As the recovery effort gets underway after this week’s devastating floods in north Queensland – it is not only homeowners counting the cost of yet another natural disaster in the region. Roads and other critical infrastructure, including the Bruce highway, have been severely damaged. Leaving flood affected residents isolated from essential resources.
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00:00The roads are definitely reminding us on a daily basis that we are in far north Queensland
00:08and we are certainly not driving on the same quality of the other major arterial roads
00:13further south.
00:15There are potholes in places that you could put your entire foot in, they do contribute
00:20to increased running costs for us with tyre damage and obviously scheduling and breakdown
00:26and unforeseeable road conditions that can change at any moment on any day.
00:31And we're standing here just near a major break on a bridge of the Bruce Highway, what
00:37is the impact of that?
00:39The impact is significant, the shortest alternative route from Townsville to Ingham is an increased
00:46trip of approximately 10 hours.
00:49The Premier says he wants to build it back better, is that possible to flood proof this
00:54road?
00:55I think building it back better is certainly a start in the right direction, we're certainly
01:00sick of seeing roads built back to the same standard.
01:03Is it just an impact on the drivers or does it impact everybody in the community?
01:07The Bruce Highway being cut absolutely impacts everybody in the community, I mean there are
01:12people who come to Townsville and commute daily for work, for medical attention, all
01:17significant groceries, fuel.
01:21The Federal Government recently promised $7 billion to bring the Bruce Highway up to
01:26the minimum safety standards, is that enough?
01:29It's probably not enough, I think that there is an extreme amount of work that needs to
01:34be done, north of Gympie, everywhere north of Gympie needs more lanes, better lanes,
01:41better bridge structures.
01:43The Premier, Federal Ministers, they're all in town at the moment, what is your message
01:47to them?
01:48We aren't asking for a lot in the scheme of things, we're asking for one major route between
01:55air and cans to be brought up to standard that trucks can drive on the road.
02:02Build a road for trucks that cars can travel on, we don't need another highway built for
02:06cars that we let trucks go on.