October 28, 2022
KNUTH AND RESIDENTS CALL FOR REMAINING 6KM OF UPPER BARRON RD TO BE FULLY UPGRADED
Member for Hill Shane Knuth recently meet with a group of concerned residents and Tablelands Regional Council representatives to discuss concerns and the need for the last 6km of the Upper Barron Road to be sealed.
At current, most of the road is double laned but there is approximately 6km of road which is only single lane.
Mr Knuth said he can’t believe that a main road which is a tourist route, used daily by school buses, trucks and residents is still a single lane highway.
“We have been pushing for this to be fully sealed for a number of years now and it is time that the State Government provided the funding to finish the remaining 6km of road,” Mr Knuth said.
“The community is rising up and they have had enough.
“We do appreciate that 6 years ago part of road was fully sealed and widened but most of this road is still a single lane and a death trap.”
Local resident Angela Lynch said as a local resident and mum the Upper Barron Road frightens her and her children daily.
She said there was a bus shelter out the front of her property however her children refused to use it and will wait inside the fence line, which is about 5 meters from the single lane road, until they see the school bus before stepping off the property.
“They are too scared to use the bus shelter because they have previously been showered with rocks and dust from oncoming trucks which are trying to pass,” Mrs Lynch said.
“Now they refuse to come out and catch the bus which is really unacceptable.”
She said something needed to be done to make the road safter for those on the side of the road as much as road users.
Telpara Hills owner Trevor Pearce said he has had vehicles damaged and cattle hurt because their trucks have been forced off the road due to oncoming traffic.
“We have had a safety issue, not only with people on this road but livestock,” Mr Pearce said.
“We carry livestock up and down here very regularly and we are forced off the road every time another vehicle comes which causes our trucks to lurch which are causing accidents to happen inside our cattle trucks.
“We have very valuable livestock, and it is a huge cost to us.
“Just recently we had a huge loss when an embryo tank, which was travelling along the road, was forced off and smashed because it was jolted as a vehicle forced our ute off the road.
“These costs are huge because we have a main highway here which isn’t a highway.
“We are proud of the top end, but we have big safety problems at the bottom end of the road because it remains a single lane highway.”
[et_pb_text admin_label="EDIT - use %22ADD MEDIA%22 button to insert PDF" _builder_version="4.6.5" text_font_size="16px"]
Knuth calls for remaining 6km of Upper Barron Road to be sealed