News
12 June, 2024
Get out of the way!
A lack of overtaking lanes along the D’Aguilar Highway between Caboolture and Kingaroy is driving some residents to distraction.
Woodford resident, Barry Wilson, said he was increasingly frustrated at the lack of overtaking opportunities along the highway, with a gap of nearly 100 kilometres in one instance.
Mr Wilson said there was only one overtaking lane - west bound at Bracalba near the quarry - between Caboolture to just over the Blackbutt range before Benarkin. Mr Wilson said that was a distance of nearly 100km.
“This is just one example of just how neglected this vital road link is,” he said.
“Main Roads are meant to be looking after us.”
Mr Wilson said his research showed that Transport and Main Roads on its own website stated that, “In the first instance, a spacing of (overtaking lanes) up to 20km may be appropriate, depending on the available overtaking opportunities.
“A more desirable spacing would be from 10 to 15km with the objective of providing overtaking opportunities every 5km in the long term.
“The intermediate lanes will be provided between the initial installations as required as the traffic grows.”
Mr Wilson said TMR needed to follow its own policies.
“If it’s meant to be every 15 or 20 kilometres (that there’s an overtaking lane), they haven’t got out their measuring sticks,” he said.
Mr Wilson said it was “very frustrating to be stuck behind a caravan or truck doing 80 (km/h) in a 100 (km/h) zone and you can’t get past them”.
Mr Wilson referred to the journey between Caboolture and Blackbutt, saying that after the last overtaking at Woodford “you can be stuck behind a vehicle for 78km”.
Mr Wilson added that the overtaking lane at Blackbutt was downhill, which meant “you can’t overtake because they speed up”.
A TMR spokesperson said the Department acknowledged “the important role the D’Aguilar Highway plays in Queensland’s road network, servicing commercial, commuter and tourist traffic”.
“TMR also acknowledges community support for overtaking lanes on the D’Aguilar Highway,” the spokesperson said.
“TMR is monitoring what future upgrades may be required to the state-controlled network in the area, including the need for overtaking lanes on the highway between Caboolture and Kingaroy townships.
“As with all projects, funding for further planning and any subsequent upgrades would need to compete against other priority infrastructure projects across the state-controlled road network.
“Increasing traffic volumes are a key consideration in TMR’s ongoing network planning activities.”
