September 25, 2024
The Bruce Highway has again taken out the top spot as Queensland’s worst road in the RACQ’s 2024 Unroadworthy Roads Survey, however three routes that South Burnett residents regularly travel are also in the Top 10.
In No 4 spot is the Brisbane Valley Highway.
Respondents complained the road has potholes, is rough, narrow and requires many more overtaking lanes.
Comments were received about the high volume of traffic, including heavy vehicles; the road not keeping pace with the increase in traffic and roadworks/repairs not long lasting or of sufficient quality.
Inadequate road lighting was also nominated in almost half of responses.
In No 5 spot is the New England Highway.
Respondents said the New England Highway was is in very poor condition with potholes, an uneven/rutted surface, poor shoulders and a lack of overtaking lanes, particularly south of Toowoomba.
Flooding was also a concern.
In No 8 spot is the D’Aguilar Highway.
Respondents said the road is narrow, is rough due to potholes and lacks overtaking opportunities, especially between Woodford and Kilcoy.
It is a very busy corridor carrying a significant number of heavy vehicles and caravanners with very few overtaking opportunities.
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The full list of the Top 1o Worst Roads, according to the RACQ survey are:
- Bruce Highway
- Kennedy Highway
- Mount Mee Road
- Brisbane Valley Highway
- New England Highway
- Warrego Highway
- Yakapari Seaforth Road, Mackay
- D’Aguilar Highway
- Peak Downs Highway
- Cunningham Highway
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RACQ spokesperson Dr Michael Kane said the results of the survey were disappointing, but not surprising.
He said there was a mounting body of evidence showing urgent action was needed from both levels of government.
“We need targeted investment to ensure upgrades are dedicated to safety, maintenance, resilience and strengthening of regional roads, especially with traffic increasing and more frequent and extreme weather events expected in years to come,” he said.
The RACQ has provided the survey results to the Department of Transport and Main Roads.
To include the Bruce Highway in the survey is wrong. It’s the longest road in Queensland, so of course there will be sections in remote areas that are poor. But how much traffic uses those sections compared to other shorter roads that have sections in equally poor or even worse condition, but overall have fewer people driving along those roads compared to the total number who use the longest road in Queensland?
A section of the Bruce that ran between Rocky and Mackay ( to be more accurate, between Marlborough and Sarina), used to be called “The Crystal Highway”. It was built as an alternative to a coastal “track” that ran through swampy areas and was often flooded. Even as late as 1973, the inland “better” road “had low-level single-lane timber bridges at the creek crossings, and was only 3.6 metres. If two vehicles met head on, or one overtook another, they both had to move partly on to the gravel shoulders.”
The area also earned a gruesome reputation. There were four murders in the area, and a caravaning couple doing the round OZ trip were also shot, the man losing the use of his legs due to the shooting.
I traveled along that road in 1977. Wondering what it’s like today, I had a look at Google Street View. It looks the same as it did back in ’77. Some roads never change.
For an article about it, see: http://www.mackayhistoricalsociety.com/horror