April 7, 2021
A plan to upgrade a 2km section of Kingaroy’s Youngman Street was approved at the South Burnett Regional Council’s Infrastructure standing committee meeting on Wednesday.
Council officers said the aim of the $800,000 project was to provide an entry to Kingaroy that reflected the town’s character, reduced future maintenance costs and blended with the nearby Kingaroy Transformation Project (KPT).
The upgrade will cover a section of the Bunya Highway stretching from the River Road roundabout to the town’s northern entrance near the Kingaroy Hotel-Motel.
The roundabout will house a garden which will be fenced from the highway with stone walls that match existing stone walls on the Rogers Drive roundabout.
It will also be surrounded with a low profile, dark coloured concrete area that will disguise tyre scuff marks if turning trucks overshoot the road while passing through.
Further north, existing median strips will be resurfaced with concrete and painted in either a single colour or two colours, depending on their width, to match colours that will be used in the KPT project.
Narrow median strips – usually those with turning lanes, or those surrounding busy intersections – will remain bare, while wider strips such as those that pass the Kingaroy Showgrounds will be planted with trees.
In response to questions, councillors were told the northern section could be extended in future when Council builds a proposed car park in King Street, a highway crossing for the South Burnett Rail Trail, and work on the new Kingaroy Hospital is complete.
At present, however, officers said there were “too many unknowns” to plan for these things.
Councillors were also told that because the area of work is a State-controlled road, work cannot start until approval has been obtained from the Department of Transport and Main Roads (DTMR).
But if DTMR consents to the project, work could start later this year.
Nice improvements. Thank you SBRC. I’d also encourage trees planted on sidewalks.
Street trees add appeal to any town. In my travels, towns with the most trees, attract the most visitors. Beautiful towns are where people want to live and visit.
I’ve driven through (without stopping) many towns that look deserted with no landscaping, even if they are full of carparks!
The only concern I have with this plan is that the vegetation in the roundabout will be allowed to grow to such a state that it blocks drivers views of traffic already on the roundabout. I’ve seen that on many roundabouts and it’s just a road hazard.
What is dangerous are the small shrubs planted along Haly St from the silos to Fisher St when you’re turning right either way. You lose sight of vehicles.I have nearly been hit a couple of times at the Peanut Board weighbridge intersection.
Why not fix Knight Street and the D’Aguilar Highway intersection. It is long overdue for a roundabout. That would make sense.
I have to totally agree with the comment about shrubs in Haly St. It might be okay for drivers of vehicles that are seated higher up, as in 4WD’s etc., but in a sedan it’s hard to see oncoming vehicles if they are also sedans, motorcycles etc. Perhaps someone with a dashcam could capture some footage along there and submit it to council to show them how dangerous it is. Maybe a journalist from this website could do it in the interests of public safety.
As for Knight St, corner of Walter and Somerset, that has to be the worst intersection in the region. I’ve seen one accident there and several close calls. Drivers new to this area have no idea what to do. I’ve even heard that driving instructors take students there because they know it’s such a mess of an intersection and they want to make sure learners are familiar with it.
Before spending money on “beautifying” roads council needs to rectify dangerous/confusing intersections and road hazards that already exist.