The highway running the length of Queensland that's notorious for horror crashes, has been named as the most despised road in the state.
The Bruce Highway, which stretches from Brisbane to Cairns, has been ranked as the worst road in Queensland for being too rough and narrow, lacking overtaking opportunities and having two-lane sections that are too short.
It's also prone to flooding and peppered with potholes, the RACQ survey found.
Single-lane sections from Gympie to Childers, Gladstone to Proserpine and Townsville to Cairns received the most complaints.
RACQ's head of public policy Michael Kane says the results are disappointing but not surprising.
"We've been running our Unroadworthy Roads Survey for more than two decades and the Bruce Highway has either been the worst or second worst road every time," Dr Kane said on Wednesday.
Sections of the major arterial have an average fatal or serious injury crash rate three times higher than sections of the Pacific Highway and five times higher than the Hume Highway, both in NSW.
"The stretch between Childers and Gin Gin is the most dangerous, where you are almost 10 times more likely to be involved in a fatal or serious injury crash than on the Hume Highway in NSW," Dr Kane said.
This year there have been 30 deaths on the highway, above the five-year average of 29 deaths, with four months left in 2024.
One of those deaths was when a semi-trailer carrying chemicals and ute collided on the highway near Bororen in August, resulting in a missile-like explosion.
The major road was closed for days after the blast caused a five-metre crater across lanes.
The highway is shaping up to be one of the key issues in the October 26 state election.
The RACQ has called for a return of the 80-20 funding split between the state and federal government and a 10-year funding arrangement to upgrade the worst sections of the highway.
"The Bruce is the backbone of our state, but it's broken," Dr Kane said.
"This is a national road, and the federal government must do the heavy lifting to bring it up to standard with other national highways."
Both the incumbent government and opposition want a return to an 80-20 funding split to ensure the necessary upgrades are carried out.
However, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said 50-50 represents a "true partnership" between governments to invest in the highway.
"We're going to make sure that states actually deliver value for money and not do what had occurred for a while which is state governments having projects which were overblown and then the Commonwealth getting the bill for it," he told reporters last week.
