The Townsville Ring Road Stage 5 project is officially complete, benefiting thousands of motorists.
The $280m project, which began in mid-2021, delivered six kilometres of duplicated highway including a brand-new interchange at Beck Drive, four bridges and overpasses, and safety and capacity improvements to other interchanges along the Ring Road in Townsville.
It is part of the Bruce Highway Upgrade Program, which is improving road safety, capacity and flood resilience along 1,677-kilometres of highway between Brisbane and Cairns.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk joined Transport Minister Mark Bailey and local MPs to officially open the completed road.
Palaszczuk said in a media statement: “Our government will always back our big transport builds because they create jobs in the regions.
“This $280 million project has supported more than 400 good jobs here in Townsville, and now over 17,000 drivers will enjoy a safer, more efficient and more flood-resilient Bruce Highway thanks to their efforts.
“The project has delivered four new overpasses and bridges, as well as four new interchanges, meaning the entire 36-kilometre stretch of the Bruce Highway through Townsville is now dual lane.”
Palaszczuk added that the Townsville region is continuing to grow and change, and infrastructure is important to open up new opportunities for housing and improve travel times for industry, tourists and commuters.
“Our government won’t take a step backwards when it comes to delivering for our regions, as we continue to build roads and rail, expand our hospitals, improve our schools and deliver training infrastructure.”
Since construction began on the Townsville Ring Road Stage 5 project in 2021, 22,000 tonnes of asphalt have been laid across six kilometres of highway.
The project previously reached a major milestone in late September when the ring road was opened to dual lanes of traffic at 100km/h, followed by the reopening of Beck Drive to both directions of travel in early October.
The project involved duplicating the six-kilometre, two-lane lane section of the Townsville Ring Road between Vickers Bridge and Shaw Road to four-lanes.
The major infrastructure upgrade has delivered safety and capacity improvements to three existing interchanges, while a new interchange and four new bridges have been built to improve traffic flow and road safety on the Bruce Highway.
A section of Beck Drive has also been upgraded, delivering a new signalised intersection at Gouldian Avenue along with improved pedestrian and bicycle facilities.