Residents of Deuble Rd, Wellcamp want Toowoomba Regional Council to upgrade 800m dirt road

It’s been listed as the Toowoomba region’s second-worst road by condition, and residents living along it say it has absolutely earned its ranking.

The dust generated by traffic on Deuble Road in Wellcamp is so bad, Denise Watson was forced to remove the eyes of her beloved horse Bailey due to repeat infections.

Ms Watson is one of several residents and neighbours calling on the Toowoomba Regional Council to upgrade the 880m stretch of dirt off Toowoomba-Cecil Plains Road, which has been ranked by the TRC as the second-worst in the region.

Denise Watson with Bailey, who is blind after she says dust from Deuble Road, Wellcamp, caused the horse to have repeated eye infections, Tuesday, April 20, 2021. Picture: Kevin Farmer

The council recently compiled a list of the 10 rural roads that moved deserved sealing, with Deuble Road coming in second behind Wyreema Athol Road, Wyreema.

Council officers believe any plans to upgrade the roads would be more than a decade off.

But Ms Watson, who uses the road about four times every day, said it needed to take precedence due to increased heavy transport use along it in recent years.

Residents and users of Deuble Road, Wellcamp want the road sealed. Picture: Kevin Farmer

She said motorists would often use it as a shortcut to access the Greater Toowoomba Waste Management facility on O’Mara Road, or Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport.

“Since infrastructure has gone out there (in Wellcamp and Charlton), there’s increased traffic there,” Ms Watson said.

“When it rains, there is a collection of water at each end, and the water stays there for months.

“There are trucks going through there, and quite often through the night.

“You wouldn’t believe the amount of dust (created by traffic) — a horse I’ve got, I’ve had both his eyes removed due to continued eye infections.”

Owen Mesken and Denise Watson are calling on council to seal Deuble Road, Wellcamp, Tuesday, April 20, 2021. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Ms Watson contacted the council in 2017, asking them to fix the road, and she was told preliminary costings put sealing it at $5m.

However, the recent list submitted to councillors put the sealing cost at $570,000.

Infrastructure services chair Cr Carol Taylor said this discrepancy was because the list of roads was more for illustrative purposes.

“These dollar figures were provided to give the councillors some appreciation of the order of magnitude of costs for this type of work over time,” she said.

“At last week’s meeting, TRC infrastructure services general manager Mike Brady advised councillors there was no concept design or project-specific planning behind the cost estimates.

“A low-cost seal generally does not require land resumptions, as the construction work is performed on the existing road alignment.

“The most recent traffic count on Deuble Road found an average daily traffic volume of 405 vehicles per day.

“Council will continue to maintain Deuble Road as a gravel road to a standard that supports the current vehicle demand.”

Neighbours, residents and community groups met this week to discuss further advocacy for sealing the road.