Dangerous CQ road to get $19m in safety upgrades

More overtaking lanes will be delivered on the road if the Australian Labor Party is re-elected.

Emu Park resident Bruce Craig and Member for Keppel Brittany Lauga at today's Emu Park Rd announcement. Picture: Aden Stokes

THE Australian Labor Party has announced $19 million will be invested to upgrade Emu Park Rd if re-elected.

Upgrades would include delivering overtaking lanes and other priority safety and capacity improvements.

Emu Park resident Bruce Craig, who travelled the road quite frequently, said it was horrifying what he would see daily.

“You see one or two vehicles doing 70-80km/h and it chokes up the traffic,” he said.

“We have dangerous overtaking in places where there shouldn’t be overtaking and quite often the traffic will be a couple of kilometres long.

“It can sometimes take more than one hour to get to Rockhampton from Emu Park and other days you can do it in 35 mins.”

Keppel MP Brittany Lauga made the announcement.

She said the overtaking lanes and upgrades to Emu Park Rd would mean a safer journey for families, commuters and boaties coming from and going to Emu Park.

Ms Lauga said the lack of overtaking lanes on the busy arterial road was something Emu Park residents had brought to her attention by people like Mr Craig for some time.

“We have seen the accidents caused on this road are largely due to people taking risks, overtaking in areas where it is unsafe to do so,” she said.

“More overtaking lanes on this road will mean people will be able to pass safely around those vehicles traveling at a reduced speed, particularly caravans.

“Under Labor, close to $810 million has been delivered for better roads and transport in Central Queensland, and we’ve been able to bring works forward as part of a $1 billion pipeline of road works to get our economy going,”

She said there was a roads bonanza in Central Queensland under Labor – with the jointly funded $157m Bruce Highway upgrades in Rockhampton’s north, the $80m Yeppoon Rd upgrade, the $30m upgrade to Emu Park Rd to deliver road train access to the abattoirs and the planned $1 billion ring road.

Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said the funding would form part of a $25.7b Queensland Transport Roads Investment Program over the next four years which would support 22,800 jobs.