July 21, 2014
Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington has rejected concerns raised on a TV broadcast earlier this month that a new set of overtaking lanes being built between Nanango and Yarraman could put motorists’ lives at risk.
On July 8, the TV network reported there was confusion about the new overtaking lane being constructed on a 1.4km stretch of the D’Aguilar Highway, claiming one local resident feared it could be deadly.
The network said the lane would be southbound, not northbound as some residents believed, and raised the spectre of vehicles speeding downhill to overtake.
Mrs Frecklington said the passing lane was always going to be southbound and said the media report had made the project look “quite crazy”.
She said the majority of the new passing lane was on the lead-up to the downhill part – which is flat – and only a small portion as the lanes merged was downhill.
“(The TV station) reported that it was right down the hill, which is simply not correct,” she said.
Mrs Frecklington said people were getting confused because the roadworks which surround the project extend further down the hill than the actual lanes would stretch.
“It looks really different at the moment because of the roadworks,” she said.
Mrs Frecklington said there were already two northbound overtaking lanes between Blackbutt and Nanango, which is why it had been decided to build a southbound one.
She said the original concerns raised by local residents which had sparked the TV station’s interest were actually about the turn into Beitzel Road, which had been a problem for many years.
She said she had met with the residents and discussed various options to improve this turn-off.
- Related article: Work Starts On Passing Lane
