
The Burnett public have just under a month left to shape the future of a highway between Nanango and Yarraman infamous for a spate of serious and fatal crashes.
Queensland’s Department of Transport and Main Roads has called for public submissions on a planned upgrade to the D’Aguilar Highway south of Nanango, seeking to widen and strengthen sections of the road as well as add road safety features.
TMR have identified a seven-kilometre stretch of the highway, starting at the South Street intersection in Nanango and ending before the Berlin Road turnoff, as eligible for upgrades.
The Department explained high volumes of traffic as well as a history of crashes including fatalities on the road necessitated the works, with planners looking to implement audio-tactile line marking, reflectors, roadside barriers and other safety features to prevent further collisions.
The public are asked to give their own overview of the area, helping to identify spots in particular need of improvement which the Department will then factor into their plans.
Since public consultation began on the project, the Department has received 30 submissions.
An interactive map – one of the ways in which the public can bring the highway’s problem spots to the attention of the Department – lists a number of hot spots with constructive feedback.
One submitter asked TMR to “consider overtaking lanes” near the turnoff to Bowhunters Road, while another said overgrown roadside vegetation made turning on to the highway from certain side roads hazardous.
A total of four people called for a turning lane at Eloura Drive, but the biggest problem area on the map was the intersection of the highway and Nanango Tarong Road, with eight comments made on the spot at time of writing.
One submitter called the intersection “extremely dangerous” due to its limited visibility, with another adding that large trucks frequent the road due to it providing access to the Tarong Power Plant, leading to crashes in the area often being serious.
A collision between a tanker truck and a car on the intersection in May 2024 killed three Booie residents; earlier that same month, four teenagers were hospitalised after rolling over in a stolen car at the same spot.
“Chase the Black Spot funding because of [the] deaths [that] have occurred here. [P]lease, we don’t need more,” one person wrote about the intersection on TMR’s map.
A number of people also left comments about the intersection of Berlin and Beitzel Roads calling for turning lanes. However, TMR did not include this section of road in their project’s scope.
The 2025 upgrades follow a five-year campaign by TMR to fix up close to a dozen sections of the D’Aguilar Highway between Kingaroy and Nanango, which cost around $35.4 million.
Members of the public can give their feedback to the Department via the interactive map on yoursay-projects.tmr.qld.gov.au/daguilar-highway-upgrade
Alternatively, TMR accepts emails to bundaberg.office@tmr.qld.gov.au with the subject heading ‘D’Aguilar Highway upgrade, south Nanango’ or phone calls to 1300 728 390. Submissions close on 28 February.