Redland City Council has installed automated illuminated flooded road signage at two Redlands Coast locations that experience flash flooding during rainfall events and severe weather.
Redland City Mayor Karen Williams said the solar-powered signs – located at Avalon Road, Sheldon and the corner of Pitt and Nelson roads, Birkdale – would provide an early warning system to motorists who came across flooded roads before Council had time to put temporary warning signage in place.
“Certain areas of Redlands Coast can be prone to rapid onset flooding, often resulting in treacherous conditions forming before hazard signage can be placed,” Cr Williams said.
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“It makes sense to have an automated solution where roads are known to go under.
“The system includes a dual-float signalling device placed at the creek crossing and one sign at each side of the crossing with a third sign if the crossing is a T-intersection.
“When the signs are activated, they will update Council’s publicly available online Disaster Dashboard to reflect the localised flooding.
“SMS and email messages will also be sent to notify on-call Council staff.”
Councillor for Division 6 Julie Talty said she welcomed the signage at Avalon Road, Sheldon, which has also been fitted with a camera to broadcast the real-time status of the creek crossing back to Council.
Councillor for Division 1 Wendy Boglary said a third dual-float signaling device has been installed without signage on Allan Day Drive, Wellington Point at the northern end of Sovereign Waters Lake.
“It will also notify Council staff and the Disaster Dashboard when water is over the road and local residents will be able to opt-in to a text messaging service,” she said.
Councillor for Division 8 Tracey Huges said the automated signs on the corner of Pitt and Nelson roads, Birkdale would help to reduce the risk of vehicles being inadvertently driven into flooded waters and being washed off the road.
“This new technology will be a great help during severe weather, when resources are already stretched,” Cr Huges said.
Council has received $58,500 from the Queensland Reconstruction Authority towards the installation of signs at four locations across Redlands Coast under the Natural Disaster Resilience Program.
Visit Council’s Disaster Dashboard for information on how to prepare, respond and recover from natural disaster.
