Flooding issues in Beaudesert’s central business district should be a thing of the past once the next step in the town centre revitalisation plans are complete.
Stages 3 and 4 of the project, which comprises drainage works on Short Street and the Gateway Precinct (parklands), will now begin in January 2024, weather and construction conditions permitting.
The Short Street drainage works will encompass improvements to Short Street, Brisbane Street and Eaglesfield Street.
Council contacted business owners in the CBD in November 2023 to advise them that the works will commence in the new year, which will impact on traffic flow, pedestrian access and noise during the construction phase.
Businesses in the CBD have flooded many times in the past, leading to high vacancy rates and damage to stock and equipment.
In 2021, Member for Scenic Rim, Jon Krause’s office was one of many shopfronts inundated with water when up to 100mm of rain in an hour caused shock flooding in what several CBD shopkeepers described as the worst they had seen.
Following extensive rain and flooding in Beaudesert in 2021 and 2022, Council’s engineers carried out a comprehensive assessment of Short Street to ensure the scope for this stage of the revitalisation remained accurate and feasible.
Scenic Rim Mayor Councillor Greg Christensen said these additional geotechnical investigations indicated that the foundation beneath the existing road was of an extremely poor quality and had been exacerbated by the rain and flooding.
“This means the road subgrade of Short Street must be excavated and rebuilt to allow the new stormwater infrastructure to be safely installed,” he said.
Council was also required to amend its designs for Selwyn, Brisbane, and Eaglesfield Streets to include raised pedestrian crossings due to new Queensland Government technical guidelines.
This requirement had a major roll-on effect, causing design changes for civil, electrical, and landscaping, new safety and lighting reports, additional flood model studies, and the inclusion of new street lighting, additional service relocations, and a major stormwater scope increase.
“Due to these changes to the project’s overall scope, the Beaudesert Town Centre Revitalisation Project costs have increased, which brings the total estimated cost of the total project to $22.6 million,” Cr Christensen said.
Cr Christensen said he understood the community may be concerned by this cost increase and, like many businesses in the Scenic Rim, Council had faced tough conditions during the delivery of its recent projects including supply chain disruptions, labour and material shortages, and inflationary pressure.
“The Short Street drainage project will address a longstanding legacy issue and deliver major drainage improvements which are critical to the businesses in the Beaudesert town centre and the safety of the community in major rain events,” he said.
Cr Christensen said the project is of utmost importance for Beaudesert.
“We needed to lock this in to go ahead because it is a real problem for people having confidence in building businesses in the main part of the town,” he said.
