Bruce Highway among 10 worst roads in Qld named in RACQ survey

Queensland’s roads can be a constant challenge but the worst 10 have now been named. SEE THE LIST

Lined with potholes, lacking overtaking lanes, and prone to flooding, the Bruce Highway has taken out the unenviable top spot for Queensland’s most despised road, a new survey has revealed.

RACQ’s Unroadworthy Roads Survey asks respondents to supply information on roads they perceive to be in a poor or inadequate condition, unfit for purpose or unsafe.

In the 2024 survey released on Tuesday, 1532 total responses highlighted 520 different unroadworthy roads throughout Queensland.

Most roads in the top 10 are repeat offenders, featuring highly in previous surveys, yet it was the Bruce Highway that Queenslanders were most unhappy about.

The embattled highway had 167 responses – almost 100 more than second place – where Queenslanders described the highway as rough, narrow, lacks overtaking opportunities and is prone to flooding and potholes.

RACQ Head of Public Policy Dr Michael Kane said the results were disappointing, but sadly not surprising with the survey adding to the mounting body of evidence showing urgent action was needed from both levels of government.

“We’ve been running our Unroadworthy Roads Survey for more than two decades and the Bruce Highway has either been the worst or second worst road every time,” Dr Kane said.

“The Bruce is the backbone of our State, but it’s broken. So far this year, 30 people have lost their life in crashes on the Bruce Highway – we’ve already surpassed the five-year average of 29 deaths and it’s only September.”

The single-lane, undivided sections of the Bruce Highway from Gympie to Childers, Gladstone to Proserpine and Townsville to Cairns received the most complaints.

Dr Kane said the rural sections of the Bruce have an average per kilometre travelled fatal or serious injury (FSI) crash rate three times higher than rural sections of the Pacific Highway and five times higher than rural sections of the Hume Highway in NSW.

“The stretch between Childers and Gin Gin is the most dangerous, where you are almost 10 times more likely to be involved in a fatal or serious injury crash than on the Hume Highway,” he said.

The survey results come after The Courier Mail revealed eight of the 10 worst crash hotspots in all of Queensland are located on the Bruce Highway, prompting calls from road safety experts for urgent action to fix the highway.

As Queensland approaches the State Election in a matter of weeks, RACQ have called on both levels of governments to work together to fix the Bruce.

“We need the State and Federal Governments to commit to a 10-year funding arrangement to upgrade all poorly rated 2-star sections of the highway.

“We’re also calling for the Federal Government to return to the pre-existing 80:20 infrastructure funding spilt with the State Government. This is a national road, and the Federal Government must do the heavy lifting to bring it up to standard with other national highway,” Dr Kane said.

The Courier-Mail’s Help Our Highway campaign, launched in April, revealed almost half the Bruce Highway failed basic safety ratings and just 10 per cent was assessed as extremely safe, with stretches in regional Queensland emerging as the worst danger zones.

The Kennedy Highway in Far North Queensland ranked second, surging up from 11th in the previous 2022 survey, with landslip's, winding slippery surfaces and the condition of the Barron River Bridge topping the complaints.

Mount Mee Road and the Brisbane Valley Highway rounded out the top four most hated roads with rough surfaces, narrow lanes and lack of overtaking lanes named among the issues.

The remaining of the top 10 roads included the New England Highway, Warrego Highway, Yakapari Seaforth Road (Mackay), D’Aguilar Highway, Peak Downs Highway and the Cunningham Highway.