Truckies’ advocate challenges ministers to ride ‘worst road in Australia’

Truckies’ advocate Wes Walker has added the crumbling Warrego Highway to his growing hit-list of targets to fix in Queensland.

On a recent road trip from Brisbane to Longreach, Walker said he was shocked at the woeful state of the major freight route.

“There is no way truckies can manage their fatigue correctly when the roads are that bad,” an angry Walker told Big Rigs.

“You get bounced around. The truck loses control. You get that tired from fighting the road, you go to sleep.

“I’ve been on every major highway and this is 100 per cent worse than any other – it’s the worst road in Australia by a long way.”

To add insult to injury, Walker said are long stretches of the Warrego with what appear to be permanent signs alerting truckies to works, but little in the way of actual progress.

Truckies are forced to crawl along at 60km/h for kilometres on end, even when there are no workers to be seen on site, Walker said.

“The time and effort to put in all those signs is incredible. To do it properly, with concrete and everything, they would have to have stop and go men there and the traffic down to one lane.

“So not just four blokes, one ute and a shovel. The signs are all the way to Longreach, and there are hundreds of them.”

Walker is so incensed by what he experienced, he’s challenging federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King and Queensland’s Minister for Transport and Main Roads, Bart Mellish to experience the road first-hand for themselves to better understand the conditions that truckies must work under.

“I challenge Bart Mellish and Catherine King to hire a ute and a box trailer from Bunnings and go from Brisbane to Roma on the Warrego and tell me that road is acceptable for anyone to drive on,” Walker said.

Walker said safety is also sorely lacking on the Warrego when it comes to rail crossings.

He counted nine level crossings between Brisbane and Longreach but only one had a boom gate.

“When you’re driving into the sun at the others you can’t even see the lights flashing.”

A petition was launched in July calling for minimum standards for mandatory train lighting to help improve level crossing safety.

Meanwhile, the Department of Transport and Main Roads told Big Rigs the Warrego Highway will benefit from a number of projects across the Darling Downs and South West districts including:

• $361.7 million funding commitment for Warrego Highway (project details and timing subject to further planning and negotiation with the Australian Government).
• $277 million for the Warrego Highway (Ipswich – Toowoomba) and Mount Crosby Road interchange.
• $85 million for the Warrego Highway (Ipswich – Toowoomba), Bremer River Bridge, strengthening.
• $30.2 million Warrego Highway (Miles – Roma), pavement widening and culverts.
• $5.218 million Warrego Highway (Miles – Roma) and Wallumbilla South Road, improve intersection.