More action needed to improve the Bruce Highway

RACQ01/02/2023

Queensland motorists have named the Bruce Highway the State’s most unroadworthy road.

Stretch of the Bruce Highway with bad potholes.

The highway returned to the top of RACQ’s Unroadworthy Roads list in 2022 after being overtaken by Kin Kin Road in 2020.

The Club’s Head of Public Policy, Dr Michael Kane, said more than 1,500 nominations were received from motorists in response to the survey, highlighting problems on 556 different roads.

“Our members have called out the Bruce Highway in a big way and their criticism stretches from south east Queensland to far north Queensland,” Dr Kane said.

“Even with significant amounts of funding being directed to the Bruce Highway over many years, recent rain and flooding, combined with heavy traffic, has resulted in potholes and other surface damage.

“Respondents pointed out a range of issues with the Bruce Highway, saying some sections are too narrow, riddled with potholes, lack safe overtaking opportunities and easily flood.

“There were some parts of the highway that received more nominations than others, especially around Rockhampton, the stretch from Mackay to Bowen and Ingham to Innisfail.

“We know there’s a lot of work being done on the Bruce Highway but RACQ is calling for these upgrades to be delivered faster, especially with the recent flooding which caused significant disruptions up north just weeks ago.”

Dr Kane said Kin Kin Road in the Sunshine Coast hinterland received the second highest number of nominations, followed by Old Maroochydore Road also on the Sunshine Coast, Mount Mee Road at D'Aguilar and the Cunningham Highway in the Darling Downs.

“All the roads in the top 10 list have many things in common: rough surfaces, poor shoulders, narrow lanes and a lack of overtaking opportunities. Wet weather leading to potholes and road damage are also very common,” Dr Kane said.

“We need targeted investment to ensure upgrades are dedicated to safety, maintenance, resilience and strengthening of regional roads, especially with traffic increasing and more frequent and extreme weather events expected in years to come.”

RACQ has provided the survey results to the Department of Transport and Main Roads and relevant Councils in a bid to identify and fast-track upgrades to these roads.

To read the full report click here.

Table 1 – ‘Worst 10’ roads with summary description of nominated problems

Rank	Road	Number of responses	Summary of nominated problems
1	Bruce Highway	267	Rough surface, narrow, lacks safe overtaking opportunities, prone to flooding, damage and potholes.
2	Kin Kin Road	44	Safety concerns around vehicles mixing with large quarry trucks, narrow road, potholes, poor road shoulders, rough and slippery surface, lacks safe overtaking opportunities, narrow bridges and culverts.
3	Old Maroochydore Road	37	Prone to flooding, poor drainage, rough surface, potholes, increasing traffic.
4	Mount Mee Road	29	Rough surface, narrow, poor shoulders, lacks safe overtaking opportunities, tight curves and blind crests.
5	Cunningham Highway	28	Rough surface, narrow, lacks safe overtaking opportunities, potholes and prone to flooding.
6	Warrego Highway	27	In poor condition, damaged by rain, flooding and heavy vehicles, uneven road, potholes, safety and congestion concerns.
7	Tamborine Mountain Road	26	Poor condition, rough surface, narrow, slippery, poor shoulders, poor drainage and deep potholes.
8	New England Highway	24	Poor condition, rough and uneven surface, poor shoulders, lack of safe overtaking lanes, prone to flooding in some sections.
=9	Brisbane Valley Highway	21	Rough surface, potholes, narrow, lacks safe overtaking opportunities, increasing traffic and congestion.
=9	D’Aguilar Highway	21	Narrow, rough surface, potholes, lacks safe overtaking opportunities and heavy traffic.

More action needed to improve the Bruce Highway

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