16 August, 2021
Gore Highway upgrades
Sections of the Gore Highway between Pittsworth and Millmerran will be receiving much needed upgrades in two separate stages over the next two years.
Queensland Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey detailed the proposed upgrades at the end of last month following an enquiry from State Member for Condamine Pat Weir.
“I can advise $17 million has been allocated for pavement rehabilitation on the Gore Highway, between Pittsworth and Millmerran, under the National Land Transport Network Upgrades, Roads of Strategic Importance early works, on an 80:20 funding split between the Australian and Queensland governments,” Mr Bailey said.
“Stage 1 of the project is currently under construction and Stage 2 is scheduled to commence in the second half of 2021 and be completed over the next two years.
“Stage 1 construction is trialling innovative pavement rehabilitation systems and products on a 1.5 kilometre stretch of the Gore Highway between Brookstead and Pampas.
“The trials started in May 2021 and are scheduled for completion mid-August 2021, weather permitting.
“The results of the trials will be applied to subsequent stages of the project and other pavement rehabilitation works in similar environments.
“All project stages will address pavement rehabilitation challenges on highly reactive soils of this area, much of which is within the Condamine River floodplain.
“In addition, a $450,000 planning project is investigating safety improvement options on the Gore Highway between Toowoomba and Brookstead.
“The business case was scheduled for completion by the end of June 2021 and is being delivered under the Transport System Planning Program, 100 per cent funded by the Queensland Government.”
Despite the allocated funding and proposed upgrades, Mr Weir believes it is insufficient to fully address the extent of the damage on the Gore Highway.
“$17 million for the Gore Highway is no way near enough,” Mr Weir said.
“The Gore Highway is deteriorating at a rapid rate so it needs some serious investment, and we’ll keep the pressure on to try and get some more funding for it.
“It’s been some time since there’s been a significant upgrade and you only need to drive on the road to realise it’s in need of serious repair.
“The trouble with this small amount of funding is that it’s only going to be a patch job.”
Mr Weir said the Gore Highway isn’t the only road in our region that is in need of significant upgrades.
“We’ve got a number of roads across Condamine that need serious investment and I’ve been disappointed in the state funding for those,” he said.
“The Toowoomba Cecil Plains Road is only a patch job and the Clifton to Karara road is only a patch job, so we have a lot of neglected roads.”
Mr Weir said he will continue to work with Mr Bailey, Member for Groom Garth Hamilton and Member for Maranoa David Littleproud to receive more Federal Government funding to go towards improving our region’s roads.
Mr Weir said he relies on feedback from the public to determine issues such as these that need addressing and welcome’s all public input.
