Castaways Beach Road Safety Project

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How do you enter car park when driving north? Cross the chevron?
Genuine question. Thanks

Upgrade looks great.

Hi there, as a resident of Castaways Beach for 20 years and carefully crossing this section of the David Low Way to access the beach with our three kids I am so thrilled with the new carpark and safety aspects of this new design, and I express my gratitude to the council. I am however a little concerned as to whether or not a footpath will be built on the western side of the David Low Way via the car park to provide easy, quick and safe access to the new southern bus stop for travelling North. It makes sense for all the residents in the middle of Castaways Beach and visitors to the beach rather than walking on the busy road or meandering all through the backstreets in order to access this new bus stop. This bus stop is very popular particularly in the Christmas and Easter holidays with the wonderful free bus service that Noosa Council and ratepayers provide. I can't seem to see any provision for this in the current plan and as roadwork continues. You do mention footpath access to the new positioning of bus stops. Will this be carried out?

I hold concerns about the additional lighting proposed:
1/ Castaways Beach is an important turtle hatchery. The lighting will confuse baby turtles and are hazardous
https://conserveturtles.org/information-sea-turtles-threats-artificial-lighting/
2/ Add to light pollution which significantly reduces our ability to see stars in our night sky. One of the special delights of our beach is being able to star gaze
3/ Waste of energy - very few people use the area at night; there is sufficient spill light from the toilets. Additional lighting is an unnecessary and harmful expense.

Speed should be reduced to 60kmh as a minimum.

Otherwise I support the project and thanks for the consultation

Having lived in Castaways Beach for over 10 years I congratulate council on these long overdue initiatives to make the crossing and car park to the beach access safer. Castaways residents need to be able to cross safely and although there are two tunnels this is not always an option for everyone as the beach path walkway is quite long (especially if you have small children) and it is not suitable after dark. I'm not sure about the concrete medium and feel that one larger pedestrian refuge (in line with the bottom of the stairs) would be fine.
With more and more people driving to Castaways in Peak weekend and holiday periods because of congestion at Main Beach and Sunshine Beach I agree the car parking needs to be more formalised. However council also needs to enforce this parking (especially overnight campervans) as vigorously as it does at other beaches.
I strongly feel this proposal has to go hand in hand with a marked reduction in the speed limit along this stretch of David Low Way. Standing in the middle of a pedestrian refuge whilst Toll and Coles trucks fly along on either side at 70ks is not going to make me feel any safer. The speed needs to be reduced to 50k and more measures need to put in place to promote the section of David Low Way between Peregian Beach and Sunshine Beach as a scenic coastal tourist drive, and encourage trucks to use Eenie Crk Rd. I thought that was one of the reasons it was built.
I would also like to know where the council intends to relocate the bus stops to.

I have recently moved to the area and during my very first drive through this particular stretch of coastland, immediately identified the aforementioned potential risks - that's how obvious they are. I think the plan has great merit and I'm pleased to see the situation being taken seriously. A few 'tweaks' may be in order - speed and pedestrian access seem to me to be the biggest issue. The introduction of a speed hump (north and south bound) would serve to reduce speed (with a positive flow on benefit to pedestrians as well as vehicles entering and exiting the car parking areas); alternatively, reducing the speed limit could be considered (although this is easier for motorists to ignore than speed humps!). I think the pedestrian safe zones are marvellous and absolutely essential so that pedestrians no longer have to literally run across the road and hope for the best. I think two is a good idea - one for each end depending on your location. People may be less inclined to use just one if it were in the middle and they were all the way at the other the end, thereby defeating it's purpose. I share the concerns of other contributors that vehicles exiting the car park will not necessarily have a direct route to do so - this will create new and flow on issues so let's be sensible in the first place and address current issues and mitigate future possible issues all at once rather than going 'opp's in 12 months time....Finally, I'm glad the proposed lighting will be directed away from the beach so as not to disturb the nesting turtles - we are important but so are they. I look forward to the improvements!!

We feel that this is a sensible plan to improve safety. Particularly like the two pedestrian crossings although we note the one at the southern end is also close to the car park exit which could be an extra challenge for pedestrians. Also have a concern about cars exiting the southbound car park wanting to turn north. Would not like to have this result in increased traffic in Wavecrest Drive. Overall we like the plan and support it. Thank you!

For cars that are parked at the beach car park and want to head north what is the council proposal? Are Uturns going to be permitted on the David Low Way at the right hand turn lane into Wavecrest Drive? Wavecrest Drive should not be considered an alternative route to get back onto the David Low Way to head north especially as this would create a dangerous situation driving past a much used children’s playground and a section of the road also used to cross to get to the staircase to access the beach. I also feel there is a good chance of speeding around the corner and up the hill only to have a short decline into the intersection at Wavecrest Drive and Driftwood Drive. This is already an awkward intersection which just copes with local traffic now and would become a dangerous intersection if flows increased. An alternative could be a round about at the intersection of David Low Way and Wavecrest Drive which would provide a safe option from the beachside car park for cars wanting to head back north and also slow traffic heading in both north and south directions. It might also provide a safer option for cyclists than a Uturn option. Please do not replace one hazardous situation with another hazardous situation. I believe traffic on the David Low Way should at all cost remain on the David Low Way and the residential streets around Casaways Beach should not be used as an alternative thoroughfare.

Good initiative as the current arrangements leave a lot to be desired. However it is far from clear where the bus stops will go to and it seems that the convenience of the current stops will be lost to those otherwise encouraged to use public transport. A clear flow of traffic must be maintained along David Low Way, though with a reduced speed limit past the car park. There must be no encouragement for drivers or cyclists to divert through the Castaways estate.

To cross the highway from my house to the beach I have to run because of the cars so fast it is dangerous I would like to see the council put a tunnel under the highway for safety the only way.Thank you.

Excellent initiative. As a cyclist, driver and local resident, I’ve experienced traffic confliction issues in this area from all perspectives. Could I also suggest that parking be more explicitly restricted at both ends on both sides where currently cars park across bike lanes when the area is full, particularly the southern end on the southbound side. This often creates an unsafe zone where cyclists are required to move out of the bike lane. The southbound bike lane along the road barrier immediately south of the parking area could also be widened as it is is quite narrow and the barrier reduces ‘bail out’ options for cyclists.

Dear Council
As a longterm resident of Castaways I have considered the carpark arrangement in its current form extremely hazardous and have witnessed several serious collisions and terrifying near misses. Free camping at the carpark overnight and on weekends is another concern. I think the proposal to move the bus stops is the most important improvement. I don't think there should be two separate pedestrian refuges as this will increase the hazard to all road users. Just one safe zone should be enough so that drivers and pedestrians alike can focus on the one area. Reducing the speed of through traffic is vital perhaps through speed humps or other treatments. Vehicle speeds along this stretch can be frighteningly high.

Great to see this project.As a long term resident of a Castaways Beach speed through this area needs to be reduced as crossing is hazardous and you run across Hopefully bus stops located close by on a David Low way as we use them regularly Heard rumour they might come into Wavecrest a Drive but this would be afrought idea . The overall plan seems to be adequate but have some concerns with how cars would exit beachside car park and turn to go back into Noosa as this has always been very hazardous for pedestrians . Would like to know where bus stops would be located