Bruce Highway crashes on notorious stretch drives truckies to reconsider driving at night
Travellers are often faced with detours at Miriam Vale due to road crashes. (ABC Wide Bay: Nikki Sorbello)
In short:
The southbound lane of the Bruce Highway is closed at Colosseum after a truck rollover just before 4am Thursday.
Truck drivers, residents, and politicians are calling for urgent funding to improve safety.
What's next?
The highway is expected to remain closed for several hours.
Truck drivers may be forced to up-end their schedules to avoid night-time travel in response to serious crashes on the Bruce Highway, the Queensland Trucking Association (QTA) warns.
The southbound lane of the Bruce Highway is closed at Colosseum, near Miriam Vale in central Queensland, after a truck rollover in the early hours of this morning.
A man in his 20s was taken to Gladstone Hospital in a stable condition with arm and leg injuries.
The crash happened about 25 kilometres north of a five-truck pile-up on Tuesday that closed the Bruce Highway for almost 24 hours.
A 29-year-old man has died in hospital overnight, a man in his 50s is in hospital in Brisbane in a stable condition, and a man in his 20s has been discharged from the Bundaberg Hospital.
The Bruce Highway was closed in both directions for almost 24 hours on Tuesday. (Supplied: Queensland Ambulance Service)
QTA chief executive Gary Mahon said it had prompted a rethink on trucking companies' delivery schedules.
"It is a concern that those conversations are even being had," Mr Mahon said.
Upgrades needed for 'critical corridor'
The Bruce Highway is a 1,679-kilometre critical link along Queensland's east coast from Brisbane to Cairns.
Gary Mahon says there is not enough funding for the Bruce Highway. (Supplied: Queensland Trucking Association)
Mr Mahon said the highway was "in a disgraceful state" and desperately needed major upgrades and investment.
"You've got just on 1,400 kilometres that are single lane and that single lane is quite narrow," he said.
"This is the main arterial road that replenishes our state, it provides communication, connectivity, productivity, efficiency — all those good words — right across the state."
The highway is funded 50:50 by the state and federal governments.
"We know at the current rate of investment is just nowhere near good enough," Mr Mahon said.
"We need to substantially ramp up the investment so that we've got pavement widths that are safe, overtaking lines that are adequate and there's enough of them."
Childers resident Kevin Savage says he won't drive at night. (ABC Wide Bay: Nikki Sorbello)
Kev Savage lives 200 metres from the Bruce Highway at Childers and has witnessed a number of accidents.
He's also rethinking when he hits the road.
"It is just bedlam," he said.
"Anytime I've been on the road, I've been pressed [from behind] by a truck … when I'm actually sitting on the speed limit."
Push for double lanes
Ahead of the October state election, federal LNP member for Capricornia Michelle Landry said work was urgently needed on the highway to save lives.
"You get on that Bruce Highway going north it is atrocious, and sometimes you think you're going to lose the front of your car in those potholes," she said.
"We've got travellers on there, we've got semis [trucks], we've got caravans on there, we've got military on there."
Michelle Landry says the condition of the Bruce Highway is "atrocious". (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
Ms Landry also urged motorists to drive to conditions.
"People just don't care, they're just [driving] like lunatics, and they put their foot down … The amount of times I've had to pull over when somebody's passing on the highway," she said.
When asked whether a federal coalition government would commit to double lanes, Ms Landry said there had been discussions but no guarantees.
"It's something that we're working on … I would love to see four lanes right from Brisbane up to Cairns."
In June, the Queensland government promised to increase its annual funding for the Bruce Highway from $200 million to $250 million, from 2027-2028.
As part of budget announcements in May, the federal government committed $467 million to the Bruce Highway.
Queensland's Main Roads minister has been contacted for comment.