I believe the reason the centre of town has been unable to grow and develop as a retail space is mainly because of the safety and environmental issues surrounding the transit of heavy vehicles through the centre of town.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
I know that heavy vehicles have played a major part in the development of the region, I used to sit at the Mekong Thai and marvel at the trucks as they turned into the Victoria Highway.
That time has passed and so has the time that we can ignore the plight that our retailers are in on the Main Street. There are other issues at play that effect retail on Katherine Terrace but they fluctuate and can be managed - what is a constant is the number of heavy vehicles (400+ a day) using our Main Street to service Tindal and the region.
Now I believe most people share my view that having heavy vehicles transiting through Katherine Centre is dangerous. The task for Government and Council is to come up with a practical diversion route.
The NT Government have their plans and a timeframe of ten to 20 years - well, this is not an acceptable timeframe given the amount of heavy vehicle activity we are currently experiencing and will increase with the future development of the Tindal Air Force Base.
The solution has to come from local knowledge and an understanding of what is a cost effective solution that will deliver a diversion to Katherine in the next three years.
There are now major service station truck stops at the corner of Bicentennial Highway and on Zimin Drive, so we have to work with these developments.
The key to any diversion plan is the second bridge over the Katherine River. This has to be placed parallel to the new railway bridge so that it can be accessed via Bicentennial to the south and Florina / Zimin to the north. This bridge will provide a much needed second high-level bridge over the Katherine River and support the transit of all the industry that needs to travel out to the Tindal.
In the short term a diversion with a second bridge will connect Bicentennial with Florina Road / Zimin Drive.
Heavy vehicles travelling north to west exit the Bicentennial bypass somewhere before the new bridge and onto the Victoria Highway. Heavy vehicles travelling south to west will go Zimin / Florina over the bridge and exit on to the Victoria Highway.
By taking all the heavy vehicles traffic out of the town centre we will allow retailers the much-needed respite from the noise, smoke and associated safety issues surrounding large vehicles travelling through the town.
Having a diversion in place would allow us to turn all northbound light vehicles left at the lights at Town square and onto Railway Terrace, allowing for a walkway/shopping strip to be established between the Giles Street and the Victoria Highway. This would also relieve the pressure on the right turn from the Victoria Highway to the Stuart Highway. Also remove the incredibly dangerous parking arrangement along that stretch of the Highway where vehicles have to reverse blind into oncoming traffic.
These changes would have the effect of creating a space where there are no heavy vehicles, a boulevard of shopping, alfresco dining and community services in the middle of the town, while light vehicles are still travelling through the town centre north to south.
A place where the people of Katherine can gather in safety and enjoy all the delights that Katherine has to offer.
