The $500 million Haughton River Floodplain upgrade project has hit a milestone, with traffic on the Bruce Highway now switched to a new bridge and road surface at Giru, Queensland.
The upgrade project includes safety and flood resilience upgrades to 13.5km of the Bruce Highway at Giru, midway between Ayr and Townsville.
Upon completion of the Haughton River Floodplain upgrade project, five bridges and two can rail overpasses will have been built.
Additionally, the Horseshoe Lagoon, Pink Lily and Haughton River bridges will be replaced with new, wider, higher-level bridges.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Barnaby Joyce said it was one of the last milestones of the project, which is due to be completed later this year.
“Traffic across the national network is now using a safer, more flood resilient crossing of the Reed Beds area,” he said. “The Bruce Highway alignment across the Reed Beds was also reconfigured to improve safety.”
Queensland Minister for Transport and Main Roads Mark Bailey said the project built on other upgrades underway on the Bruce Highway.
“As a key connector for locals in the regions, and the backbone of Queensland’s freight industry, delivering upgrades on the Bruce Highway is a priority,” he said.
“At Giru, the focus moving forward will be on completing local connection roads and demolishing existing bridges and road. Over the coming weeks, we’ll also finalise the highway on and off ramps to Hodel Road and Shirbourne Road, so local access can be reinstated.”
The project is expected to support an average of 544 jobs over the life of construction.
The $514.34 million Haughton River Floodplain Upgrade project is jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland governments on an 80:20 basis, representing commitments of $411.47 million and $102.87 million, respectively.
This follows the Queensland Government’s commitment of $17.8 billion in regional roads and transport over the next four years.
The project is due to be completed later this year.
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