A consultation period is continuing for a western alternative to the Bruce Highway between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, and a preferred option has been identified for Stage 1.
Federal Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts, Paul Fletcher, said the government was committed to funding the delivery of critical road projects across Queensland.
“The Bruce Highway is Queensland’s major freight route, connecting Brisbane to central and northern Queensland, including 11 coastal ports, major regional cities and key tourist destinations,” Mr Fletcher said.
“With growing population pressures across the Moreton Bay region, a new, alternative road connection to the west of the Bruce Highway will help boost the capacity of the local road network and reduce congestion.”
Queensland Deputy Premier and Member for Murrumba, Steven Miles, said the first phase of consultation for Stage 1 had recently wrapped up.
“Community consultation is an important part of major projects like this, to make sure we are delivering the best outcome for the community,” Mr Miles said.
“Through technical investigations and community feedback, the preferred corridor for Stage 1 has been identified from Moodlu to Moorina within the future Caboolture West development area.”
Queensland Transport and Main Roads Minister, Mark Bailey, said three options were presented to the community with the central option listed as the preferred option.
“The preferred alignment offered more opportunities for local road connections, better environmental outcomes and fewer property impacts,” Mr Bailey said.
“The central alignment starts at the D’Aguilar Highway and travels south towards Caboolture River Road, staying close to the existing power easement.
“The corridor will provide for future interchanges and allow local roads to pass over or under the new road.”
Moreton Bay Regional Council Mayor, Peter Flannery, welcomed the significant step towards building a Bruce Highway alternative and said with a city the size of Mackay expected to call Caboolture West home in coming years, the demand for roads in the region would only grow exponentially.
“We might’ve won the bid to host the Olympic Games in 10 years’ time, but the demand for infrastructure is happening now,” Mr Flannery said.
“This is our second M1, our Coomera Connector – and to check off this milestone, means we can hopefully have shovels in the ground sooner.
“The Bruce Highway is the spine of Queensland’s road network and Moreton Bay is positioned at its most critical point, which is why it’s vital we build a road that takes local traffic off this major freight route.
“If you get an alternative road up, you can take local traffic off the state’s biggest highway and accommodate the 70,000 people that’ll be moving here.”
State Member for Kurwongbah, Shane King, said the State Government would plan for the future of the corridor in stages, as part of the record $27.5 billion roads and transport budget.
“The next priority stage (Stage 2) is south of Caboolture West from Moorina to Narangba and is around 13km long,” Mr King said.
“Consultation is expected to start for Stage 2 early 2022, however in the meantime the community can provide early feedback on future stages through the project webpage.
This project forms part of the $20 million North Brisbane Bruce Highway Western Alternative project with $10 million each being committed by the Australian and Queensland governments.
For more information, visit www.tmr.qld.gov.au.
All they needed to do was widen the Bruce Highway first! There is room from that Straitpine nonsense where its two lanes becore the gateway merge going north. They could expand it to 4 lanes each side.
Idiots in power for you. Too hard to add one lane from Straithpine to Morayfield/Caboolture! They don’t need to widen any bridges etc.
But hey they’d have to admin wasting tax payer money on safety rails which should of been put up AFTER adding the extra lane each way.
A second highway and merges into two lanes on the Bruce down at that Gateway Motorway won’t help a damn thing!