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Bruce Hwy upgrade opens early

Bruce Highway upgrade opens ahead of schedule, improving safety and potentially boosting productivity

February 15, 2010

A new upgrade to Queensland’s Bruce Highway has opened ahead of schedule, improving safety and potentially boosting productivity for the heavy vehicles that travel the road each day.

The $70.8 million upgrade to the highway north of the Sunshine Coast at Gympie was completed three months ahead of schedule.

The more than three kilometres of work were completed between Channon and Pine streets.

The project included widening the road to four lanes, upgrading seven intersections and installing three new sets of traffic signals to reduce congestion, improve traffic flow and safety for motorists.

Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure and Transport Maxine McKew says the upgrade is part of a $2.6 billion investment in the Bruce Highway, which carries more than nine million tonnes of freight each year.

Queensland Minister for Main Roads Craig Wallace also attended the opening and says the new traffic lights will improve local area access, while new turning lanes will cut travel times.

“The Bruce Highway is Queensland’s primary north-south arterial road and the Gympie section of the Bruce Highway currently carries over 20,000 vehicles per day, of which 13 per cent are commercial vehicles,” Wallace says.

McKew says there is also progress being made on the joint funded $613 million upgrade of the Bruce Highway between Cooroy Curra north of the Sunshine Coast.

“This busy stretch of highway currently carries approximately 15,000 vehicles a day and these works will ensure the highway can meet increasing demand,” McKew says.

She says the Rudd Government is determined to improve safety on the stretch of road, which has crash rates 40 percent higher than other major roads on the national network.

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