McDonalds Homemaker Centre, Northwest Coastal Highway, Geraldton, Western Australia, is a very busy and popular fast food outlet, being on the main route through the regional city, and the highway to the north of WA. 

Those entering the car park of the Homemaker Centre, for purposes of shopping or to drop teenagers at other businesses for work, during Mcdonald's peak times - for example, 8am-10am Saturday and Sunday mornings, 11am-2pm Saturday and Sunday, 3pm-4:30pm weekdays, and other times too numerous to mention - are immediately and too frequently faced with an unmoving line of cars waiting for the McDonalds drive-through. Too often the line is so long that it snakes back to the entrance of the car park, meaning traffic cannot even turn into the Homemaker Centre car park, obstructing North West Coastal Highway, as the line to enter then continues on the Highway. 

With a Harvey Norman Superstore slated to be built at the complex in the near future, this safety and traffic flow issue is only going to get worse. 

Below is an excerpt from an article in The West Australian, which can be viewed here. 

"Forty Winks Geraldton franchisee said the new McDonald’s restaurant would be a positive addition to the Centre.

The restaurant will take up most of the front car parking area at the Homemaker Centre, but the franchisee said parking “would not be an issue”.

He said a new car parking area was being built at the rear of the Centre to replace the spaces lost near the highway.

“Everything has been compensated for,” he said."

Everything has clearly NOT been compensated for. I myself became aware of this issue exactly 4 years ago when my daughter started work at another business within the complex. I dread having to drop her off as we are almost always caught in the line. At times I am forced to pull out of the line and drive down towards the pedestrian crossing on the wrong side of the road, but often people have blocked the gap that would enable me to turn left at the pedestrian crossing. It is an absolute nightmare to negotiate and I am not alone in this sentiment. 

In response to suggestions that traffic be rerouted around the back of the complex, a former staff member of another business housed at The Homemaker Centre commented;

"People are already speeding through there, day in and day out. Staff going out to the bins face a hazard even when there isn't a truck being unloaded. The laneway was designed as load/unload areas for business and for caravans and trailers to park behind and not fill up the main car park, which they still do anyway. You also STILL can't get into the main car park that way as rarely does anyone leave a gap open for cars to enter the car park, after driving all the way around the back of the complex. Many a Sunday did I sit in the queue as I couldn't go around to get in."

A former owner of a business that was originally housed in The Homemaker Centre sent me:

"My husband and I owned Paint Place in the homemaker centre for over 11 years and when they started the construction of the McDonald’s we went to the centre manager/owner with great concern about the blocking of the driveway, because our business was at it busiest at 7am to 9am when the tradies came in and collected their paint for the days work. They would not be able to get to us due to this problem that you have highlighted in your post.

The centre manager/owner said that this would be seen to (as we see it now, and it won’t be a problem) well really it was and always will be a nightmare.

We got the one way in and one way out implemented (as group of local store owners) but people don’t even do that right. They still do what they want as far as going in and out. Some are good and follow the arrows/one way but not all. 

It’s a shit of a car park for getting in and out of but the main roads wouldn’t let them have two entries and exit points and were very adamant that they will never change this.  The original builders/owner fought and fought to no avail. It is a busy part of the highway with so many crossroads they wouldn't allow anything other than the current in and out of the driveway."

Another concerned member of the public has pointed out that this is a fire hazard, and if emergency services were needed at a store within the complex, they would not be able to navigate in or out at peak times, due to the Maccas line. 

This is a public safety hazard, at the very least, and needs to be addressed. 

My suggestion is to direct drive-through traffic to the left, at the pedestrian crossing, down towards the back of the centre, across the bottom of the car park, and then west again towards the Mcdonald's drive-through. Mark a specific drive-through lane from in front of the pet store, past the gym and The Good Guys etc. Once people get to the front of the lane/line they can split either left or right into the drive-through, depending which entry is available to them. The one-way roadways in this section are double wide, with plenty of space for two lanes of traffic; drive-through traffic in the left lane, and general traffic not waiting for the Maccas drive-through in the right lane. Have lanes clearly marked. Keep the existing 'keep clear' areas. Make all of the parking in front of the impacted businesses either 15-minute collection bays or dedicated disabled parking, and direct other centre customers to the ample car parking available in the centre of the complex. 

There are MANY fast food drive-throughs in Perth that have complex entryways. One such example is the Hungry Jacks on Armadale Road, when you exit Albany Highway to the left at Armadale Road. Exiting Armadale Road, onto a side road, you then follow arrows on bitumen around a curving one way road bordered by box curbing, until you reach the drive-through entrace. I do not see the solution I'm offering as complicated. 

At peak times it's true that customers would not be able to enter or exit some disabled parking bays but on the whole now, plenty of parking bays sit empty because potential customers avoid the area due to the issue with the Maccas drive-through line. There is no perfect solution based on the restrictions from Main Roads WA, as mentioned by the former business owner above, but I believe this is close to the best solution for reducing the impact on customers and staff at other centre businesses. 

A new Harvey Norman Superstore built at the complex, anticipating even more traffic to the centre, this safety and traffic flow issue is only going to get worse. 

I will be presenting this petition to the Harvey Norman Group as soon as I have gathered (what I gauge to be) enough signatures.