Part of a $1.6 billion project, the bridge will save truck drivers 40 minutes when completed
Source: TMR Queensland.
The construction of the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing (TSRC) viaduct has begun, with the 800m-long road bridge promising to save heavy vehicles travelling through Queensland up to 40 minutes.
Extending from the Lockyer Valley through the Toowoomba Range at Mount Kynoch, the new bridge forms part of the $1.6 billion TSRC project that will take trucks away from the streets of Toowoomba and any impact upon rail operations in the region.
“The viaduct is a critical design feature of the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing (TSRC) project which will provide a safer, faster link in the National Land Transport Network,” federal minister for infrastructure and transport Darren Chester says.
“The project involves the construction of a bypass route to the north of Toowoomba, approximately 41 kilometres in length, running from the Warrego Highway at Helidon in the east, to the Gore Highway at Athol in the west.”
Providing 1,800 direct and indirect jobs, acting Queensland main roads minister Leeanne Enoch says the project “will improve safety and productivity for heavy vehicles by eliminating the need to negotiate up to 18 sets of traffic lights in Toowoomba, saving them up to 40 minutes each way.”
“It is an impressive piece of infrastructure that will support the growth of this part of Queensland well into the 21st century.”
Due to be completed by late 2018, the TSRC project is jointly funded by the federal and Queensland governments.