Queensland council says imposing toll on existing Toowoomba range crossing “is ridiculous”.
A council in regional Queensland believes the trucking industry will suffer if the Federal Government imposes a toll on the existing Toowoomba range crossing once the proposed second crossing is built.
Lockyer Valley Council Mayor Steve Jones says transport companies will be severely impacted if a toll is introduced on the crossing, which runs along the Warrego Highway.
The highway accommodates around 23,000 vehicles a day of which 21 per cent are trucks. It was damaged during the 2010 floods and is currently being rebuilt.
Jones supports a toll on the second range crossing, which will allow trucks to bypass Toowoomba’s CBD.
But he is against any plan to impose a toll on the existing road, a plan that has been mooted once the new route opens.
“The old road [existing range crossing] has been substandard for more than 30 years. A lot of these people within the transport industry are from around here and to put a toll on both roads is ridiculous,” Jones says.
“Presently, a B-double registration is $15,000 and we can understand that you may pay a toll to go a shorter, better way which is the new Warrego Highway but these people are working to the limit and there’s hardly any money at all.”
The Federal Government is yet to decide whether either crossing will be tolled. The project is currently open to tender is due for completion in 2018.
The second crossing will be around 41km long and run from the Warrego Highway at Helidon in the east to the Gore Highway at Athol in the west via Charlton.
Once complete, the crossing will be the missing link between Brisbane, the Darling Downs and the Surat Basin.
The project is worth $1.7 billion and the travel time across the range will be reduced by 40 minutes.