Regions Mayors speak out on Wide Bay Burnett road safety

Mayors across the Wide Bay Burnett have spoken on the issues they face keeping rural roads safe, from limited budgets to limited supplies.

Roads across the Wide Bay Burnett have seen unprecedented tragedy since the beginning of the year, as families struggle with the loss of loved ones and businesses struggle with the loss of income.

News Corp mastheads across the Wide Bay and Burnett have campaigned this month for more money and action to address multiple safety issues on busy rural roads, still awaiting repairs after the February 2022 floods, or failing to keep up with the demands of a rapidly growing population.

Politicians speak out on deadly roads needing action now

Mayors from the Bundaberg, Fraser Coast, North Burnett, South Burnett and Gympie were invited to join the conversation, and share their struggles with maintaining rural roads.

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Bundaberg Mayor Jack Dempsey and South Burnett Mayor Brett Otto failed to provide a comment by the deadline.

North Burnett Mayor Lez Hotz

As one of the smallest councils spread across one of the largest divisions, the North Burnett is responsible for hundreds of thousands of kilometres of rural roads.

Through the limited population of a little more than 10,000 residents, Mayor Lez Hotz said one of the biggest issues the North Burnett Regional Council faces is funding through rates.

“North Burnett Regional Council, only has a limited rate base and relies heavily on seeking external funding programs to assist with significant costs associated with road safety upgrades,” he said.

“Road upgrades are expensive, and limited funding opportunities make it difficult to address large safety projects in a timely manner.”

Due to limited funding the council relies heavily on state funding to maintain roads, with extensive planning work done to make sure they are ready the moment money comes in.

“Council continues to invest in design for projects targeting road safety improvements so that when funding programs become available, Council can confidently apply for funding with confidence that the outcomes can be achieved within the program’s scope,” he said.

He said the council worked to mitigate short term issues such as potholes, and had regular audits to identify black spots.

Mr Hotz has said fixing rural roads isn’t going to happen overnight, and certainly not without help.

“Unfortunately, there isn’t one solution from one organisation,” he said

“It will require a joint effort to consistently target several factors for many years to achieve a good result.”

Fraser Coast Mayor George Seymour

The Fraser Coast Regional Council is in a slightly better position than the North Burnett, with approximately $21m allocated to roads works annually.

However Mayor George Seymour said there were ongoing issues with shortages of materials and rising costs.

“Council has to balance the cost of building and maintaining roads against residents’ capacity to pay through their rates,” he said.

In efforts to reduce accidents on Fraser Coast roads the council works alongside the Road Safety Committee, which works with the Queensland Police and Department of Transport and Main Roads officials.

“The committee discusses, among other things, issues with road infrastructure, reviews crash data to identify hot spots and road safety including speed limits,” he said.

“Council works with the state and federal governments to obtain grants under a variety of funding programs to replace and upgrade roads and bridges across the region.”

Mayor Seymour has urged all residents to be mindful on the roads and avoid the Fatal Five behaviours common in traffic accidents – distraction, drink driving, speeding, fatigue and not wearing a seatbelt.

“The keys to road safety are in all our hands,” he said.

“Council urges motorists to drive to conditions, especially on rural roads where conditions can change quickly.”

Gympie Mayor Glen Hartwig

Gympie Regional Council Mayor Glen Hartwig said the council worked to upgrade known crash locations.

Through Road to Recovery Funding and Black Spot Program funding, the council was able to improve Cedar Pocket Road and Gap Road.

“Council also has Sandy Creek Road and North Deep Creek Road identified for future construction with funding provided through the Black Spot Program,” Mr Hartwig said.

“Gympie Regional Council work closely with the state government and are led by their road safety education, initiatives and best practice guidelines.”

The council are also the organisers of the Traffic and Road Safety Committee.

“This committee meets quarterly to discuss traffic trends and involves a number of agencies including Police, TransLink, Transport and Main Roads and councillors,” Mr Hartwig said.

“With one of the biggest challenges being cost, Council is working alongside State and Federal Government in exploring avenues for additional funding through a range of programs. “