As mentioned in our August 2022 Noosa 360 update, in response to resident concerns, Transport and Main Roads (TMR) undertook a speed review of the full length of Louis Bazzo Drive between Pomona and Boreen Point. In December 2022, this review was completed concluding that the speed should reduce from 90 to 80km/hour. Information on the speech review process is available at www.sandybolton.com/speed-limit-review-process-january-2023.

The following has been received from TMR to provide further information and context to their decision:

As a result of community requests, TMR undertook a speed limit review (SLR) for approximately 17 kilometres of Louis Bazzo Drive that was previously posted with a 90 km/h speed limit. The outcome was a recommendation to reduce the speed limit to 80 km/h, which was implemented in December 20

When a review of a posted speed limit is undertaken by TMR, the recommendations are tabled at a meeting of the local Speed Management Committee for deliberation and endorsement. TMR’s recommendation to reduce the speed limit was endorsed by the committee, which includes representatives from Noosa Shire Council, the Queensland Police Service and TMR.

This same section of Louis Bazzo Drive had been reduced from 100 km/h to 90 km/h in March 2018. The 2018 speed limit reduction was based on a review undertaken using the Queensland Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices: Part 4 Speed Controls (MUTCD Part 4).

The 2022 SLR was carried out in accordance with a revised 2018 version of MUTCD Part 4. The November 2018 update was the first major revision of speed limit guidelines in Queensland since 2003. The engineering assessment methodology was revised to incorporate a risk and road safety-based assessment of the road infrastructure.

This updated process followed TMR embracing the Safe System approach whereby safe system processes and practices are applied across four pillars – Safe Roads and Roadsides, Safe Speeds, Safe Road Users and Safe Vehicles. The Safe System approach acknowledges that humans make mistakes and the aim is to develop treatments or practices to help prevent or reduce the severity of an incident. It has a strong emphasis on risks based on actual or potential incidents. The process has a very strong weighting on risks associated with residents entering and exiting a road, and risks associated with travel along the road, and much less emphasis on what may be the maximum possible safe travel speed along a road.

With this approach, key road features such as road geometry, traffic lane and shoulder widths, roadside hazards and the extent of roadside development, have been found to influence the likelihood and/or severity of crashes. These are now specific factors in the SLR process. Whilst a rural road like Louis Bazzo Drive may traditionally have had a 100 km/h limit, the risk and road safety-based assessment will often recommend a lower speed limit than is typical for the road type, in order to give road users more protection.

Additionally, I can advise that the process for setting speed limits was revised again in November 2022, following the SLR on Louis Bazzo Drive, and the process now has an even stronger focus on risk and road safety-based assessments. Any SLR under this new process may result in a lower speed limit on Louis Bazzo Drive, although TMR has no plans to review the speed limit again at this time.

The SLRs resulting in the speed limit reduction to 90 km/h and more recently 80 km/h, were undertaken by experienced engineering officers, with the recommendation endorsed by a Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland and approved by a relevant regional senior delegate, prior to endorsement by the local Speed Management Committee.

The process requires a final approval by the “Responsible officer”. The responsible officer has the ultimate authority to approve the implementation of any recommendations from a SLR. The responsible officer shall ensure that the engineer is appropriately certified and adheres to the process described within this guideline. For SLRs conducted on state-controlled roads, the role of responsible officer is assigned to the delegate of the North Coast Region’s Deputy Regional Director.

The Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 (Qld) (TORUM) provides that the setting and installation of speed limit signs shall be undertaken in accordance with the methods, standards and procedures prescribed with the MUTCD and its supporting documents. In particular, Section 72A and 166 (2) of TORUM prescribe the method of setting and installing speed limit signs:

SLRs on state-controlled roads are undertaken by experienced TMR officers and engineers with a comprehensive knowledge of setting speed limits based on the Safe System approach. The detailed technical assessment determines the speed limit for the road with consideration of the diverse group of road users and to ensure the safe operation of the road network. As previously mentioned, targeted consultation occurred with the local Speed Management Committee which includes representatives from Noosa Shire Council, the Queensland Police Service and TMR.

The setting of speed limits is a comprehensive two-part risk-based process. The first part produces a ‘Risk Assessed Speed Limit’ (RASL) calculated from a ‘Road Risk Metric’ (combining a Crash Risk Rating and an Infrastructure Risk Rating).

Louis Bazzo Drive has a narrow-sealed shoulder and a roadside verge that includes rigid objects. These are all key features that may influence the likelihood and severity of crashes and are considered potential high-risk hazards adjacent to the road when combined with a high speed limit.

The second part of the process considers prevailing traffic speed data, captured from speed surveys, to produce a ‘Speed Data Speed Limit’ (SDSL). The final component of the process is determining a recommended speed limit. This is an engineering judgement-based process, and typically is the lower of the RASL and SDSL. In this instance it is risk-based assessment that supports the speed limit reduction to 80 km/h.

The road has been identified to have high-risk characteristics, and the speed limit reduction to 80 km/h is the identified recommended treatment to reduce this risk when no infrastructure upgrades are planned. The speed limit reduction to 80 km/h provides motorists with increased ability to react to unforeseen scenarios and will help to address the reported crash history for this section of road.

A copy of the RASL component of the SLR that indicates the recommended change to 80 km/h has been enclosed for your information at www.sandybolton.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/db203c76-de09-4441-97a2-4d82d7a34fbe.pdf. The calculations undertaken as part of the RASL assessment identified this road having a High Road Risk Metric. Included in the information is Table 5.1.5(D) – Risk Assessed Speed Limits: Roads in a rural environment. This table shows the pre-determined RASL speed limits for the various Road Class and Road Risk Metric in a rural environment. In this example, Louis Bazzo Drive (officially named Boreen Road) is considered a Trunk Collector and the High Road Risk Metric results in a recommended 80 km/h speed limit.

The Queensland Government supports the appropriate application of lower speed limits as per the Queensland Road Safety Action Plan 2022–2024 Action 4: Review the speed limit hierarchy across Queensland with a view to reducing fatal and serious injury crashes through lower speeds.

Acknowledging that humans make mistakes, and that there is a known physical limit to the amount of force our bodies can take before sustaining debilitating injury or death, is the centre of the Safer System approach, which is the foundation of the Queensland Road Safety Strategy.

If any Noosa Electorate residents have any feedback on the above information, please email our office via noosa@parliament.qld.gov.au.

Further information

For our previous Noosa 360 update on this, please visit www.sandybolton.com/speed-limit-review-on-louis-bazzo-drive. As mentioned above, more information on the speed review process is available at www.sandybolton.com/speed-limit-review-process-january-2023.

To report an urgent issue affecting traffic on a state-controlled road, please phone 131940 to report.

To contact our local TMR office, please email northcoast@tmr.qld.gov.au.

For information on claiming damages to your vehicle from a state-controlled road, please visit https://www.qld.gov.au/transport/conditions/report/claim#:~:text=Complete%20a%20claim%20form%20(F5110,listed%20on%20the%20claim%20form.

To contact the Minister for Transport and Main Roads, please email transportandmainroads@ministerial.qld.gov.au.