By Jeremy Sollars
The Southern Downs Regional Council will hold a public meeting next Tuesday 22 January to discuss B-double routes, future Warwick Bypass options and planned upgrades to Depot and Ogilvie roads on the eastern side of Warwick.
The public meeting will be held at the Warwick Town Hall commencing at 5pm next Tuesday.
A council spokeswoman said no media release about the meeting would be issued but a public notice would be placed on the council’s website.
As reported by the Free Times in November a new traffic bypass planned for the eastern side of Warwick is being touted as improving road safety and access to farming areas for heavy vehicles including B-Doubles.
A Federal Government grant of $395,000 to the council will upgrade 2.6km of roads and intersections and is expected to be completed in April 2020.
A council spokesman said in November design work was being done “from the East Street/Ogilvie Road Intersection, east along Ogilvie Road to the intersection with Freestone Road, and then south along Depot Road to the Warwick-Yangan Road, including all above intersections”.
“The upgrades will create a bitumen two-lane roadway,” the spokeswoman said.
A ‘concept approval’ document prepared by council officers last year stated the project “will commence the opening up of B double access to the farming communities that range from the Cunningham Highway to the Condamine River, taking in localities such as Junabee, Emu Vale, Tannymorel, Swanfels, and Freestone”.
“This will allow for more freight and the efficient movement of stock and grain,” the document stated.
“The background stems from community engagement with stakeholders on the 15 February 2017 (when) the Mayor held a workshop to discuss with industry the requirements to be able to get better B Double access into our region.
“Currently one of the largest deficiencies is B Double access from the Cunningham Highway near Warwick via Warwick Yangan and Freestone Road, which are all under jurisdiction of Main Roads.
“This project is about preparing a concept, planning, design, and some construction for a route from the Caltex service station on the Cunningham Highway through to Freestone Road and Warwick Yangan Road.”
A heavy vehicle bypass around Warwick has been debated for many years but no firm concept has ever been formally adopted.
