Gympie traffic snarls to get mostly worse, sometimes better

Gympie's council road network will be working harder, especially in the CBD

GET USED TO IT: Gympie's easy peak hour traffic flow will be more intense in the future. Picture: Ivan Tykhyi

EVEN major transport infrastructure improvements will bring challenges to the Gympie Regional Council road network, a traffic report reveals.

Population growth and associated development pressures are also expected to create strains, the report author, Pekol Traffic and Transport points out.

From Araluen and Victory Heights to Jones Hill and Southside, the report analyses the potential impacts of future land use and transport initiatives on the council road network.

Based on population and employment forecasts to 2036, the study notes the high concentration of transport demand at critical times, especially from 8am to 9am and 3pm to 4pm weekdays.

The report's peak hour analysis highlights traffic concentrations in Exhibition Rd and Normanby Bridge as well as Brisbane Rd, with the good news that none of these pressure point areas are expected to be overloaded.

Roads expected to experience 50 per cent or higher traffic growth by 2036 include parts of Duke, Cross, Mellor, Chapple and Barter Sts, as well as Excelsior and River Rds.

Most of the streets involved will be able to cope, but with many of them ultimately used to access the CBD, high growth (especially in Mellor St) will likely have a significant effect on the Five Ways intersection with Mary St.

Significant traffic growth at Southside is forecast to affect Watson, Groundwater, Sorensen, Waldock, Heilbronn, McIntosh Creek, Cox, Ramsey, Copp, Rose and Smerdon Rds.

The Gympie bypass is unsurprisingly forecast to ease some of the traffic load on the existing Bruce Highway, Tin Can Bay Rd and Brisbane Rd, Station Rd and Tozer St.

The bypass will mainly benefit traffic routes through Gympie but will increase traffic on roads such as Gympie Connection Rd, Penny Rd and Noosa Rd, the report tells councillors.