It’s no secret that many major Australian routes simply don’t have enough rest areas and, for grey nomads and other motorists driving long distances, this can present significant safety challenges.
It’s always a good thing when new ones are built, improvements are made, and facility upgrades completed.
Great news then that work is to begin early next year on a $1.75 million upgrade to a rest area between Walgett and Brewarrina in north-west New South Wales.
The upgrade to the Yambie Lagoon Rest Area, about 60 kilometres east of Brewarrina on the Kamilaroi Highway, will encourage rest breaks for heavy vehicle drivers on long trips.
How much further to the rest area? PIC: Cizza
Currently there are no toilet or rest facilities for more than 120 kilometres, or 75 minutes of travel time, in this remote location.
The project is jointly funded by the Australian Government, under the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program, and the NSW Government.
Driver fatigue is one of the top three factors leading to fatal crashes on NSW roads, contributing to at least 21% of heavy vehicle fatal crashes in regional NSW in the five years since December, 2019.
The State Minister for Regional Transport and Roads, Jenny Aitchison, said rural routes such as the Kamilaroi Highway were critically important.
“This essential upgrade will transform the existing informal rest area on the eastbound shoulder of the Kamilaroi Highway heading towards Walgett and will involve building toilet and shelter facilities as well as picnic tables and extended parking for heavy and light vehicles,” she said.
State Member for Barwon, Roy Butler, said he was under no illusion about how important it was for these sorts of facilities to be available to drivers.
“I am no stranger to long drives, so I have personal experience of how inconvenient it can be to have to push through vast distances before you can pull over for a rest,” he said. “Upgrading the Yambie Lagoon rest stop near Brewarrina will improve productivity for drivers of heavy trucks and reduce the likelihood of heavy vehicle crashes due to fatigue … but it will also benefit anyone who has to do the long haul in that part of the world.”
While there is a long, long way still to go to bring the quality and quantity of rest areas up to what is required, the various levels of government are working together to make things better.
Last month, we reported that work on a $255,000 upgrade to the Gilgunnia Goldfields Rest Area, located about 109 kilometres south of the NSW town of Cobar on the Kidman Highway, had got underway.
It will apparently see the rest stop brought up to modern standards, with the toilet upgraded from the waterless composting facility currently in place.
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It’s about time that toilets were put in the rest stops for the traveling public stops the bush butterflys but we also need more dump points as some times people will empty the cassette in the long drop and that destroys it
We seem to be behind in our infrasture.
At one time, we had to drive such a long distance to get a rest spot, and we were very tired, and it was very dangerous.
Dont have to go that far to find the same thing. The Sydney by pass tollways are the same. All that money to build them but not enough to put a couple of dunnies in.
I shudder when I see such a huge expense quoted for one rest stop. I hope the toilet facilities are not the “electronic-door-and-piped-music” type which is becoming all too common.
and the 10 minute time limit then it opens on you
It’s great having toilets in the middle of nowhere but the ones I’ve been to are disgusting as they are to far from town and no one goes out to clean them
Agree on all points, put them in then not REGULARLY CLEAN them ? REALLY !!!! How disgusting these that are responsible for maintaining them !!!!!
Hope they put some good signage up to remind people to keep them clean. How hard is it to keep them clean and tidy.
My question is what about the cleaning of these facilities, we have had to stop at road side toilets and shelter areas and some of them are very disgusting disgraceful places ,, so who looks after ,there’s toilet paper and faeces on the floors some were so bad that the outside was worse .it would be pleasant just to have clean roadside areas to stop at
$1.75m to upgrade a rest area ? Who’s getting what out of this deal ? That’s a damn lot if money for an “upgrade” to a “Rest Area Facilities” ! Too many public works costing far too much for what is being done ! Time for both Federal and State ICAC’s to do a thorough investigation !!!!!
DITTO on the Toilet Cassette dumping points !!!
Also Caravan and camping grounds / parks should be “required” to have these as well !
Please somehow get Perth or Sterling Council to put in Dump Spots. Only State in Australia where no Dump Spots are available I believe.
We have found dump points as we have travelled through WA. We were shocked to find very few toilet facilities, apart from Roadhouses, going across the Nullabor in SA. Toilet paper strewn around rest areas. I decided we need brown toilet paper so at least it wouldn’t be so obvious. We have an ensuite in our present van and in our previous van we had an under suite but there are trucks that don’t toilet facilities. At one rest stop along the Nullabor in WA there was a dump point and a very basic toilet [ though I didn’t use)] and a council worker was picking up papers that were blowing around and he emptied the bins. We expressed our dismay at the rubbish and he quipped it kept him in a job. Whatever costs are set aside for upgrades it must include servicing. Sadly there are grubs out there.