The Queensland and federal governments have announced the next 22 safety upgrades to form part of the major investment into the Bruce Highway.
The half-billion-dollar package is part of the $9 billion Bruce Highway safety program, building on the success of the first 16 projects that are complete, under construction or due to start this month.
The next 22 upgrades will deliver improved road safety on high-risk sections of the major freight route, particularly between Gympie and Cairns.
The high-impact projects will help prevent run-off-road and head-on collisions through 19 projects that will deliver 93 kilometres of stronger and more resilient road surfaces such as skid resistance and an additional three projects to deliver 13 kilometres of wide centre line treatments.
This will feature road widening and audio tactile line marking to create more distance between opposing directions of traffic, reducing the risk of head-on collisions by up to 60 per cent on high-volume rural roads.
Work has already begun on the next round of projects and will continue next year, building on the safety benefits from the first round of 16 priority projects announced in March.
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Of those 16 priority projects from the early works package, six are already complete with eight under construction and the remaining two to commence this month.
Federal transport and infrastructure minister Catherine King says the federal government is deeply committed to improving road safety.
“The Albanese government has made the biggest ever investment in the Bruce Highway because we want to ensure it is safer for all Queenslanders,” she says.
“With significant progress already made in delivering the $300 million early works package this next wave of work will ensure these priority safety improvements continue to roll out on the Bruce Highway.
“This work is also an important step towards reducing closures due to crashes and improving network reliability along the Bruce.”
Queensland transport and main roads minister Brent Mickelberg says safety along the Bruce is receiving a major boost under the landmark $9 billion program.
“We are delivering a major boost to safety along the Bruce with rubber hitting the road on another 22 projects,” he says.
“We’re delivering the critical safety upgrades needed between Gympie and Cairns, to service the spine of our state.
“Queenslanders are starting to see the benefits as we accelerate these upgrades, and we’ll continue to drive forward delivering them across the regions.”