Queensland Government completes bridge upgrade on key freight route on the Burnett Highway
The upgrade of a Queensland timber bridge with the unfortunate name of Crooked Creek has been completed as a part of a larger $126.5 million project to meet future freight demands
Minister for Main Roads and Local Government Warren Pitt announced the bridge’s opening, which is on the Burnett Highway, a key freight route.
The upgrade was funded as part of the Southern Queensland Accelerated Road Rehabilitation Program, which will upgrade 31 bridges by December 2009.
Pitt says the original bridge structure, which was located eight kilometres north of Goomeri, had been replaced with a new concrete bridge, while the road approaches were widened and improved.
Two new concrete bridges over Nangur Creek at Goomeri are currently under construction and will take the total number of bridge replacements on the Burnett Highway to six.
Furthermore, the Sunshine Motorway upgrade between Maroochydore Road and David Low way is expected to be completed before Christmas.
Pitt, who inspected the progress of the multi-million dollar project this week, says the upgrade is 95 percent complete
Despite traffic lights now operating along the route, traffic patterns will continue to be monitored to fine-tune signal synchronisation to improve traffic flows.
Pitt says the $85 million Sunshine Motorway upgrade between David Low Way and Pacific Paradise is also progressing well.
The project involves duplicating a section of the motorway over David Low Way and constructing a new northern bypass at Pacific Paradise linking the motorway to the Sunshine Coast Airport.
Work on this section of the motorway is expected to be finished in early 2009.