Northbound motorists will find it hard to get to the new McDonald's proposed for Flinders Street.
The fast food company has lodged a development application to build a restaurant at 47-49 Flinders Street - virtually next door to the recently approved 182-apartment block.
"The proposed McDonald's operation is situated within and optimises a highly accessible and convenient location," the application's statement of environmental effects said.
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"Development proposed under this development application will greatly assist in providing the services and facilities required to support the large volume of traffic along Flinders Street as well as support the broader industrial and commercial precinct."
But it's only the southbound Flinders Street traffic that will get served Big Macs without a hassle.
According to a traffic study lodged as part of the application, there will only be one access point into the car park - on Flinders Street - and that will be limited to vehicles travelling south towards the CBD.
"To prevent vehicles from turning right to/from the site, council has requested a that 1.2-metre wide median be constructed from the roundabout to the northern boundary of the site," the traffic study stated.
Northbound drivers will have to turn into Gipps Streets and then do a u-turn before waiting at the lights to turn right onto Flinders Street.
The application said the car park will have 16 spaces and the two-lane drive-thru has capacity for 17 vehicles.
The outlet is proposed to operate 24 hours, seven day a week with an average of 12 staff on site during the day and a minimum of three during night-time hours.
The traffic study found the McDonald's outlet will increase vehicle movement in morning and evening peaks along Flinders Street by up to 50 cars in both directions, 20 vehicles on each of Gipps Street, Throsby Drive and Campbell Street.
The study said the surrounding roads could handle that extra traffic, with no more than a 15-second delay at the Flinders-Gipps Street intersection and the Flinders Street roundabout.
A study on odours found there would be no impact on "sensitive receptors" - aka neighbouring residents and businesses.
"Considering the proposed design of the exhaust points, and distance to the nearest identified sensitive receptors to the project, odour emissions are expected to be reasonably well dispersed into ambient air and therefore unlikely to negatively impact the surrounding environment," the study found.
The development application is on public exhibition until October 25.
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Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
