Growing truck numbers in Mackay and not enough adequate rest areas for truck drivers in the region are adding to the dangers out on the road, according to a Queensland road safety group.
The Road Accident Action Group (RAAG) is pushing for a new multi-purpose rest area to be built in the suburb of Paget, on a vacant block of land opposite the existing BP truck stop. RAAG said there are currently no designated heavy vehicle parking spaces in Mackay, and BP Paget is literally overflowing with trucks, leaving drivers with no option but to park on surrounding streets.
“There are heavy vehicles parked up on the roads everywhere in the Paget industrial area,” said Carol Single of RAAG, which has been raising concerns about the lack of heavy vehicle parking in the Mackay area for the past two decades. Recently she says the group was made aware of police needing to wake drivers and ask them to move their heavy vehicles so wide loads could pass through.
“Every few days, the Bruce Highway between Rockhampton and Townsville is closed due to a crash. It’s an ongoing spiral. There is just nowhere for heavy vehicle drivers to stop and rest properly; and nowhere for recreational vehicles and caravans to rest in Mackay as all the caravan parks are full.”
The closest heavy vehicle rest stop in the area that meets the requirements set out by Austroads is at Waverley Creek, 160 kilometres south of Mackay. RAAG worked with other stakeholders for 13 years to finally see the construction of this rest area in 2013.
But Single said with the number of fatigue-related crashes between Rockhampton and north to Townsville, a new rest area at Paget is urgently needed.
BP Paget is overflowing with trucks, with no rest areas nearby. Image: RAAGRAAG is now calling on the Mackay Regional Council, state and federal governments to support their proposal to turn the vacant land in Paget into a multi-purpose rest area, with a minimum of 100 parking spaces for trucks, caravans and other road users.
Along with parking, RAAG is proposing the site includes a driver changeover facility for truck drivers, along with facilities for caravans and light vehicle drivers. “Currently B-doubles have to split to be inspected at Mackay and we understand the NHVR is looking at a new inspection station in the Mackay area,” Single added.
The site being suggested for the rest area is located on Industroplex Drive, Paget.
“The beauty of this location, along with being directly opposite the BP, is that it’s located at the roundabout so it’s in a perfect location for anyone coming from north or south from the Bruce Highway. It also links to the Mackay Ring Road, and it will link to the Walkerston Bypass which will open later this year, and onto the Peak Downs Highway which will become the B-double route into Mackay from the west.”
With the completion of the new Eton Range Road, Single said higher capacity vehicles coming in from the west need somewhere near Paget to decouple, as the closest breakdown pad is over 40 kilometres west at Hazledean.
Paget is a hub for mining activity in Queensland, and Mackay sees high volumes of heavy vehicle traffic. Single said there are more wide loads moving in the Mackay and Central Queensland areas than anywhere else in Australia.
Currently, accidents on the Bruce and Peak Downs Highways are occurring at an alarming rate.
According to data from the RACQ, motorists using the Bruce Highway are five times more likely to be injured or killed in a crash than those driving on major roads linking Sydney and Melbourne.
Head-on crashes currently account for approximately 50 per cent of crashes on the Bruce Highway.
“This is a project that is critical to the wellbeing of all travellers coming through Mackay – from the heavy vehicles to the caravan and RV drivers through to car drivers, who need somewhere they can pull up and rest. I don’t think there is anything more important right now than building an adequate rest area, to help reduce the carnage.”
RAAG’s proposal for a new rest area at Paget has received overwhelming support, with the Australian Trucking Association (ATA), Queensland Trucking Association (QTA), NatRoad, RACQ, Queensland Police, state and federal ministers and the Mackay Regional Council all backing the plan.
The group will continue pushing for a new rest area to be built, seeking funding from the federal government’s Heavy Vehicle Rest Areas initiative, which has committed $140 million into the construction of heavy vehicle rest areas, over the next 10 years.
“We do have a lot of support,” said Single. “Now we’re really trying to drive this and bring everyone together to progress the urgent need for a rest area to be built in Paget as soon as possible.”
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