Ipswich City Council 2022 pre-budget announcement

Mayor Teresa Harding says public calls to bring roads up to scratch in the city’s older suburbs has led to a significant investment.

Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding has announced funding for roads ahead of the budget on Thursday.

IPSWICH City Council is embarking on a kerb and channel blitz over the next three years as part of an effort to bring older suburbs up to modern standards.

Ahead of the official handing down of the city budget on Thursday morning, Mayor Teresa Harding has revealed exclusively to the Queensland Times that part of the 2021-22 budget will include an investment of $22 million into road improvements.

Cr Harding said public feedback over the past year had influenced the decision to focus on Ipswich’s established suburban areas, with residents worried they were being left behind while newer, high growth suburbs received all the attention.

“About $15 million of that $22 million will be spent in Ipswich’s older and more established suburbs,” Cr Harding said on Monday.

“It represents a 69 per cent increase on the average investment on kerb and channel over the previous two years, and is intended to ensure that this city grows together.

“The public has made it very clear that this is what they want to see from us.”

Projects listed for the first year include Hill St Blackstone, Springall St at Basin Pocket, Gladstone St at Sadliers Crossing and Alice St Silkstone, with an combined cost of more than $1.3 million.

Elsewhere, Kirton St at Redbank Plains, Trevor St at Bellbird Park, Doyle St at Silkstone and Laurel St at Redbank Plains are listed for more than $1.4 million in rehabilitation work.

Cr Harding said councillors Marnie Doyle and Andrew Fechner had worked hard on establishing which suburbs needed to be prioritised for the work.

Councillor Andrew Fechner, Mayor Teresa Harding and Councillor Marnie Doyle. Picture: file

Rural roads will also receive improvements as part of the budget, with an investment $4.6 million into upgrades, rehabilitation and maintenance.

Unmaintained gravel roads will receive $500,000 worth of work and an additional $686,000 will be spent on gravel roads in the next financial year.

“The safety of our rural roads is something that has been consistently raised by Division 1 and Division 4 councillors over the past 12 months. We have heard our residents clearly and now we’re taking action,” Cr Harding said.

“Council is boosting its commitment to delivering safe and functional rural roads to $4.6 million – a 40 per cent increase on this year’s expenditure.”

Among the improvements, the council has committed $300,000 to upgrading Waters Road, Calvert from an existing unmaintained gravel road to a maintained road standard.

Borallon Station Rd will receive $200,000 for design and a further $1.4 million in the 2023 financial year for construction to upgrade the road to a constructed sealed road.

Grandchester-Mt Mort Rd will receive $150,000 to investigate design improvements for troublesome sections of the road.

Hodgsons Rd will receive $136,000 for construction, with the council will trial an application of a single coat of 10mm of bitumen emulsion over a 1.6 km section.

Cr Harding said it was acknowledged that repairing unmaintained roads was an expensive exercise and required a thorough approach to ensure value for money.

“Specifically, councillors have been working on a new rural roads policy document to support our significant budget commitment which is expected to be endorsed next month,” she said.

Full details of the budget will be made public on Thursday morning.