Wes Walker reckons he’s seen a lot of bungles and dropped balls by the state government in his time, but says this latest blooper could just about top them all.
The tenacious Queensland truckies’ advocate, best known for his successful campaign to get toilets at the Gatton pads, is talking about the long strips of grass that have recently appeared on each side of the Warrego Highway at Hatton Vale.
“I have no idea why they think this is a good idea but it’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” Walker tells Big Rigs.
“Who in their right mind thinks it’s okay to lay turf on top of bitumen? It’ll never grow in my lifetime.”
Other truckies we showed these pictures to were also left scratching their heads.
“What the f**k where they thinking?” said one. “I’ve never seen anything so stupid.”
A couple of days after sharing the first pics with Big Rigs, Walker followed up with evidence below that TMR indeed had high hopes for the grass roots taking hold through the bitumen – a water truck was giving the turf a good hosing.
A TMR spokesperson told Big Rigs it had completed pavement rehabilitation works on a 1.6km section of the Warrego Highway between Evans Road and Herrmanns Road, Hatton Vale in August 2023. The works included the rehabilitation of the eastbound lanes of the Plain Creek Bridge, Minden.
On December 1, TMR’s contractor returned to the site to carry out project finalisation works. Works to establish vegetation and control erosion are ongoing.
“The works to date involved turf laying on the verge and guardrail works,” the spokesperson added.
“To expedite these works, the work area is under traffic management with single-lane closures and reduced speed limits while the works were underway.”
The more grass they lay, the more they can spend on private infrastructure maintenance. There’ll be 6 blokes on $40 an hour sitting in their car with their 40kmph signs and flashing lights and 1 bloke walking along the highway with a law mower.