How Toowoomba’s West St became a stroad

Ever heard of a ‘stroad’? It’s what planning experts say one major Toowoomba thoroughfare has transformed into, and the reason it is the location of so many shocking crashes.

Crashes are becoming more frequent along West Street, as the street becomes a 'stroad' what is neither safe for cars, nor pedestrians.

Experts are pointing the finger at both poor planning and driving habits as the reason one major Toowoomba thoroughfare has transformed into a dangerous hybrid of a street and a road.

West Street is now what planning experts call a “stroad” – a hybrid of a street and a road, which experts say isn’t safe for pedestrians or motorists.

The last month has been a tragic time for the southern strip of this busy thoroughfare, after two separate crashes resulted in fatalities.

These crashes happened three months after a 30 year-old woman was hit by a car while riding her bike at the Stenner St intersection.

The collision left her with critical injuries.

In addition to the severe crashes, near misses are becoming more serious and frequent, with a three-car crash in June at Stephen and West St holding up traffic for hours, and a cyclist hospitalised after a crash with a car metres away from that same intersection on Monday, August 5.

Khristina Duke (right) was left with critical injuries after she was hit by a car riding her bicycle at the intersection of West and Stenner St in April 2024. Post office worker Micheal Munro (right) tragically died from his injuries after his motorbike crashed on West and Stephen St.

Dr Anthony Kimpton, a UniSQ lecturer in urban planning, said the transformation was a result from “persistent driving habits, poor planning decisions, and a lack of political will” as suburbs 10km – 15km along the western side of the city grow.

The 8km run of West St runs extends along western Toowoomba directly south-north and crosses 14 intersections, including Bridge St, Russell St, Margaret St, Herries St, James St, Stephen St, South St, Alderley St, Stenner St and Spring St.

At the southern end, it resembles a small, regional street, shoulders undefined and faded middle white lines.

As it travels north, grows in momentum transforming into a major two-lane thoroughfare bypassing the CBD, as a connector to the northern suburbs of the city.

COUNCIL UPGRADES

Statistics from the Queensland government show that 63 crashes have been recorded with 21 resulting in injuries needing hospitalisation, between 2013 and 2023 – the deaths this year have been the first fatals in 10 years along this stretch of street.

For these intersections, traffic light upgrades are scheduled for Stephen and West St this financial year, and designs for a traffic light upgrade are in place for the intersection of West and South St.

Within this stretch of street, 12 crashes have happened, with more than half of them in the last six years.

Toowoomba Regional Council has already identified the intersection of West and Margaret St as a black spot zone, where an upgrade has recently taken place.

Five crashes have happened here, one involving a pedestrian.

In addition to this, asphalt and resurfacing works are planned for section of West St this financial year, as well as designs for traffic light upgrades at Bridge and West St.

“Council continuously monitors and evaluates our road network in a bid to build safer streets without compromising on quality or safety,” construction portfolio councillor Carol Taylor said.

Ms Taylor said council appreciated every dollar of funding, but more needed to be done to keep pace with “higher traffic volumes and community expectations”.

WHERE TO NOW?

As Toowoomba grows more metropolitan each year, its stroads will continue unless a clear path is put forward by the community or by council.

It is the dilemma between a city of idyllic tree-lined streets which are friendly and safe for pedestrians, e-scooters, or bikes, or roads and curbs designed for the inflow of heavy traffic.

More than 50 per cent of households have two or more cars in Toowoomba, according to the 2021 census.

This car-to-resident ratio was only rising, said Dr Kimpton.

In 2001, eight per cent of residents walked, cycled or used public transport to commute to work, he said.

This was down 20 years later to five per cent in 2021, despite 11 per cent of Toowoomba residents living within a 30-minute walk to work and 13 per cent within 30-minutes of cycling, he said.

“Australians often overlook the private costs — annual expenses for a small car averaged $13,386 in 2023,” Dr Kimpton said.

The costs come to about 18 per cent of an average Australian salary, he said.

“Interestingly, other countries consider this level of spending on mobility as “transport poverty” since it is associated with quality of life sacrifices but these sacrifices have been normalised in Australia,” he said.

Barely a month ago, Toowoomba opened Queensland’s first ‘active transport street’ featuring an orange-red painted road with a speed limit of 30 km/h.

Barely a month ago, Toowoomba opened Queensland’s first ‘active transport street’ featuring an orange-red painted road with a speed limit of 30 km/h.

Such streets signal a growing movement across Australia to lower speed limits to 30 km/h in the city’s grid-like residential streets, Griffith University’s Cities Research Institute professor Matthew Burke said.

“Toowoomba could take a lead on that,” he said.

As the government experiments with 50 cent bus fares across the state, how it will change commuters habits could set the course for the future, he said.