The vision to transform Maitland Park has been narrowed down to two concept designs — one a two-way traffic option, the other one-way — but both are expected to be “substantially cheaper” than the original master plan.

The City of Greater Geraldton received a $3.4 million Federal government grant to undertake planning, detailed design and a business case to make Maitland Park a safer, more sustainable multi-use hub.

Traffic concerns have plagued the area, with five schools bordering the park.

Councillors have been presented with two concept designs this month — scenario one is a “two-way configuration where it retains the existing two-way traffic flows with new safety upgrades and constrained road space”.

Meanwhile, scenario two is a one-way design where “Carson Terrace and Maitland Street are converted into a one-way loop that is set to reduce crossing complexity and reallocate the road space to pedestrian, cycling and greening outcomes”.

City director of infrastructure services Chris Lee told councillors at this week’s agenda forum the concept designs had been a result of stakeholder working groups, with the project now ready for broader community consultation.

“It’s important to remember that both of the options work,” Mr Lee said.

“There’s pros and cons to both . . . there’s arguably much greater safety benefits from having a one-way system that’s slower and narrower and easier for the students to navigate, but there’s some implication then for the traffic movement by one-waying it as well.”

Mr Lee declined to put a figure on the overall project cost, but said it would be “substantially cheaper” than the original concept plan, which had an estimated price tag of up to $50m.

“The original master plan, which had the transport hub in the middle of the park, was really a grab bag of ideas that weren’t really thoroughly tested at the time,” he said.

“The last six months, all of that work has been unpacked and considered in detail, and the actual transport hub model in the middle is flawed.

“The issue that you have is that by dropping everybody in the middle they all still scatter like ants across the roads, and you’ve got all those crossing issues and all the other things that go with it.”

Instead of an off-road bus interchange for all five schools, the plan has reverted back to “separate but improved” drop-off and pick-up areas, with narrower roads and wider footpaths, according to city CEO Ross McKim.

“The safest option for the schools is the one-way (design), but that will potentially upset the broader community,” he said.

A lot of plantings, a nature play area and open space to host community events will also be included in the redevelopment.

“We don’t have any money to build anything but we have the money to get to a detailed design phase,” Mr McKim said.

Mr Lee said the council could either apply for grant funding for the construction phase or consider funding a staged approach itself.

Councillors will next week vote on endorsing both concept designs for the next stage of wider community consultation.