Bruce Highway news comes after The Courier-Mail’s Help Our Highway campaign

After years of political bickering and a sustained campaign from The Courier Mail there’s finally a plan for the Bruce, writes the editor.

Finally, there is light at the end of the tunnel as works begin to bring the Bruce Highway up to standard.

But it is now on the state and federal governments to ensure those works deliver Queenslanders the highway they have long deserved, one that matches the quality of the world-class Hume and Pacific highways interstate.

The Bruce, that 1679km-long arterial which serves as an economic spine for the state of Queensland, is receiving a genuine, long overdue, $9bn renovation, with five of 16 early construction works under way.

The Courier-Mail also reveals today that 150 full-time employees have already been hired to make sure the highway finally meets the appropriate safety standards.

This should indicate that the funding squabbles have receded in the rear-view mirror.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has to be congratulated for his January pledge of $7.2bn to finish upgrading the deadly Bruce and bringing it up to a minimum three-star safety rating.

That pledge followed The Courier-Mail’s relentless Help Our Highway campaign that was launched in April of last year and revealed (among many other things) that almost half the Bruce Highway failed basic safety ratings.

The Crisafulli government also has to be congratulated for throwing in the remaining $1.8bn, re-establishing the 80-20 funding split between the Commonwealth and Queensland.

That $9bn we now have in the kitty now is widely recognised as the largest single investment ever made on the notorious road linking Brisbane to Cairns.

Federal and State Ministers Catherine King and Brent Mickelberg were in Bauple on Friday morning to inspect early roadworks as part of a $9 billion Bruce Highway program.

What happens now will serve the state well in the decades ahead.

Crucial to this process will be the establishment of a centralised office to co-ordinate and oversee delivery of the Bruce Highway Targeted Safety Program – a positive step in ensuring the project is delivered to standard.

The Bruce’s poor condition has not merely impeded Queensland’s economic progress but left the state with a hideous road toll.

Insurance giant AAMI last year revealed Queensland’s top 10 crash sites after analysing decades of claims. Shockingly, eight of those top 10 crash sites were on the Bruce Highway.

Queensland’s Transport and Main Roads Minister Brent Mickelberg says high-risk sections of the highway north of Gympie are being targeted as a priority, with wide centre lines, overtaking lanes, and intersection upgrades.

The Bruce Highway, opened in 1934 and named after the state’s Public Works Minister Henry Bruce, has been this state’s key piece of infrastructure ever since the post-war boom in motor cars dramatically altered the way our economy works.

But the heartache caused by road trauma, flooding and the ongoing presence of substandard sections of road, which have impacted everything from supply chains to tourism, has stretched across the decades.

It has been long recognised that our tropical weather has contributed to the poor state of the highway, and its swift deterioration after floods is the price we have paid for living in the tropics.

But this package, if properly administered, could change the face of Queensland, bringing us in line with southern states.

Queenslanders will expect bang for buck – and won’t tolerate a substandard highway for much longer.

Start spreading the news about Brissie

Regardless of whether we consider Brisbane’s “big country town” label a sledge or a badge of honour, the reality is we have the next seven years to capitalise on hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games – and we can’t miss the chance.

Yesterday, some of the state’s brightest and boldest brains came together to discuss how Brisbane can sell itself to the world, and the challenges ahead.

The opportunities are endless – we just need to grab them with both hands and be bold.

We need to think big and become “champions for our own region”, as Brisbane Economic Development Agency CEO Anthony Ryan aptly put it.

Everything must be on the table – including the ideas from Night-Life Economy Commissioner, Powderfinger bassist John “JC” Collins, who wants liquor laws and late-night transport options to be looked at. “If you want to go out and go home after 12.30am, you’ve got to get an Uber or taxi, so I think we need to improve our transport hubs like New York or Tokyo,” Collins said.

It’s cities like New York and Tokyo we should be looking at for our big ideas.

Brisbane can retain the charm of being a “big country town” – but that doesn’t mean we can’t mix it with the rest of the world.

We have an unprecedented opportunity for positive change and we must embrace it.