A few days ago we made our first Australian road trip. From Brisbane to Airlie Beach on a total distance of more than 1200 kilometres if you include the deviations to other beach side locations like Hervey Bay or Emu Park. And that’s just the one direction total distance. The trip was very interesting through the most beautiful landscape of central Queensland.
The basic route from Brisbane up north is through the (in)famous Bruce highway. When I first heard of Bruce highway I though of Bruce Almighty and in certain parts of the trip I wished that I had Bruce Nolan’s abilities to transform things around me.
The thing I wanted to transform the most was the road itself. Bruce highway, named after the former Queensland and federal politician Henry Adam Bruce who was the state Minister for Works when the highway was named after him, in the mid 1930s. And in some parts Bruce highway seems to have remained in 1930’s.
The first part of Bruce highway, from Brisbane to Noosa Heads is a dual carriageway and at that point is that the good news for motorists ends. That is the same point that the good news for Queensland wildlife ends as well. I haven’t seen so many dead animals, mainly kangaroos in the side of the road, ever before. It seems that the “respect for our wildlife” signs don’t do much help here. The highway is a regular deathtrap for so many wildlife animals and it is very strange that it lucks protective fencing especially at some parts that passes through the forest.
Unfortunately Bruce highway raises serious safety issues to drivers and the innovative fatigue – trivia signs don’t seem to help so much. They are really interesting and they provide some trivia knowledge about Queensland but they can’t be considered a safety measure.
On the contrary safety measure can be considered the median treatment on some parts of the highway on the road from Curra to Cooroy.
Safety measures are also the overtaking lanes. Especially these were a lot of help when I had a B-double truck tailgating me at a speed of more than 100 km/h.
The Bruce highway is used by up to 170,000 vehicles a day. While it is just 32% of the total length of Queensland highways it is accounting for the 51% of casualty crashes during 2003-2007 and 59% of deaths. These statistics are only second worst to the Pacific Highway that links Brisbane with Gold Cost.
Queensland Government is working with Australian Government to upgrade Bruce Highway. Together they have developed Bruce Highway Upgrade Strategy, which identifies priority investments for the Bruce Highway. Over the next 20 years Bruce Highway will see 340 kilometres of highway duplication, bridge replacements, intersection upgrades and other safety improvements.
I am afraid that in a state that railroad is not much developed, these upgrades are not enough and the level of service that Bruce highway provides will keep undermining growth in Queensland and will keep putting people and animals in great danger.
