Call for toilet block at filthy road stop
FOOD wrappings, toilet paper and plastic bottles filled with urine-coloured liquid litter a roadside truck stopping bay in the middle of nowhere on the Gregory Developmental Road.
There is only one public toilet on the 385km stretch of road between Charters Towers and Clermont.
It’s a route that is well travelled by transport and freight operators, as well as grey nomads on their journey from south to north.
Charters Towers man Alan Henderson said the lack of public toilets for the 265km stretch from the Cape River, which is 110km south of the
Towers, was a disgrace. He has spent the past two years campaigning for a public toilet block and says the truck stop, 93km north of Clermont, is the perfect site for the amenities.
“We travel that road quite a bit and we pull up there because we have the dog with us and by then he needs to go and it’s safely off the road,” Mr Henderson said.
“The last time we stopped there, the smell and the toilet paper was disgusting.
“Because it’s a truck stop without a toilet block, people are going anyway in the grass. It’s a health hazard.”
Mr Henderson said he had contacted the Department of Main Roads who told him
that the issue came down to money.
“But I don’t accept that. It’s not good enough,” he said.
“I just can’t believe they won’t spend $50,000 or $60,000 to build a toilet block.
“When we travel between Alpha and Emerald, which is only 170km, there’s five sets of toilets. But there are none for the 265km between Cape River and Clermont.”
During the election campaign, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk promised to back a “second Bruce” inland freight route.
“We’ll build on our existing $125 million partnership with the federal government to improve the inland Towns
ville to Roma corridor by committing $200 million for the second Bruce to take trucks off the Bruce Highway,” Ms Palaszczuk said in October.
The election commitment included upgrading inland highway bridges to suit larger vehicle combinations and prioritising maintenance and highway upgrades to meet heavy haulage standards.
It would also offer a reliable alternate freight connection to access regional and remote communities cut off by natural disasters and generate new regional jobs at food, accommodation and rest stop businesses to meet demand from increased truck movements.
Member for Traeger Robbie Katter said Mr Henderson’s calls for amenities at the truck stop were a “fair call”.
“It becomes an issue with driver comfort and fatigue,” Mr Katter said.
“That road is only going to get more and more volume on it.”
Mr Katter said the Premier’s promise to make the road from Roma to Townsville a second Bruce meant serious money would need to be committed to the upgrade.
“The Premier is talking about the inland highway, but that’s not just bitumen it’s the facilities and the bridges that go with it,” he said.
“A toilet stop is not an unreasonable thing ... to expect.”