Petition wants Qld Government to fix Bruce Highway from Curra to Tiaro

The wife of a truck driver living near a notoriously bad Bruce Highway stretch is leading a new charge for the long-demanded urgent upgrade between Gympie and the Fraser Coast.

Bauple’s Lynne Stratford is taking her fight to the state government, petitioning it to immediately commence detailed plans and designs, establish a clear timeframe to fix the “dangerous” stretch from Curra to the new Tiaro Bypass, and prioritise it.

A resident of a small regional town is leading a new charge for the long-demanded “urgent” upgrade of the Bruce Highway between Gympie and the Fraser Coast she says has continually been “consistently overlooked”.

Bauple’s Lynne Stratford is taking her fight to the state government, petitioning it to immediately commence detailed plans and designs, establish a clear time frame to fix the “dangerous” stretch from Curra to the new Tiaro Bypass, and prioritise it.

“This stretch of highway … has been consistently overlooked for critical upgrades,” Mrs Stratford says in her petition.

“The RACQ has previously rated 40 per cent of this section of highway two stars out of five for road infrastructure, highlighting its dangerous condition.

“Despite repeated calls for action, there appears to be no concrete plans for the planning, design, or delivery of an upgrade from Curra to the proposed Tiaro Bypass.

Lynne Stratford, pictured here with husband Ron, is petitioning the state government to urgently upgrade the Bruce Hwy between their home town of Bauple, and Curra, north of Gympie.

“The current state of the highway endangers the lives of countless motorists daily and hinders economic growth in the region.”

Speaking Friday Mrs Stratford, a resident of the region for more than 50 years, said people had been calling for it to be fixed for a “long, long time”.

Her husband Ron Stratford said the state of the highway, particularly between Curra and the Gunalda ranges, was forcing truck drivers like himself to “drop one wheel off the road” at times.

The Courier Mail and regional mastheads, including The Gympie Times and the Fraser Coast Chronicle, have nee campaigning for much needed improvements to Queensland’s main road.

Accidents regularly occurred on the Hwy directly outside their Bauple home despite it being a straight stretch, Mrs Stratford said.

She was not sure if it was because it was a fatigue zone, or a problem with the road, but it amounted the same need for improvement.

It needed to be thought out well ahead of time, too.

Mrs Stratford pointed to the Roys Rd overpass about 15km south of the Sunshine Coast as an example.

The bridge was constructed years before any actual connections to the Bruce Hwy were built, she said.

She said the upgrade was needed to help cater for the continual growth of Bauple and other towns along its length, including Glenwood.

The level of consultation between the state’s Transport Department and Bauple residents over the Tiaro Bypass, which could start construction as early as 2025, has come under fire in recent years, with residents saying they felt “frustrated”.

Mrs Stratford said the Bypass design forced residents to travel through Tiaro to access the Bruce Hwy.

Mrs Stratford says the RACQ has rated the stretch of Highway in her petition as two stars out of five, but calls for it to be improved have been continually overlooked.

In her petition she says residents “along this stretch of highway feel let down and betrayed by the government’s failure to address their concerns and feedback”

“They worry that the lack of forward planning will further harm their communities, which rely on access to the Bruce Highway for work and primary production transport.

“The lack of transparency regarding project time frames and detailed work plans only deepens their frustration.

She said Friday the area needed to be treated the same way as Brisbane and the Southeast corner when it came to infrastructure planning.

“The rest of us are still taxpayers,” Mrs Stratford said.

The petition, which remains open until September 9, can be found here.

Originally published as Petition wants Qld Government to fix Bruce Highway from Curra to Tiaro