesperson said.
Council was also told Ergon was expected to return in the coming weeks to replace the temporary power pole and lighting system.
The project was jointly funded by the council and the state government through its Transport Infrastructure Development Scheme.
