Type Highway Highway system National Highway | Length 1,652 km | |
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Route number(s) M1 (Bald Hills – Cooroy)
A1 (Cooroy – Cairns) North end Captain Cook Highway (National Route 1/State Route 44), Cairns, Queensland South end Gateway Motorway (M1), Bald Hills, Brisbane Major cities Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Maryborough Via Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Maryborough Major settlements Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Maryborough | ||
The Bruce Highway is a major highway in Queensland, Australia. Commencing in the state capital, Brisbane, it passes through areas close to the eastern coast to Cairns in Far North Queensland. The route is a part of the Australian National Highway and also part of Highway 1. Its length is approximately 1,700 kilometres (1,100 mi); it is entirely sealed with bitumen.
Contents
- Map of Bruce Hwy Queensland Australia
- Upgrades
- Major Upgrades Bald Hills to Cooroy
- Major Upgrades Cooroy to Rockhampton
- Major Upgrades Rockhampton to Townsville
- Major Upgrades Townsville to Cairns
- Highway towns
- References
Map of Bruce Hwy, Queensland, Australia
The highway is named after the former Queensland and federal politician Henry Adam Bruce. He was the state Minister for Works when the highway was named after him, in the mid-1930s. It once passed through Brisbane, but was truncated at Bald Hills when the recently constructed Gateway Motorway became National Highway 1 upon its opening in December 1986.
The Bruce Highway is the biggest traffic carrier in Queensland. The highway initially joined all the major coastal centres; however, a number of bypasses, particularly in the south, have diverted traffic around these cities to expedite traffic flow and ease urban congestion. As a result, the highway is constantly being shortened. The road is a dual carriageway from Brisbane to Cooroy with some dual carriageway lengths at Gympie, many of these upgrades being completed in the 1980s (Glass House Mountains, Tanawha, Maryborough) and 1990s (Nambour, Yandina, and Cooroy).
In the south the Bruce Highway commences at the bridge over the Pine River at the Gateway Motorway interchange, 21 kilometres (13 mi) north of Brisbane central business district. Recently, the Bruce Highway has changed its route numbering from National Highway 1 to the M1 (motorway road) or A1 (single carriageway, generally with overtaking lanes).
Several major cities along the route include Maryborough, Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville, and Cairns. The highway passes the Glasshouse Mountains, rainforests and pastures in the Sunshine Coast, the Gunalda Range (north of Gympie), Mount Larcom (north of Gladstone), and the arid countryside north of Rockhampton; after that, it passes through land predominantly used for sugar cane, crop growing and dairy farms and the sub-tropics and tropics.
Upgrades
One of the largest and major deviations of the Bruce Highway was the Bald Hills to Burpengary Deviation. Beginning construction in 1972, the new route took traffic from Gympie Road at Bald Hills to Uhlmann Road at Burpengary along a much more superior alignment which was also constructed to four lanes. The new route was officially opened on 10 November 1977 at a total cost of $20 million.
Due to the nature of wet weather and tropical cyclone prone areas of North Queensland, Bruce Highway is prone to frequent flooding in a number of places. Following the catastrophic Queensland floods in 2010–2011 the Australian Government have commissioned a feasibility study on flood-proofing the Bruce Highway. The feasibility study is to be completed by the middle of 2011.
Bruce Highway is set to undergo redevelopment, realignment, flood-proofing and extension of dual carriageway sections on numerous stretches of the Highway. Former Premier Anna Bligh announced the plans while launching the Queensland Infrastructure Plan. The works are expected to total A$2 billion and include 60 projects over a period of two decades.
A stretch of road between Cardwell and Tully, which is prone to frequent flooding in the wet season, is set to undergo realignment. A new route for the highway through Townsville was under construction with the first stage of the Townsville Ring Road (now called The Ring Road) already completed.
Upgrade to a stretch of the highway north of Townsville has been given approval, and will see the existing dual carriageway to the north extended by another 5–10 km. It will also include installation of traffic lights at Mt Low Parkway, and will be the final stage of the Ring Road link up to this section by 2015. The Queensland Main Roads Department's ultimate concept map of the development also shows that the highway will also progressively become Motorway standard by 2015, with the implementation of interchanges at various junctions.
The highway south of Cairns will also see sections of the highway to the suburb of Edmonton become six lanes, with progressive dual-carriageway redevelopment of the highway to Gordonvale. Labour candidate Jim Turnour has also put ahead that stage 1 of the Cairns Southern Motorway will begin with overpasses at Ray Jones Drive and Sheehy Road if elected.
To improve flood immunity of the highway south of Childers, a new and improved road alignment and a higher bridge over the Isis River were completed in September 2011.
Between Caboolture and the Gateway Motorway, the highway has been widened to eight and six lanes since 2001, including the Dohles Rocks Road to Boundary Road section in October 2004, the Boundary Road to Uhlmann Road section in March 2007, and the latest section Uhlmann Road to Bribie Island Road in November 2009. Further upgrades are under review.
A new interchange is currently under construction at the notorious intersection of Roys Road at Beerwah. It will also connect to the nearby Bells Creek Road, another dangerous intersection, and is due for completion in early 2015. This follows a similar situation at Buchanans Road in Morayfield, the intersection of which was replaced by an interchange in November 1996.
The Pumicestone Road interchange is also undergoing a redesign, replacing the original low-level bridge and ramps constructed in October 1970. Completion is expected in late 2014.
The Nambour Bypass has recently gone through a process of rehabilitation due to the extremely rough surface and dangerous pothole appearances during wet weather. This work was completed in 2009.
As of 2014 Section B of the joint State and Federal funded 61 kilometres (38 mi) Cooroy to Curra upgrade of the highway is open. Due to the new highway change, one of the local schools, Federal State School, was relocated. Early works for Section A has commenced. When completed, the Cooroy to Curra upgrade will bypass the town of Gympie and a mainly 2 lane section will be replaced with a 4 lane dual-carriageway.
Major Upgrades - Bald Hills to Cooroy
Major Upgrades - Cooroy to Rockhampton
Major Upgrades - Rockhampton to Townsville
Major Upgrades - Townsville to Cairns
Highway towns
Travelling north, the following towns and small cities are found on (or very close to) the Bruce Highway.