(Photo: Nanango Electorate Office)
March 27, 2019
“Rat runners” taking dangerous shortcuts through a Kilkivan back street will be deterred thanks to a campaign by local businesswoman Katy McCallum.
Katy contacted Opposition Leader and Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington in January about road safety concerns in the town.
“We had a meeting in early February in Kilkivan to discuss the problems and inspect the roads, in particular James Street, which has become a popular rat running road for drivers trying to bypass the Wide Bay Highway through the main part of the township,” Mrs Frecklington said.
“Concerns were also raised about heavy vehicles overshooting the 90 degree bend in the Wide Bay Highway at the corner of Bligh and Council streets when travelling west, resulting in them approaching the school zone area at high speeds.
“Following our meeting, I wrote to the Department of Transport and Main Roads, who took the issues to the Gympie Traffic Advisory Committee Meeting, and it was agreed that improvements needed to be made.”
The following road safety improvements which will be implemented in coming months include line marking and the installation of new and larger directional signs:
- “Local traffic only” signs will be installed on the Wide Bay Highway at both James Street intersections to deter vehicles rat running along the road.
- Line marking improvements will be made on the Wide Bay Highway at the Council/Bligh streets intersection to clearly identify the Wide Bay Highway as the priority road.
- New and larger directional signs will be installed to clearly identify the direction of travel for highway motorists.
Katy said it was a huge win for Kilkivan and a big relief when it came to road safety for both vehicles and pedestrians.
“Our businesses are on the main highway, and I have seen many near misses and heavy vehicles racing each other down James Street,” she said.
“James Street also borders the main recreational park in Kilkivan and it’s a dangerous situation for families with young children playing in the vicinity.
“When the fully loaded truck overshot the 90 degree bend on the Wide Bay Highway, it was 8:15am when our schoolchildren were walking to school.
“It was a very scary scenario, and the truck actually ran straight over the pedestrian crossing – it was just fortunate there were no kids on the crossing at that moment.
“These improvements to road markings and the installation of new signs will greatly improve the safety of traffic through our town.
“It’s overdue, but I’m really pleased to have been able to finally have these issues raised and to have created some change for our community.
“From what I have seen, we’ve had positive outcomes for Kilkivan in all the matters Deb has helped with.”
There’s another reason why trucks and caravanners are taking this back street.
GPS units! If the units are set to “quickest route” or “shortest route”, they will direct you down this back road instead of sticking to the highway.
There’s a similar problem in Nanango, with drivers being directed down Cairns Street to Brown Street and emerging on the highway near Tipperary Flat.