Residents’ verdicts “flooding” in

Thousands of people have already given Moreton Bay Regional Council their verdict on the best option to flood-proof Youngs Crossing – but concerned residents still want more.

Just 10 days remain before the deadline for community consultation on two proposals to upgrade the Youngs Crossing Rd over North Pine River.

The options vary in cost, route and length, but many residents in the Petrie on Pine and North Pine residential estates are pushing hard for Option One.

They say Option Two would affect koala habitat and cut through two residential estates.

Two choices

• Option One – is based on the existing Youngs Crossing Rd corridor. Estimated cost $49.5 million; length 940m including 160m bridge. Needs require State Government-controlled Dayboro Rd to be upgraded.
• Option Two - uses the road reserve south of Andrew Petrie Drive to link with Dayboro Rd-Beeville Rd roundabout. Estimated cost $56.1 million; length 1340m including 180m bridge. Land preserved by former Pine Rivers Shire Council for use.

“We realise something will be done (to upgrade Youngs Crossing),” says one of the residents Shelley Taylor, “all we want is the best outcome."
“Option One uses the existing footprint of Youngs Crossing Rd and would impact about 16 houses, which back onto existing road.
“Option Two (linking Youngs Crossing Rd to Andrew Petrie Drive) would impact about 65 houses … four times the number.
“We have been told the only way to influence this is to get public opinion on our side.”

Supporting role

Federal Member for Dickson Peter Dutton is supporting residents saying, in a leaflet distributed in the area, he had $7.5 million of federal funding for Option One.

Shelley says residents have safety concerns over Option Two which would be particularly close to some properties and leave some students going to and from a school bus stop on Andrew Petrie Drive having to cross a “four-lane highway”.

“Under Option Two there could be fully-loaded trucks within two or three metres of some homes,” says Shelley, who moved to the area in 1977 and to Petrie on Pine in 2008.

Deadline day

Residents are looking to generate as much support as possible for Option One before the community consultation ends on October 2.
They have done three letterbox drops, held a site meeting with Councillor Mick Gillam and had interest from TV news. “At the moment we are very concerned,” says Shelley.
Moreton Bay Regional Council’s survey on both options is reported to have already had a much higher than usual engagement.
“It’s great to see so many people engaged in this consultation phase,” says Mayor Peter Flannery, “we want to know what the community thinks before any decisions are made.

“The one thing everyone agrees on, is the need to solve this flooding problem - all three levels of government and both major parties are committed to delivering a solution.”

Growing demand

Youngs Crossing Rd is used by about 20,000 vehicles each day and that will increase to 22,500 by 2026 and 27,500 by 2036.

Water releases from North Pine Dam and unregulated overflow from the Lake Kurwongbah spillway cause the road to flood.

Community engagement began on September 7. Information on the two route options and the project survey, can be accessed now at council’s website.

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