Gracemere locals weigh into Cap Hwy upgrade debate

A narrow bridge, peak-hour traffic, a growing population, inadequate crossings and poor knowledge of road rules are among the many issues raised.

NOT FAR ENOUGH: Andrew Hope, of Gracemere Hardware on Lawrie St, believes improvements should go as far as Ranger St. Picture: Jann Houley

GRACEMERE residents are waiting to learn whether plans for the four-lane Capricorn Highway upgrade from Rockhampton will be extended to the busy Lawrie St stretch.

Councillor Ellen Smith has emailed state and federal MPS for clarification over why the original tender, which stretched to Russell St, had been cut short.

Gracemere Hardware store manager Andrew Hope said any planned improvements should go as far as Ranger St.

Having lived in the area for 18 years, he said it got busy from 7am most mornings and again on Thursday and Friday afternoons.

"I guess lots of people are getting a head start on the weekend, that's when it can get really congested,” he said.

Mr Hope puts the occasional gridlock down to people not knowing how to manoeuvre and signal around roundabouts.

"During the fire evacuation we had a few people get antsy,” he said.

"There were a couple of accidents on the roundabouts, which really slowed things down for the police and other residents.”

Cr Smith said a recent agenda item at the council regarding divisions showed they gained an extra 323 voters, which equated to "about an extra 50 families a year making Gracemere their home”.

With the state's Electoral Commission citing Gracemere and Parkhurst as growth areas, she said her electorate needed infrastructure "sooner rather than later”.

Contractor Daryl (who didn't want to give his full name) said there was no use widening the approach roads if the narrow Poddy McDonald Bridge remained.

"You could see how it bottlenecked when the Mt Morgan road got diverted through here a while back,” he said yesterday.

The two-lane Poddy McDonald Bridge in Gracemere. Picture: Jann Houley

But now, he said, the steady flow of Lawrie St traffic in the morning was "not too bad ... so long as someone lets you out of your parking space”.

The missing link in Gracemere's $75m highway upgrade

John Buchanan is a Gracemere retiree who has seen a lot of changes to the local roads, many of them for the better.

He said the Lawrie St stretch got busy about 8am as Gracemere residents drove to work in Rockhampton.

"The majority of them live to the south and west of Lawrie St, including a lot of people in retirement homes,” Mr Buchanan said.

"They used to get off the bus and walk over the zebra crossing to the shops but that got taken away, though I don't know whether that was Main Roads or council.”

He said if the upgrades did go ahead, they should extend further down Lawrie St to the intersection with Ranger St "because that's the really busy corner”.

The two-lane Poddy McDonald Bridge in Gracemere. Picture: Jann Houley

He praised the Gracemere Community Voice, which lobbied for change.

"They do a lot of good most the time,” he said.

"But a lot of people didn't want the level crossings removed as it gave them another way to get out onto the highway.

"Boom gates would have been better but it's too late now.”

Mr Hope said the zebra crossings had their "own misfortunes”.

"We had two or three accidents out there every month as people pulled up at the crossing too quickly and other cars collected them from behind,” he said.

Originally published as Gracemere locals weigh into Cap Hwy upgrade debate