The designs for Port Macquarie-Hastings Council’s proposed upgrades aim to improve pedestrian safety, manage traffic flow and speed, and increase accessibility at busy intersections and key crossing points.

Recommended improvements include installing pedestrian refuges on the Gordon and Hollingworth Street roundabout approaches, and formalising the current crossing near the Coles building on Hayward Street by upgrading it to a marked zebra crossing.

Council director Alex Fisher said the draft designs aim to restore the balance between vehicles and pedestrians by making it safer and easier for people to move around busy hot spots.

“Improving safety and accessibility within the Port Macquarie CBD is a high priority for council, and once the community has provided feedback, the designs can be finalised and applications to fund their construction can commence,” Ms Fisher said.

The draft designs also consider how the CBD road network is used by different modes of transport, including bicycles, buses, taxis, motorbikes and delivery vehicles.

“As our community continues to grow, we will see an increasing number of locals and visitors within the CBD, so it’s really important that we plan now for the upgrades, and we are encouraging the community to tell us what they think,” Ms Fisher said.

Council received $75,000 through the Roads and Maritime Services Active Transport Fund to develop the design concepts.

The draft Port Macquarie CBD pedestrian facilities designs are available for comment until June 30 at pmhc.nsw.gov.au/cbd-pedestrian-facilities or by visiting council’s customer service centres or libraries in Laurieton, Port Macquarie and Wauchope.

The community can also provide feedback by attending a drop-in session from 11.30am-1.30pm on Friday June 22 outside Coles on Hayward Street.