Allora man calls on state, federal government to step up and fund major highway upgrade

The state of a major regional highway has come under fire with a local resident living in fear of the worst each time a loved one travels along the pothole-filled stretch.

Allora resident Jeff Lack lives in fear for his loved ones over the atrocious state of a major regional highway.

A southern Queensland man is met with a grip of fear each time one of his loved ones travel down a notorious stretch of a regional highway.

An RACQ ‘bad roads’ survey revealed the New England Highway from Toowoomba to the New South Wales border moved to the fifth worst road in the country.

Sections of the highway have been likened by motorists as “like driving in a rally” and a “national highway disgrace”.

Allora resident Jeff Lack is among those who consider it a daily danger for motorists, with a particular and growing fear of the stretch of highway between Allora and Warwick.

“It feels as though we’re living in a third world country out here,” Mr Lack said.

“It’s not fair we have to hang on to the steering wheel to get from one place to another.”

Mr Lack said the most dangerous section is between Allora and the eight-mile intersection, a distance of about 24km.

Potholes and patches along the New England Highway between Allora and Warwick.

Queensland Police revealed 2024 was the worst year for road fatalities recording almost 300 lives lost on state roads.

Across the Southern Region there have been a total of 59 lives lost with 29 recorded in the Darling Downs District, 18 in Ipswich District and 12 in South West District.

“We don’t want to hear there’s no funding for an upgrade available,” he said.

“Now that the LNP is in government in Queensland they need to be held to account.

“It’s pretty ordinary to watch other parts of South East Queensland receive funding for projects while our vehicles get damaged, and we risk our lives going from Allora to Warwick.”

While there have been a number of “patch” jobs completed along this stretch of the highway, it seems continually plagued with potholes.

Newscorp reached out to Southern Downs MP James Lister and federal member for Maranoa David Littleproud about the state of the New England Highway.

Mr Lister said the stretch south of Allora isn’t the only road in the region that needs attention

“Labor’s decade of extraordinary mismanagement and big city project budget blowouts sucked money away from QTRIP’s planned repair and upgrade program for our country Queensland roads, and the Crisafulli government was recently elected to turn things around,” Mr Lister said.

“The answer lies in ending that waste and mismanagement to release funds for our roads, and by ensuring that we then fix the roads properly and get lasting value for those funds.”

Mr Lister claims he has continued to speak in parliament and correspond with Transport and Main Roads Minister Brett Mickelberg, who visited the Southern Downs back in February.

Transport and Main Roads Minister Brent Mickelberg, Fisher Park Truck Stop owner Frank Orazio and Southern Downs MP James Lister. Photo: Facebook/James Lister

Mr Littleproud skirted around whether he would advocate for funding an upgrade of the New England Highway should Peter Dutton win the May federal election.

“The Albanese government has ripped more than $30 billion from regional infrastructure in just three years and the state of our roads is a reflection of that,” Mr Littleproud said.

“We will be committing to getting back basics and fixing and building regional roads as we proved when we were last in government.”

Originally published as Allora man calls on state, federal government to step up and fund major highway upgrade