Highway traffic counters installed at Jimboomba

Traffic counting equipment was installed on the Mount Lindesay Highway and South Street at Jimboomba earlier this week.

A TMR spokesperson said the counters were part of an annual count program for state-controlled roads.

“Traffic counters are also in place at other locations on the highway,” the spokesperson said.

“Annual traffic counts differentiate between heavy and light vehicles and are used to determine future funding for the maintenance and improvements of state-controlled roads.”

The Annual Average Daily Traffic count is calculated by the number of vehicles passing a point on a road in a 24 hour period which is then averaged over a calendar year.

Previous AADT counts which were conducted on the Mount Lindesay Highway at Jimboomba have shown an increase in both north and southbound traffic.

The southbound figures have seen a marked increase in six years, with 10,629 vehicles travelling towards Beaudesert in 2011 compared to last years count of 13,821.

In August 2016, SCT Logistics – the developers behind the Bromelton freight terminal developmen – confirmed about 400 of its trucks would be utilising the highway each week once the terminal was operational.

It was also confirmed that the development would add at least 85 trucks to the highway.

The Mount Lindesay Highway has been recognised by the Queensland government and RACQ as one of the most unsafe roads in Queensland. 

Besides the Warrego and Bruce Highways, it has the highest fatal and serious crash rate per kilometre in the state.

In March 2016, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey announced the government would spend $200 million on the first stage of upgrading the Ipswich Motorway, between Rocklea and Darra.

Mr Bailey said Infrastructure Australia had identified the Ipswich Motorway as a high priority infrastructure project, with more than 85,000 motorists daily using the section, including up to 12,000 trucks.