Roads ‘Are Killing People’

February 11, 2016

Lack of spending on main roads in Queensland by the State and Federal governments is killing people, South Burnett mayor Wayne Kratzmann told February’s Council meeting.

He said many ratepayers believed all the roads in the region were Council’s responsibility, but many were not.

He said the Mundubbera-Durong Road – a main road with heavy vehicles on it – was “a disgrace”, especially where it changed into a single lane.

But the road is a State Government responsibility, not the Council’s.

“Unfortunately the South Burnett sign is right there,” he said.

“We need to get the Main Roads Minister out there.”

Mayor Kratzmann called for more of the registration fees collected by the State Government to be put back into main roads.

“It’s an absolute disgrace that we have major arterial roads in the South Burnett that are not even close to being done (by Main Roads),” he said.

He said something had to change, and it was not just a South Burnett problem.

“It’s not just drink drivers who kill our young people and people on our roads, it’s our darn roads which kill people, because they’re simply not good enough,” Mayor Kratzmann said.

He said the State and Federal governments had to make roads funding a major election issue.

And he urged the community to “get on the doorstep” of their local State and Federal MPs.

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Division 1 councillor Barry Green had sparked the conversation by asking what was happening with the Maidenwell-Bunya Mountains Road.

SBRC General Manager Infrastructure Russell Hood said Council had been lobbying to get funding for the road from the State Government.

However, under the methodology used – especially traffic volume – it had not scored as highly as other roads.

“I would recommend that Council try to pursue other avenues with the State Government to seek alternative funding,” Mr Hood said.

Cr Deb Palmer said the methodology was wrong.

She said a lot of people simply weren’t using the road – and rentals cars were not allowed to use it – because of the gravel section.

Cr Green said he and Cr Palmer had been pushing to have the road fixed for eight years.

“Tourism is the way that we’re going to lead this State out of the mire that we are in,” he said.

“Three kilometres of dirt road is stopping a major artery into the Bunya Mountains being utilised properly.

“That is the jewel in the crown when it comes to tourism in the South Burnett.

“Things have to be done, we keep talking about it and there’s all this gobbledy-gook and bureaucratic you-know-what that stops things from happening.

“Three kilometres, $3 million or $4 million worth of roadworks, is all that’s needed out of a State Budget of billions of dollars to get that road fixed up.

“For the life of me I can’t understand why successive governments of whatever colour over the last 20 years keep denying this area that road.

“If it wasn’t a main road, I’m certain Council would have fixed it up. Nanango Council would have fixed it up.”

Mayor Kratzmann said a lot of people didn’t realise it was a main road.

He joked that after the March 19 election there would be a “new lobbyist’ for the road that Council didn’t have now.

  Council