As part of the 2024-25 Queensland State Budget, annual Bruce Highway funding is set to receive a boost and a whole-of-corridor fatigue management strategy has been put on the table.
The Queensland government has announced it will increase its annual Bruce Highway funding commitment to $250 million a year from 2027-28.
It’s hoped the additional funding will help ensure progressive upgrade works can continue on the Bruce; and allow for the completion of various projects designed to take pressure off the Bruce – such as the Inland Freight Route.
An audit of heavy vehicle rest areas at priority sites between Brisbane and Cairns has been put forward, to explore the opportunity for additional rest areas and upgrades to existing facilities.
A rest area advisory group is also set to be established, made up of road users including truck drivers and the heavy vehicle industry.
The Bruce Highway currently carries a significant volume of traffic, ranging from about 2600 vehicles per day around St Lawrence, north of Rockhampton, to around 165,000 near the Pine River, north of Brisbane.
Heavy vehicle volumes travelling sections of the Bruce Highway range between 600 to 23,000 vehicles per day.
In the Queensland government’s 15-year Vision and Action Plans for the Bruce Highway, also released this month, it highlights issues of congestion, particularly in the south-east and on the approaches to regional centres, which impact economic productivity on the highway, by increasing freight costs and travel times.
Transport and Main Roads Minister Bart Mellish referenced record investments on the Bruce Highway over the past nine years.
“Projects that support the Bruce and that help to ease congestion on our main highway are also an important part of our Bruce plan, like the $1 billion Inland Freight Route (or ‘Second Bruce’) and our investment in the Queensland Beef Corridors,” he said.
The priorities outlined in the 15-year Vision and Action Plans – including unlocking economic growth, building flood resilience and improving safety – are set to inform future investment decisions of federal and state governments.