December 12, 2012
South Burnett Regional Council will consider a proposal to revamp Pound Street in Kingaroy to overcome drainage problems which have seen part of the road closed for almost two years.
Pound Street near the Avoca Street intersection regularly floods after heavy rain as run-off from Somerset St and the adjacent vacant land overwhelms the drains and lake.
The January 2011 floods saw large volumes of water pass over the area and safety concerns led to the road’s partial closure. It’s remained closed ever since.
Council had until recently been considering extensive drainage works to get the closed section open again.
But after consultation with Council engineers, Mayor Wayne Kratzmann believes that permanently closing off part of Pound St and extending Avoca St to Somerset St may be a better long-term answer.
The Mayor floated the idea at the Council’s November 21 meeting.
He said that connecting Avoca to Somerset streets would provide an alternate route in and out of the CBD and would also be less expensive for ratepayers in the long run than repairing Pound St after every flood.
However he said he would like Council to undertake consultations with homes and businesses which would be directly affected by the proposal before wider community engagement was undertaken.
Under the plan, the Council would initially close off a portion of Pound St that forms the rear boundary of the Senior Citizens Park, and also remove an existing path that runs parallel to Somerset St along the same portion of road.
The northern intersection of Pound and Avoca streets would be reformed. Pound St parking would be improved and a new footpath and footbridge would be installed to upgrade pedestrian access in the area.
The Council would also extend the drainage area to collect run-off and feed it into the park lake and downstream to the channel that runs along the edge of the Town Common, providing significantly better drainage of the catchment in wet weather.
The plan also envisages two future stages:
- Stage 2: Connecting Avoca Street to Somerset Street once the old railway line that separates the two streets is removed (expected to occur in 2013), and …
- Stage 3: Installing a roundabout at the intersection of Somerset and Knight Streets.
The Council carried out initial consultations with affected landholders over the past three weeks and is now inviting public input on the proposal.
The idea, and public reaction to it, is expected to be discussed again at the Council’s January 2013 meeting.
- A copy of the Pound Street proposal can be downloaded by clicking here (2.1Mb PDF)
