The 2024 State Election comes at a time that generations of Queenslanders are facing challenges they have not previously experienced. These unprecedented challenges also critically impact business.
This is why the next Queensland Government must commit to future proofing investments that ensure the survivability of business, enable the economy and rejuvenate the confidence of Queenslanders. For example, is the Rockhampton Ring Road multi-laned?
The following are the Queensland Trucking Association’s key infrastructure investment priorities for the next Queensland Government.
Fix the Bruce
In the lead up to the 2024 State Election, the QTA has run a substantial campaign on “Fixing the Bruce” and other critical road infrastructure with RACQ. Statistics from the RACQ Bruce Highway Report reveal that the Bruce features in 8/10 top accident hotspots in the state. This is just not good enough for a highway that forms part of the national highway network in Australia.
In 2024, we have 1398 kilometres of the Bruce Highway (from Gympie to Cairns) that is still single-lane and undivided, leading to an average ‘per kilometre travelled’ crash rate that is three times higher than rural sections of the Pacific Highway and five times higher than rural sections of the Hume Highway.
The Bruce Highway serves as the backbone of this state, and is a supposed national highway, but compared to the Pacific or Hume, it’s substandard. We need a 10-year funding commitment from the state and federal governments to continue upgrading the Bruce Highway by widening narrow sections and bridges, installing more overtaking lanes, and installing decent truck rest areas every 200km. There needs to be a future-thinking focus on progressively duplicating the road to a dual carriageway standard, like the Hume and Pacific Highways in NSW and Victoria.
To achieve this, the federal government needs to restore the 80-20 funding split for Queensland – it is time for Queensland to get a fair go.
Continue to invest in the Inland Freight Route
The federal government’s commitment to bring forward the $1 billion funding for the Inland Freight Route was an indication that our advocacy voice is cutting through in Canberra. The commitment to an 80 per cent/20 per cent funding split with the state government was particularly good news. The work has already started but will also need further capital injections.
The QTA urges the next Queensland Government to continue to invest in transformative road and bridge upgrades that would activate northern Australia via an alternative Inland Freight Route and encourage establishment of processing and value-adding facilities and logistics hubs in the regions.
Truck-Way connecting Queensland to the Port of Brisbane
The upgrade of the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing (Toowoomba Bypass) as a key freight corridor between Toowoomba and Port of Brisbane has unlocked a large part of the enormous economic potential of both the South East and South West of Queensland that will deliver regional prosperity and support jobs.
However, the Bremer River Bridge is impeding productivity progress in Queensland. The current planned remediation of the bridge will only restore it to a 2014 load limit capacity.
A future-thinking solution is needed beyond the proposed rail corridor to connect Inland Rail to the Port of Brisbane. The preservation and, ultimately, construction of a dedicated freight rail corridor would allow a small percentage of road freight movements to be removed from the road network. This will make minimal impact to alleviating congestion.
The QTA contends that this corridor (Toowoomba/Port Link) represents an opportunity to establish a complementary dedicated Truck-Way to the Port of Brisbane. A Truck-Way is a controlled environment that offers a unique opportunity to utilise future heavy vehicle technology improvements such as automation, electric powered, hydrogen and other alternatives, specialised prime movers in multi-trailer combinations in a fully controlled and dedicated environment. These options offer a reduced footprint in emissions, substantially quieter operations, and significant flexibility, as well as creating a safer, more efficient, and productive freight route.
A future-shaping plan is needed to cultivate business confidence through long term infrastructure investment – It’s time to get Queensland moving.
- To read the full QTA 2024 State Election Blueprint, click here.