Gladstone’s worst roads named as council and government urged to act

Readers have named and shamed the roads they believe are among Gladstone’s worst as the state’s peak motoring group calls for urgent funding upgrades. See the full list.

Nilsson Jones

2 min read

March 29, 2022 - 2:30PM

Gladstone

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Gladstone residents have voiced their dismay at the road conditions across the region, as the state’s peak motoring body calls for urgent upgrades.

Last week, we asked our readers to name and shame the worst roads in Gladstone, and now a list has been compiled which identifies state government and council roads which attracted the most complaints.

Potholes, unsealed surfaces, and narrow lanes were the most common issues for what made particular roads unsafe, with some saying rural areas appeared entirely abandoned by authorities.

Large potholes on major roads across regional and remote Queensland contribute to dangerous road conditions. Picture: Karleila Thomsen

Notorious and well-documented stretches of road, including the Bruce Highway and Gladstone Mt Larcom Road feature, with other less-known black spots also making the list.

It comes as the RACQ calls on the federal government to provide more funding to support state and council roads across the region leading up to the pre-election budget on Tuesday night.

RACQ head of Public Policy Susan Furze said there was a prime opportunity for the state government to make use of the $3b Federal Road Safety Program to fund low-cost high-benefit upgrades to unsafe roads.

RACQ Head of Public Policy, Susan Furze on the Gold Coast last year. Picture: Jerad Williams

“We’ve long called for much needed upgrades on the Bruce Highway, but we’d also like to see further investment by the Federal Government … to help deliver safer, stronger and more resilient regional roads for Queenslanders,” Ms Furze said.

RACQ has also called out high-risk state roads including the Burnett Highway, Dawson Highway, Gladstone Mt Larcom Road and Gladstone Benaraby Road, which require urgent upgrades.

Gladstone Mt Larcom Road (from Callemondah to Mt Larcom) was identified in the most recent RACQ Riskiest Roads list (2016-2020 data) as the site of 20 serious crashes, including one fatality in the five year period.

While some readers identified individual roads needing attention, others called out entire suburbs that required upgrades, particularly southern parts of the Gladstone Local Government Area (LGA).

“Ask the resident of Baffle Creek bout (sic) their roads. Gladstone Regional Council changed their grading schedule and since then the roads are almost undrivable (sic), especially after rain,” one comment read.

“Rosedale, Lowmead, Baffle Creek – south of the shire is totally neglected,” said another.

The Queensland Transport and Roads Investment Program (QTRIP) is a rolling four-year program which outlines planned investment for transport infrastructure across the state, which includes a number of projects in the Gladstone region.

Significant road damage and potholes such as this one on the Bruce Highway, Benaraby are present across the region. Picture: Brenda Strong

About $46m will go towards upgrading the Bruce Hwy, $11.3m on the Dawson Hwy, $2.5m on Tannum Sands Rd (near Applin Pl and Silverton Dr), and $4.8m on Gladstone-Monto Rd.

A further $7m has been set aside for local government grants in Gladstone for local transport infrastructure.

Gladstone Regional Council has not yet responded to our questions.