The 15-year road war

By Kirra Livingstone

AN almost 20-year fight to widen and seal two key stretches of hinterland roadway has finally reaped a result after the State Government announced an imminent start to upgrades.

The roads to be upgraded are two sections of Maleny-Kenilworth Road, including the 2.8km stretch along Lees Road, Conondale, Goades Road and Cambroon and the 1.1km distance along either side of the Booloumba Creek Road intersection.

Member for Glass House, Andrew Powell, who had been pressuring the State Government to fund these road repairs for 14 years, said he was ecstatic the project is finally going ahead.

Mr Powell and members of the community have regularly walked the length of the road to raise awareness of its dangerous condition, poor quality, petitioned the Government, hassled the Department of Transport and Main Roads and even invited the Premier out to see the deteriorating state of the road and the safety concerns that created.

“This is something we have passionately been fighting for, for so long,” he said.

“While 14 years feels like a long time for me, locals have been pleading to get the road upgraded for far longer than that.

“Buses loaded up with school children drive this road daily, and I’ve been told firsthand by some of the drivers that they’ve avoided disasters on too many occasions… it’s a safety issue.”

Maleny-Kenilworth Road is also a key tourist route, especially for campers heading out to Kenilworth, and a main road for farmers getting their produce to market.

“I can’t wait to celebrate with the community once the work gets going,” he said.

“Watch this space for a fun commemorative event soon.” Motorists should expect delays with work to take place between 7am to

6pm Monday to Friday, including some weekends. The upgrades will take about a year to complete according to the Queensland Government.

But the news is not so good for residents hoping a stretch of road between Maleny and Witta will be repaired any time soon.

Dennis Hensby had petitioned the State Government to repair the rapidly deteriorating road.

But in a recent response to the petition the Government did not commit any funding to that section of road.