12:00a.m. 5th August 2008

| By Bill Hoffman

Peter Shadforth from Shadforths Civil Contractors, has offered to build a better and safer entry to the highway at Sippy Creek if council or Main Roads provide the materials. Peter is pictured at the current merge lane from Sippy Creek Road to the Bruce Highway with his nephew, Ray Shadforth, left, and his son Geoff Shadforth. Photo: Brett Wortman/177465

A Sunshine Coast businessman has offered to help build a short-term fix for a ‘suicidal’ Bruce Highway access road as calls grow for action before somebody dies.

The Sippy Creek Road access to the Bruce Highway is only 50 metres long and poorly formed making it impossible for daily school buses, quarry trucks and waste management trucks as well as tourists leaving the Aussie World precinct to get up to a merge speed of 110kph.

Peter Shadforth, who runs a heavy equipment plant hire business with his son Geoff and nephew Raymond, wants the access continued to connect with Cunning Road so that traffic can enter the highway at a properly formed on-ramp.

And he is prepared to provide free of charge the equipment needed to build what would be 500 metres of roadworks.

Mr Shadforth described the access point as “suicidal” and said it totally puzzled him that someone has not been killed.

Parents of students forced to stand in the aisle of school buses have already won a commitment for a new bigger bus after a photograph on the front page of Saturday’s Daily showed a crowded bus almost being cut off by a truck.

Mr Shadforth’s offer came as it emerged yesterday that Sunshine Coast Council and the state government had been bombarded with letters from firms that use the road, concerned that a fatality is inevitable.

Ryan Liddell, operations manager for J.J. Richards and Sons Pty Ltd which has 35 waste trucks using the access point and returning across two lanes of 110kph traffic, said it was just a matter of time before someone was killed.

Mr Liddell said J.J. Richards, Mansells Quarry and TransPacific trading as Manwaste had all petitioned council and the state government calling for action.

“Our own analysis has found that the risks are far greater than what should be acceptable,’’ he said.

Mr Shadforth said he wanted talks with council and main roads to work through the issues and to be shown whether or not his suggested fix could work.

That is likely to happen with regional director for assets and infrastructure Andrew Ryan acknowledging there was a problem.

Mr Ryan said he would be happy to sit down with Mr Shadforth and main roads representatives to see if his suggestion was the solution at least in the short term.

He acknowledged there had been a reluctance to spend money on work that would be superseded by whatever long-term solution was found. He said a separated interchange would eventually be built around the Sippy Creek Road intersection.

“It is a stop and prop access,’’ Mr Ryan said. “It does need a review. Mr Shadforth has a solid reputation so it would be a genuine offer.’’

Mr Shadforth, who acknowledged he owned property that used the access point, said the infrastructure had never been on anyone’s list of priorities.

“Hopefully I’ll be able to prick some conciousnesses and get some work going,’’ he said.