{"id":27501,"date":"2013-03-25T15:11:15","date_gmt":"2013-03-25T05:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=27501"},"modified":"2013-03-26T00:09:50","modified_gmt":"2013-03-25T14:09:50","slug":"bunya-road-upgrade-inches-closer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2013\/03\/25\/bunya-road-upgrade-inches-closer\/","title":{"rendered":"Bunya Road Upgrade Inches Closer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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South Burnett Mayor Wayne Kratzmann (Photo: SBRC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

March 25, 2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

The much-promised sealing of the Maidenwell-Bunya Mountains Road may be getting closer after discussions between Transport Minister Scott Emerson and South Burnett Mayor Wayne Kratzmann.<\/p>\n

The two met in Brisbane last week to discuss the long-standing problem which was identified as long ago as 2006 as a priority by the then-National Party\u00a0(see below).<\/p>\n

The road is one of only three access roads into the National Park but is unsealed at critical locations which makes it unsuitable for caravans.<\/p>\n

Mayor Wayne Kratzmann told southburnett.com.au<\/strong> the State Government recognised the problem and was willing to look at fixing it.<\/p>\n

But a key sticking point was that the Transport Department had identified that a realignment of a section of the road would be necessary as part of any upgrade.<\/p>\n

This would significantly increase the cost and complexity of any road sealing work, the Mayor said.<\/p>\n

“I’m of the view that a realignment isn’t necessary,” Cr Kratzmann said.<\/p>\n

“What we need – and what tourists need – is an all-weather, eight metre wide standard sealed road in and out of the mountains.<\/p>\n

“If people have to drive slowly over some parts of it because there are a few curves, that’s no different to many other tourist roads in Queensland.<\/p>\n

“We don’t want a super highway to the Bunya Mountains. Just reliable, all-weather access.”<\/p>\n

The Mayor said he’d put this view to the Transport Minister and the two have agreed to continue discussions on the project.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/p>\n

On June 1, 2006, southburnett.biz reported:<\/strong> While the national media was in a spin about merger talk, Nanango Shire residents will probably be more interested in another result from the gathering of National and Liberal Party politicians in Kingaroy yesterday.<\/em><\/p>\n

If elected at the next State poll, they’ve promised to seal the “missing link”, the gravel gap in the Maidenwell-Bunya Mountains Road which has been discouraging tourists from visiting the Bunya Mountains from the Nanango side.<\/em><\/p>\n

National Party candidate John Bjelke-Petersen has been pushing for some time for the Coalition to look at including this in their election package.<\/em><\/p>\n

Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg confirmed last night that this was now the case.<\/em><\/p>\n