Support for Bruce Highway Upgrade

Recently five (5) Mayors from the Wide Bay Burnett area, Federal Member for Wide Bay Mr Llew O’Brien and Federal Member for Hinkler Keith Pitt met with the Hon Darren Chester MP, Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, to discuss the growing importance of the Bruce Highway section D Cooroy to Curra upgrade funding.

With the Bruce Highway connecting 58 per cent of the state’s population from Brisbane to Cairns, there is an urgency to fund this remaining section which will include an upgrade of a 26km stretch between Woondum to Curra and the construction of a bypass around Gympie.

“In order to export produce from South-East Queensland, industry needs to be able to transport their goods as quickly and efficiently as possible and by upgrading this section of the highway into a high-speed, high volume corridor, it can only benefit the region’s tourism and agricultural industries”, Mayor Keith Campbell said. The Mayor further explained that with this upgrade to the Bruce Highway, it could lead the way to the Port of Bundaberg being a preferred destination for our export produce from our northern producers within the South Burnett.

With traffic on the Bruce Highway growing by an estimated 2.8 per cent each year and without the upgrade, and it’s continuing growth as a major route for all freight movement between inland production areas, the coastal ports and regional centres, it is felt that there will be an increase on an already high accident rate.

It is expected that with the completion of this project, traffic congestion through Gympie will be greatly reduced making the journey faster and more importantly safer for all motorists and residents.