Gympie’s dangerous Mellor St, Station Rd, Bent St intersection to get traffic lights

One of the region’s most notorious sections of road is about to become less hazardous. Find out when the work is expected to finished, and who is paying the bill.

One of Gympie’s most notorious intersections is about to be decked out in green, yellow and red lights thanks to almost $3m in upgrades.

The dual intersections of Mellor St and Chapple St, and Bent St and Station Rd, near the old Gympie train station home of the Mary Valley Rattler will be having traffic lights installed to improve road safety.

The total cost of the work is expected to be $2.7m, according to State Government infrastructure documents, with all three tiers of chipping in.

The Federal Government is contributing $495,000 under its Black Spot program, online documents show, with work expected to start at the beginning of 2023 and finishing by June the same year.

State Government investment documents show it will be putting $1.18m in to the job, with Gympie Regional Council filling in the rest of the financial gap.

The installation of traffic lights would signal a major change for drivers at the intersections, who currently need to rely on mirrors before turning on or off the road.

Traffic lights will be installed on the section stretching from Chapple St to Bent St, on either side of the Mary Valley Rattler rail underpass.

However not everyone has been on-board with the idea of installing traffic signals.

The idea has been met with opposition from some corner of the community in the past with a petition bearing 31 signatures and decrying the possibility of traffic lights being built was lodged with Gympie Regional Council in September 2020.

The petition did not outline any reasons as to why the upgrades were opposed.

The upgrades to the intersection are one of four major road programs being funded with the help of Transport and Main Roads’ Transport Infrastructure Development Scheme.

Other works being done with TIDS help include widening of parts of East Deep Creek Rd, improvements to the drop of point at James Nash State School, and new footpath at Ashford Rd near the One Mile ovals.