September 18, 2013
South Burnett Mayor Wayne Kratzmann today questioned why safer roads have to be paid for with deaths and injuries.
He was responding to a report by Roads Portfolio holder Cr Damien Tessmann about the intersection of Taylors Road and the Bunya Highway, north of Kingaroy.
The Mayor said he thought this intersection was becoming dangerous at peak hours, and that increased right-hand turns there were a cause for concern.
The Council’s Traffic Advisory Committee had looked at the issue and considered a number of possibilities to improve safety.
These measures including lowering the speed limit on Taylors Road from 100km/h to 80km/h, and building a turning lane.
However, both options had been ruled out – the speed zone reduction because it would increase driver frustration, and the turning lane because of cost.
At today’s South Burnett Regional Council meeting, Mayor Kratzmann said one of his major frustrations with the Federal Government’s Black Spot road safety program was it was reactive, not proactive.
“Why should road safety improvements need to be paid for in fatalities?” he asked.
“There are many qualified people – like our police, council workers and emergency services personnel – who can see when a road is unsafe.
“We’ve all seen the major advertising campaign that was put into play to reduce drink-driving.
“It took many years, but it has now completely altered our community’s attitude to drink-driving and saved many lives in the process,” he said.
“So right now the next biggest cause of road deaths is the state of Australian roads.
“Wouldn’t it be cheaper to fix them up front rather than wait until people die before we fix them?”
The Department Of Transport and Main Roads will asked to conduct a safety audit of the intersection of the Taylors Road and Bunya Highway intersection.
