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Public areas improved for Lexmark Indy 300 |
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Tuesday, 09 October 2007 |
The piecing together of one of Australia’s biggest event
construction jigsaws is nearing completion on the Gold Coast as
organisers count down the final nine days until the start of this
year’s Lexmark Indy 300 event spectacular.
The temporary motor racing precinct is a massive undertaking within the
Streets of Surfers Paradise. With continual improvements the
construction and pack up over the last 10 years has decreased from 199
days to 100 days which is an amazing effort.
An initial glimpse of the overall set-up of this logistical and
labour intensive project sees the 2007 precinct model boasting a
greater plan to facilitate heavy pedestrian traffic during the fours
days of the Lexmark Indy 300 carnival.
“Over the years the construction process has been fine tuned and
runs like clockwork to be fully operational on the Thursday of the
event while ensuring as little impact as possible on local residents
during the process,” said Lexmark Indy 300 General Manager Greg Hooton.
“A comprehensive look at how we were doing things last year
pinpointed a couple of areas within the precinct where bottlenecks of
pedestrians were slowing crowd traffic as they moved to and from
different areas of the circuit.
“We’re all about ensuring the event experience is an enjoyable one
for everyone at the Lexmark Indy 300 and we’re certain a further
opening up of public through-fares around Macintosh Island will prove a
positive step for patrons.
“Everyone involved in the coordination of this year’s event is
extremely excited as we count down the days to the start of the Lexmark
Indy 300.”
Specific to the 2007 plan has been a recognisable attempt to open
up the rear pathway which winds its way north-south along the precinct
behind the Champ Car pit area.
The visible movement of particular facilities including the Champ
Car driver’s area and the event media centre have also been major
considerations.
The slight restructure also sees the acquisition of more shaded
rest areas throughout the precinct which will prove ideal for families
with small children and similarly appreciated by all individuals.
The Lexmark Indy 300 is acclaimed internationally as a ‘crown jewel’ international motorsport event.
Similarly it is regarded as a leader in the design, construction
and safety features of temporary street circuits, through the
transformation of a thriving residential and commercial precinct into a
motor racing circuit facilitating hundreds of thousands of fans and
high speed racing.
The 4.47km circuit consists of 2515 concrete blocks which all weigh
four tonnes each. In other interesting statistics, the circuit requires
10km of debris fencing, 16km of security fencing and nine temporary
bridges. It is all constructed in a 100 day period , even though the
inventory is three times what it was in the first year in 1991.
Gold Coast based engineering company Hyder Consulting has overseen
the extensive building procedure since the first Event in 1991,
annually reviewing, modifying and improving the plans to position the
Lexmark Indy 300 as a world-leading circuit.
To facilitate the construction of the circuit, a traffic initiative
introduced in 1999 will continue this year to reduce traffic delays.
As of 12.01am next Monday October 15 2007, traffic conditions change within the Precinct as follows:
The Gold Coast Highway (Southbound) from Tedder Avenue to Elkhorn
Avenue will be closed to all traffic from 12.01am on Monday 15 October
until 4.00 pm on Monday 22 October 2007.
The Gold Coast Highway will operate one lane of traffic in both
directions from Cavill Avenue to Waterways Drive for the above period,
with one lane of traffic. No right turns will be permitted over this
length, with the exception of Admiralty Drive between the hours of 6.30
to 7.45 am.
Access to this road between Enderley Avenue and Waterways Drive
will be restricted to local traffic only. All other traffic must use
alternate routes. Signs advising of the Alternative Routes available
will be displayed at all major intersections in the area.
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