Repair work starts on famous giant pothole in Goomeri

Gympie council has begun site preparation to fix the now infamous ‘Goomeri Gorge’, a massive pothole gouged out by floodwaters a year ago and recently the subject of a birthday party and public vote to name it.

After 12 months of wondering when the Goomeri “pothole” would be fixed, the Gympie Regional Council has begun the process of repairing the flood damage to Maudsley St, in the heart of Goomeri.

Flooding in 2022 left a section of the road with a gaping hole, exposing pipes, collapsing the adjacent footpath and making the area impassable.

The state of the road was partly to blame for the recent cancellation of the 2023 Goomeri Pumpkin Festival.

The massive pothole on Maudsley Street, Goomeri, will soon be fixed.

The pothole has become famous - Goomeri residents celebrated its first birthday in early 2023,,and a recent Gympie Times poll to decide on a name for the pothole drew multiple suggestions for its “official” monicker.

Taking out 29 per cent of the votes readers went with the Goomeri Gorge as the most popular option, followed by Potzilla with 11 per cent of the vote and Harry Pothole, seven per cent of the vote.

The gaping hole on Maudsley Street, Goomeri, was decorated with birthday balloons and a large birthday card after a year.

In February 2023, a Gympie Times News Corps campaign highlighted the plight of many rural roads in the Wide Bay Burnett; the Goomeri pothole and the Tin Can Bay Road through Canina were perfect examples of what regional communities must tolerate.

Gympie council CEO David Lewis said site preparation works at Maudsley St began late last week and repairs would include constructing a “reinforced concrete roadway to improve flood resilience”.

Police and the Department of Transport and Main Roads are also now investigating the Tin Can Bay Road following the tragic death of beloved Gympie teen Levi Hanna.

The project is estimated to be 90% funded by QRA’s Flood Betterment program while formal approval for funding is still pending.

The Mary River floods in Maudsley St, Goomeri. Picture: Diane Frola

The project should be completed within eight to 10 weeks, excluding any wet weather delays.

During the campaign, transport businesses shared the how much money it was costing to drive on country roads and a mother revealed the pain and trauma of losing her daughter on poorly maintained roads.

RACQ members named 130 of the region’s unroadworthy stretches plagued by potholes, narrow roads with increasingly heavier vehicles and traffic volume, blind corners and rough surfaces.

Readers across the Wide Bay and Burnett shared what roads they feared the most in a Facebook callout.

Frequently mentioned was Curra Estate Road, a stretch where two lives were lost in 2023.

A month later, residents demanded a reduced speed limit on Tin Can Bay Rd after 14-year-old rugby league player Levi Hanna died in hospital following an accident there.

Residents congregated on Gate Rd and Tin Can Bay Road to express their ongoing concerns of the 10km stretch between Kin Kin Rd and Wilsons Pocket Rd. Pictured are Philippa Star, Tirtzah Townsend, Marian Dunchue, Nigel Dunchue, Bronwyn Evans, Lee Garrels, Loretta Mills, Mr Townsend and Robert Sawtell.

Mayors from the Wide Bay and Burnett were invited to join the conversation on road safety, pressing on issues including limited budget and supplies and state and federal MPs discussed what roads in the region required immediate attention.

Transport minister Mark Bailey revealed works completed, under way or planned for roads in the Wide Bay and Burnett.

He said more than $1.5 billion was committed to infrastructure projects in the region over four years to 2026.