A review into the safety of the notorious Mary Valley Highway should be released immediately.
It was due in December last year, put off to June, and we’ve still seen nothing.
This week I’ve asked the Transport Minister in Parliament when will the Mary Valley Road Safety Report be released to the public.*
He will have to answer us by 1 October.
Despite raising it in Parliament, asking questions, and writing to him we’ve seen nothing.
When I asked last year where it was, the response was self-congratulatory about the Bruce Highway upgrade and projects near Bundaberg.**
The government is so arrogant it doesn’t care.
In March I wrote asking for it to be released to then be told to wait for June.
The report will identify upgrade solutions to improve the safety of the road.
It shouldn’t be a top-secret document.
The condition of state roads and the safety of road users should be paramount.
This is about the safety of roads users, of locals, families, workers, and visitors to the region.
Yesterday we learned that the speed between Mary Valley Link and Kandanga Imbil Roads will be reduced from 100 to 80 kph.
It looks like window dressing.
It’s not good enough that yet again there’s been another road accident in the Mary Valley yesterday.
I constantly receive complaints from constituents and road users concerned about the condition of our state-controlled roads.
The Minister for Transport seems to be more interested in playing Brisbane politics.
Instead of secrecy and hiding behind pathetic excuses we need an answer.
There is a $6 billion backlog on road maintenance of state controlled roads, and the Minister is doing little to fix the problems.***
The Queensland Auditor General found that the road maintenance backlog would exceed $9 billion by 2027.****
The QAO report was scathing and found that DTMR faces a risk it won’t be able to maintain or improve service standards on the network for future needs.
It said the maintenance backlog means DTMR will have to reprioritise works to address safety-related defects in its networks at the expense of works to renew its assets. **** (p6 QAO report)
Crying crocodile tears doesn’t cut it.
Where is the report?