A new servo earmarked for a major southeast Queensland road has been rejected by the State Government and Brisbane City Council after four serious crashes in five years. But that’s not the end of it.
Plans for a service station and drive-through fast food outlet at a major southside intersection are set for a court showdown after Brisbane City Council rejected them over concerns about motorist safety.
The Department of Transport and Main Roads in October denied the developer David Astill access to the corner of Mains Road and Kessels Road, in Macgregor.
Both roads are major arterial thoroughfares through Brisbane’s southern suburbs, with Kessels Road alone carrying 50,400 vehicles per day along the frontage of the proposal.
“(The State Assessment and Referral Agency) is aware that over the past five-year period, there have been four rear end crashes in this location which all resulted in medical treatment,” the refusal notice said.
Traffic along the stretch has become so bad that the intersection was “grade separated” as part of a major upgrade in 2014.
The plans would’ve added 116 vehicles per hour to the local road network during both morning and afternoon peak hours, according to a traffic assessment report submitted by the developer.
“This results in an unacceptable worsening of the operating performance of Kessels Road and the surrounding road network,” the State Government at the time argued, leading Brisbane City Council to refuse the proposal.
But developer David Astill has now appealed the matter with the Planning and Environment Court.
In court documents, lawyers for Mr Astill argued that the development “will not result in any adverse safety impacts that will result in an unacceptable worsening of the operating performance of Kessels Road and the surrounding network by the imposition of additional traffic movements.”
A Brisbane City Council spokesman said the matter was before the court, however town planners had raised objections to the proposal on safety concerns.
“During the assessment phase Council raised concerns about with the applicant in March 2019 and November 2019,” the spokesman said.
“Council was concerned about the use of the site, potential traffic impacts and stormwater management. SARA also shared these concerns.”
Mr Astill’s lawyers were contacted for comment.
Extracted from Courier Mail