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Bruce Highway upgrade to begin next month

Work on 9km of the Bruce Highway on the Sunshine Coast will begin next month

February 10, 2011

Work on a dangerous stretch of road on the Bruce Highway will begin next month as part of a multimillion dollar investment in the route.

Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese says construction firm Synergy JV will begin laying bitumen between Sankeys Road and Traveston Road on the Sunshine Coast.

An overpass and bridges will also be built over Coles Creek.

Queensland Main Roads Minister Craig Wallace says the 9km stretch of road has a poor crash record, recording more than 50 fatalities since 2000.

“Once completed, the new 12 kilometre section of four-lane, divided highway will provide safer driving conditions, with wide shoulders, emergency stopping bays and intelligent transport systems such as speed-activated variable message signs,” he says.

The upgrade is part of the $613 million Cooroy to Curra project, which will realign 61km of the Bruce Highway and construct a bypass of Gympie.

Preliminary works on the Sankeys Road to Traveston Road upgrade began in July 2009. The project is expected to be completed in 2012.

“I am particularly pleased that despite the extraordinary amount of rain that has fallen across the region in the last couple of months, this major road construction project remains on track,” Albanese says.

The Federal Government says the Cooroy to Curra project will separate long distance from local traffic, turning the highway into a high-speed and high-volume corridor.

While it will be a four-lane divided highway, the Government says it will be built to allow an upgrade of six lanes in future.

Another phase of the project, which includes the construction of an interchange near Traveston Road and bridges over Skyring Creek, is expected to start later this year.

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