Dangerous Bayside Rd, Tin Can Bay Rd intersection gets $2.8m fix

One of the region’s most notorious intersections is getting a seven-figure upgrade two months after residents launched a petition calling for it to be fixed.

Cooloola Cove resident Debra Mason is "chuffed" by news a $2.8m roundabout is being installed at the intersection of Tin Can Bay and Bayside roads, with the announcement coming only two months after she started petitioning the state government over the intersection.

A Tin Can Bay intersection at the centre of a grassroots push for safety fixes is getting a $2.8m upgrade, the state government has revealed.

The intersection of Bayside Rd with Tin Can Bay Rd, located at the edge of the Cooloola Coast fishing village east of Gympie, will be transformed from a T-junction into a single-lane roundabout under the upgrade.

Pushes to repair the stretch went into overdrive in February 2023, with resident Debra Mason petitioning the state government to fix it fast.

Ms Mason was “chuffed” with Monday’s news.

“I’m so happy that it’s been approved,” she said, especially as her petition was not due to close until the middle of May 2023.

“It’s going to make it safer,” she said.

“I think the roundabout is a perfect solution.”

The state government is building a roundabout at the intersection of Tin Can Bay and Bayside roads at a cost of $2.8m.

The petition was launched shortly after News Corps Wide Bay Burnett mastheads, The Gympie Times, Fraser Coast Chronicle, Bundaberg NewsMail, South Burnett Times, and Central and North Burnett Times, campaigned for regional roads to urgently be made safer.

The roundabout is part of a wider $3.51m upgrade package for roads across the Wide Bay Burnett.

Other projects in the region announced as part of the Safer Roads Sooner program include: $335,000 to install pedestrian crossings at the intersections of Whittred and Bunda streets on Bundaberg Bargara Rd, Bundaberg East; $162,000 to improve safety at the intersection of Maryborough Biggenden Rd (Alice St) and Tooley St, Maryborough; and $220,000 to improve pedestrian crossing facilities on the Burnett Hwy (Capper St), Gayndah.

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Maryborough Labor MP and assistant Minister Regional Roads Bruce Saunders said the works would address several safety risks across the region.

“The funding targets priority projects designed to improve safety across our road network and includes a range of upgrades from intersection works to pedestrian crossings,” Mr Saunders said.

“These projects address safety concerns in Wide Bay Burnett. I would like to thank motorists in advance for their patience and understanding while we undertake these important works.“