Toowoomba councillor Trevor Manteufel calls for fast-track to Back Creek Bridge upgrade on New England Hwy

Pressure has continued to mount on the state government to fast-track the upgrade of a “dangerous” single-lane bridge. It comes as the delivery of department planning has been pushed back.

Cooyar's single-lane bridge doesn't need to cause a fatality to invoke a tragedy, with residents like Janet Howie whose life has been turned upside down after a crash on the bridge. Photo: Jessica Klein

A Toowoomba councillor has urged the state government to upgrade a dangerous single-lane bridge on the New England Highway at Cooyar, revealing he was nearly involved in a crash at the site earlier this year.

Trevor Manteufel’s motion for council to write to transport minister Brent Mickelberg over the bridge was endorsed at Tuesday’s meeting.

It mounts further pressure on the Crisafulli government to fund upgrades to the section of the highway, which sees 6000 vehicle movements per day and has been the site of 17 crashes since 2001 that injured more than 20 people.

The most recent of them, a horror head-on collision on June 23, left a man with serious injuries and prompted renewed calls for the LNP to honour a previous promise to fund the bridge.

News Corp can now reveal the two-year planning work by the Department of Transport and Main Roads into potential safety upgrades at Back Creek Bridge has been extended by up to six months.

The investigation’s findings were originally due back to the government in June, but the project’s website now shows the due date of “late 2025”.

The budget for the planning has also increased from $600,000 to $704,000.

Mr Manteufel said he had spoken to the council’s infrastructure team about the bridge earlier this year, after avoiding a crash when another driver failed to give way.

Councillor Trevor Manteufel during a council meeting. Picture: Kevin Farmer

“I was nearly wiped out, I was going through and it’s just such a blind spot,” he said.

“It was close enough, someone just didn’t give way, and it’s always been a problem for me since I’ve been at council.

“You’ve got this beautiful big road, and suddenly it changes to something from the 1800s.

“It’s just this terrible situation, which could be alleviated by either building a whole new bridge.”

Cooyar's single-lane Back Creek Bridge has seen dozens of crashes and near misses in the past two decades.

Mr Manteufel’s comments come after mayor Geoff McDonald weighed into the issue this months, arguing the bridge in its current state posed “significant risks to motorists and freight operators”.

Groom MP Garth Hamilton also agreed Back Creek needed to be fast-tracked, calling for the federal government to fund it through the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure program.

Attorney-General and member for Nanango Deb Frecklington, who promised funding for the bridge prior to the 2017 state election, reaffirmed her commitment to seeing the upgrade delivered.

Premier of Queensland The Premier David Crisafulli, Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie and Deb Frecklington Attorney-General.

“I continue to reiterate my longstanding calls for upgrades to the Back Creek Bridge,” she said.

“This upgrade remains a priority for me, after the former Labor Government left behind an enormous $8 billion road maintenance backlog across Queensland.”

Ms Frecklington had spoken about the lack of funding for the bridge under the Palaszczuk and Miles governments on at least three occasions.