Time to change Valley’s horror stretch

The Mary Valley representative said there had been too many accidents and near misses for nothing to be done.

CALL FOR ACTION: Cr Julie Walker is pleading for improvements to the deadly Mary Valley Hwy. Picture: Tanya Easterby

AS THE news of Tuesday's accident that claimed the life of a 58-year-old Pomona woman reached Valley Cr Julie Walker, her passion for upgrading the Mary Valley Hwy only strengthened.

The Mary Valley representative said there had been too many accidents and near misses for nothing to be done.

The road, which takes traffic between Gympie and the Valley, has a particularly bad stretch between the intersections of Mary Valley Link Rd and Juster Rd, Cr Walker said.

Tuesday's fatal crash between an earth moving truck and a Hyundai SUV around 1.45pm, occurred just south of the link road.

Cr Walker had an accident on that same stretch in 2009; one that she suffers pain with seven years on.

The passionate councillor has been an advocate for improving the road ever since, which she says is dangerously narrow, curvy and hilly.

"It just keeps happening; there are so many accidents and near misses on that particular part of the road," she said.

She is calling the Department of Main Roads to raise, widen and realign the road.

She said in recent years traffic has increased - including residential traffic, traffic from the timber and quarry and the dairy industry, school buses and tourists, including RVs.

On Tuesday, Cr Walker received the news the highway between Juster Rd and Sanders Rd would be upgraded as part of ongoing maintenance to the area.

The safety improvements will include removal of vegetation to provide a clear zone, curve widening, delineation, and the installation of warning signs and raised reflective markers.

Cr Walker said the improvements offered some hope, but Tuesday's accident just showed it was too little too late.

"We address our roads as council; the state has to address their roads," she said.