Gympie council to put traffic lights at notorious corner near Rattler

Long-demanded plans to fix one of Gympie’s worst intersections are picking up speed – but at an elevated price. Vote in our poll:

What is Gympie's worst intersection? The Mellor St/Lady Mary Terrace and Chapple St intersection.

Long-demanded fixes to Gympie’s worst intersection are on the way with Gympie Regional Council finally awarding a contract to install traffic lights at the black spot – but not everyone is on-board with the plan.

Councillors on Wednesday voted to engage Offaly Civil Pty Ltd to install the lights at the intersections of Mellor St and Chapple St, and Tozer St and Station Rd, near popular cafe Soma Soma and the Mary Valley Rattler.

The motion was passed eight votes to one, with Division Four councillor Mick Curran the lone vote against.

The intersections, which are separated by a rail underpass prone to flash flooding, has been regularly labelled as the city’s worst by residents.

Plans for the upgrade have been in the works for years, despite some push back from corners of the community.

The price has risen across the years, too.

The upgrades were originally costed at $2.74m in 2020, but on Wednesday the council upped the budget (which was set at $3.19m) to $4.45m.

A staff report presented to councillors laid the blame at the feet of “unforeseen market price increases”.

The addition of new turning lanes to manage traffic added to the price rise, too.

What is Gympie's worst intersection? The Mellor St/Lady Mary Terrace and Chapple St intersection.

Upgrades will include traffic lights at the two intersections, road resurfacing, new off-street parking on Chapple St, stormwater drain improvements, new footpaths.

The report said Offaly Civil was the only one of the eight tendering companies with a “significant” presence in Gympie.

This included an office in the region, and a “majority” of its workforce living in the region.

Mr Curran said he was not against fixing the two intersections, but believed it could be done without installing traffic lights and he was “yet to find” a resident or business owner nearby who supported them.

He said there had been a drop of “10-15 per cent” in traffic at the corners since the opening of the Gympie Bypass in October 2024.

There had also not been a reportable traffic crash at the intersection since 2020, Mr Curran said.
“Things have changed,” he said.

Those changes meant new intersections in the region had emerged as higher priorities for the funding, including the corner of Horseshoe Bend and Stewart Tce which is now a primary connection between Gympie and the bypass.

“It’s a disaster waiting to happen,” Mr Curran said.

He said the council should go and review the project, and whether the same outcome could be achieved cheaper with traffic calming devices and turning lanes instead of lights.

Originally published as Gympie council to put traffic lights at notorious corner near Rattler