The San Fran Plan -Arthur Street, Kings Beach - Creating A Safe Street & Tourist Precinct

Arthur Street, Kings Beach is a very steep street with a gradient that many vehicles struggle to ascend. With Sunshine Coast Council approving the construction of tall apartment buildings on Canberra Terrace and Maltman Street South in recent years, the population in Kings Beach has swelled and steep Arthur Street has become a major thoroughfare with consistent traffic movements throughout the day. 

Due to its steepness, which has a gradient of over 40%, Arthur Street has become a training grounds for fitness enthusiasts and Kokoda Trail adventurers who have been observed walking backwards up the middle of the street to avoid the stairs.

It is also now a street where skateboarders fly down the middle of the street at breakneck speeds, hoons do fishtail tyre burnouts and cars literally become airborn, speeding over the Arthur Street/Maltman Street South/Canberra Terrace intersection late at night. 

Arthur Street has also become an incredibly noisy place due to the traffic and the 'amphitheatre effect' of the street's natural topography combined with the tall buildings on Canberra Terrace and Maltman Street South. Decibel ratings from the street noise in the middle of the amphitheatre at 29 Arthur Street have been measured at over 100dB. With garbage disposal noise being 80dB and a jet take off also being 100dB, that's pretty loud!

If nothing is done to calm traffic on Arthur Street and finally fix what many people argue is the unsafest intersection in Australia, it is highly likely someone will die in the not too distant future. In 2020, a moped rider fell off his moped trying to ascend the street and in 2019, an elderly man got out of his car that couldn't make it up the street - only to have his vehicle roll back onto him. 

The intersection of Arthur Street, Canberra Terrace and Maltman Street South is very dangerous and there are lots of accidents and near misses. Driving west on Arthur Street necessitates drivers turn left onto Canberra Terrace then make a quick sharp right hand turn back onto Canberra Terrace then a left turn to continue west along Arthur Street. You can’t just simply cross through the intersection. Drivers approaching the Stop signs travelling south on Maltman Street South constantly fail to give way to vehicles on their right travelling east along Arthur Street with most vehicles rolling through the Stop sign as though it’s a Give Way sign.

We are proposing that Arthur Street between Upper Gay Terrace and Maltman Street South/Canberra Terrace become a one-way down hill street. Referred to by the Sunshine Coast Daily as "the San Fran Plan" due to the Lombard Street, San Francisco switchback gardens influence, with re-landscaping, Arthur Street between Upper Gay Terrace and Maltman Street South/Canberra Terrace would have garden beds integrated into switchbacks which would calm traffic down to 20 km/h and prevent vehicles from trying to ascend the street and the safety risks that come with that.
The intersection at  Arthur Street, Maltman Street South and Canberra Terrace would finally become traffic lights and the disused Lions Park beside Arthur Street would be beautified to encourage tourists off the beach and onto Arthur Street, Lions Park and the old lighthouses next door then onto Bulcock Street to support local businesses. Currently, Lions Park is only used by drug addicts due to the fact that a retaining wall prevents people from walking through the park. 

If traffic was re-directed through Bulcock Street, this would encourage people to get out of their cars and support local businesses.

Please help us to make "The San Fran Plan" first proposed to Sunshine Coast Council (Caloundra City Council) in 2004 a reality by signing our petition.

Thanks for your support!

Bruce Thompson