Wayne Sachs remembers the day he decided to take action. As a seasoned paramedic with more than 50 years of experience for the Queensland Ambulance Service, the numerous call outs to Gympie and the Bruce Highway for road tragedies had become too much. In February 2009, he went to Parliament House in Canberra to meet with the then infrastructure minister, Anthony Albanese.
“I went to the minister to talk about the fatalities on the Bruce Highway and the people that were suffering serious injuries over a long period of time with nothing being done,” he says.
“He spent a good hour with me in Parliament House that day, listening intently and acting. The Bruce moved from number 26 on the priority list to number one, and things got done almost immediately. I’m so very grateful for the minister taking it to Cabinet.”
By May that year, funding was announced for the Bruce Highway around Gympie. By September 3, the first sod was turned, with work starting on section B on the Cooroy to Curra stretch.
“There were 54 people killed just on that one little section, so the first 10 months of work was dedicated to it,” Sachs says.
“Since this has been done, the bypassing of Gympie has stopped fatalities in that area. You might get the odd bingle here and there, but this move has saved countless lives.”
Sachs was on hand nearly 16 years later when, in early January, Albanese, now the Prime Minister, made the trip to Wide Bay to announce the single largest investment ever made in the Bruce Highway. As part of the funding, $7.2 billion of the $9 billion required to improve the Bruce to a three-star safety rated highway will come from the federal government.
“This major announcement is amazing, just incredible,” Sachs says.
“They’re saving thousands of lives. It’s a lot of money, but it’s worth it.”
The funding for the Bruce Highway can’t come at a better time. In 2024 alone, there were 41 fatalities from incidents on the Bruce. While 2025 has only just begun, there have been two fatalities already at the time of publication.
“This is why the Bruce Highway is such a priority,” Albanese says.
“This is a special piece of highway, but it’s also a dangerous piece of highway and it needs upgrading.
“What we’re doing is the right thing by the national interest, and that’s why the investment is being made.”
The $7.2 billion funding package includes fast-tracking critical projects along the entire corridor, starting with priority sections north of Gympie such as Maryborough to Benaraby, Rockhampton to St Lawrence, Bowen to Townsville and Ingham to Innisfail. Projects will include installing safety barriers, wide centre lines and audio tactile line marking, as well as wider shoulders, increased run off areas, overtaking lanes, rest areas and improved intersections.
The announcement is significant in multiple ways. While it makes history as the largest ever investment made in the Bruce Highway, it also strays from the call made by federal transport and infrastructure minister Catherine King roughly 18 months ago to change road infrastructure funding to a 50:50 split model with state governments. On the Bruce Highway, the $7.2 billion funding means the federal government has returned to the previous 80:20 split.
“The Bruce Highway is unique – there was 50:50 funding in place with state governments when I was the infrastructure minister and we were able to completely duplicate the Pacific and Hume Highways,” Albanese says.
“However, if you look at the east coast, the Bruce Highway is the most important for further investment, so that’s why it stands out in requiring this unique response that we’re delivering.”
Currently, almost 45 per cent of the Bruce Highway achieves a two-star safety rating. By providing funding for more overtaking lanes, a larger central divider and central barriers, the federal government is hopeful of lowering road deaths on the 1,600km long highway.
MORE OWNERDRIVER TRENDING STORIES:
- Morgans keeps it in the family with new K220
- Floods cause Bruce Highway closures
- SRV Road Freight acquires food and beverage carrier
- December TOTM: AKV Haulage’s tribute truck
- Works to repair busy Western Highway for grain trucks
“You’ll also see the straightening out of some of the more dangerous sections, as well as resealing works,” King says.
“This will make a significant difference to both road safety and productivity for the many trucks that carry freight along this spine of a road.”
For the Queensland government, the 80:20 funding arrangement announcement is a big win. Arriving just months after the new state government re-formed the Bruce Highway Advisory Council, transport and main roads minister Brent Mickelberg views the news as a “win for Queensland”.
“Queensland deserves better than a second-class highway and that is why we are focused on delivering a safer and more reliable Bruce,” he says.
“One of my key priorities as transport and main roads minister is to deliver a long-term upgrade plan to bring the Bruce Highway up to safety standards.
“The return to an 80:20 funding split is a welcomed commitment from the federal government to enable our delivery of a safer Bruce.”
While the news was also welcomed by various transport bodies like the Queensland Trucking Association (QTA), it wasn’t a complete cause for celebration. QTA CEO Gary Mahon was left pleased by the funding announced, but frustrated by the timeframes outlined by the federal government.
“We welcome it but we would’ve preferred the money to be spent over four years, not eight, so we can start seeing a material difference in the next couple of years,” he told OwnerDriver.
“Compare it to the work undertaken on the Curra to Gympie section that was 62km long and took 15 years to complete. For now, I’d love to hear of interim works occurring on standout sections where fatal crashes are happening.
“While the amount of work being done over hundreds of kilometres sounds very large, over eight years it doesn’t spread that far.”
On top of this, Mahon, through his involvement in the recently reformed Bruce Highway Advisory Council, is also pushing for the upgrades to include more new rest areas. While his interactions with Mickelberg lead him to believe that the state government may choose to go with dual lanes to future proof Queensland’s freight routes, he also wants to see drivers prioritised with roadside areas.
“We’ve had no reply on whether the Bruce and other major works currently underway like the Tiaro Bypass will include rest areas on both sides of the road,” he says.
“We’ve argued strongly for significant rest areas to be included on that bypass on both sides of the highway, but have had no clear commitments yet.”
While many celebrated the news, Mahon has been quick to look at the practicalities involved with such a large-scale infrastructure project. Well attuned to the needs of drivers taking the Bruce every day, he wants to see works clearly defined and underway this year.
“I’ve heard some remarks that works may start at the end of this year, but we need a commitment soon,” he says.
“I’d like to think that works get underway this year, but we’ll have to see what happens.”
When it comes to other stakeholders who have campaigned for more federal funding to upgrade the Bruce, the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ) views the announcement as a resounding success. RACQ CEO David Carter says the win comes after months of “relentless evidence-based campaigning”.
“Right now, Queenslanders are three to five times more likely to be killed or seriously injured in a crash on the Bruce Highway compared to the Pacific Highway in New South Wales and Hume Highway in Victoria. It’s simply not fair,” he says.
“Queensland has 180,000km of roads and, while the 1,673km-long Bruce Highway makes up less than one per cent of that network, it accounts for more than 10 pe cent of the road toll.
“When New South Wales and Victoria had their major national highways fixed, the federal government covered at least 80 per cent of the funding needed, now it’s the Bruce’s turn for serious funding.”
However, Carter knows the Bruce won’t be immediately fixed. While the federal government has committed to begin works on the road as soon as possible, Carter has called for the industry to be aware of the constraints in place to getting this done.
“With Queensland’s projected population growth, getting the Bruce up to scratch is no quick fix. There will be ongoing upgrades required over many years,” he says.
“What we need now is to see these promises delivered and bipartisan support to do the work that’s required – a commitment beyond political cycles.”
Moving forward, Albanese says the next step is to work with the Queensland government to plan which priority projects begin first, and how the transformational upgrade will eventuate.
“I discussed with the Queensland Premier the priority projects – he certainly agreed Maryborough to Benaraby was the first priority,” he says.
“The total expenditure of that was $9 billion to lift the whole highway up to that level three of safety, and that’s where our $7.2 billion commitment comes from.
“We want to roll out as much works as possible as soon as possible. That is our objective.”
Subscribe to the weekly Owner//Driver newsletter here.