The Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) has announced the Ollera Creek Bridge is now officially open to all traffic.
After being intermittently opened to freight and supply vehicles in recent days, the teams on the ground have worked around the clock in inclement weather to fast-track repairs to the bridge over several days.
Now, the team is celebrating the re-opening the bridge, which will allow for the vital connection to local communities to once again be sustained.
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The crucial link between Townsville and Cairns is now officially open to the general public from today onwards after it first opened to freight, supply and emergency vehicles at 8pm on February 10.
TMR urges all road users to drive carefully and follow all signs and directions.
However, the news isn’t as rosy for people wanting to cross the Seymour River, with modelling indicating that the flooded crossing will remain closed until as late as Thursday evening.
The opening comes just after the Queensland Trucking Association (QTA) worked with Queensland Police and TMR to complete a “vital resupply operation” for flood impacted areas. This involved moving nearly 300 fully loaded trucks across the bridge.
“This operation may have been the largest freight convoy undertaken in Australia, highlighting the scale and urgency of the situation,” the QTA says.
The convoy saw local communities, particularly in Ingham, receive essential supplies.
“The road freight industry always delivers in times of natural disasters. Call them to assemble and they are there,” QTA CEO Gary Mahon says.
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