River Street is Mackay's in-town ramp, on the south bank of the Pioneer River at the edge of the city centre. Maritime Safety Queensland rebuilt it in January 2021 at a cost of $2.67 million, with a new floating walkway, and council counts it among the region's multi-lane all-tide ramps alongside the marina and Victor Creek. The state register, last updated a few months after the rebuild, still carries a tide-limited flag, and the river does get thin at the bottom of a big spring low, so the two views are not really in conflict: it works on most tides, and you pay attention on the lowest ones.
The car park is the constraint: 22 bays in a busy riverfront precinct that is being redeveloped, with a new floating pontoon for non-motorised craft installed further along at Brisbane Street in late 2023. Weekends fill early.
The Pioneer is one of the few genuinely blue-water rivers in the state: from the ramp it is a short run downstream past the breakwaters to the coast, and upstream the river holds barramundi, salmon, jack and jew around the rock walls and bridges. Six knots near the moorings and bridges. Marine Rescue Queensland Mackay monitors VHF 16; crocodiles are present in the river.