Bruce Hwy reopens after being blown to smithereens in fatal truck crash at Bororen

A Qld economist says order to bring the Bruce Hwy between Cairns and Gympie to a five-star rating in line other regional parts of the country, it could cost the state $20bn.

A Queensland economist has estimated it would cost at least $20bn to fix the Bruce Highway, which was reopened last night after being blown to smithereens.

The highway officially reopened about 6pm on Tuesday to two lanes of traffic (northbound and southbound lanes) with a speed reduction to 60km/h and traffic management in place.

The notorious highway was the site of a chemical explosion at Bororen, south of Gladstone, on Friday, where a truck carrying ammonium nitrate collided with a ute, killing a 21-year-old man from Koongal and left a large crater in the highway.

Recovery works taking place on the Bruce Highway where an ammonium nitrate truck exploded near Bororen. Picture: TMR

Northern Bruce Action Group member Colin Dwyer, who with Tracy Cheffins drove more 1600km along the highway in July compiling a damning report, said in order to bring the national highway between Cairns and Gympie to a five-star rating in line other regional parts of the country, it could cost the state $20bn.

Mr Dwyer said in the short-term, the highway needed an urgent “saturation” of overtaking lanes and a fast-track of narrow bridge replacements and expansions.

Looking long-term, he said the government needed to prioritise projects and spending for the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane should be going towards better safety for the Bruce Highway.

“We want to see these safety projects given priority over projects that are related to an event in Brisbane that is for fun. This is a safety issue for North Queensland.”

Mr Dwyer said an inflation-adjusted study from 2018 estimated the cost of a separated dual-lane highway from Cairns to Gympie would total $66bn if built from scratch.

“But if you look at the highway, and think parts of it are competent, and we just need to put in another two lanes – that halves your cost. But then some parts might have low traffic, so you put in a two-plus-one (overtaking lane) split – that takes the cost down to $20bn.”

After five days of clean up at the crash site, the Department of Transport and Main Roads confirmed access to the Bruce had been restored.

Road users are not permitted to stop through the roadwork zone.

General freight and PBS heavy vehicles can operate through this section of the Bruce Highway at pre-existing mass limits.

Class 1 Oversize Overmass heavy vehicle operators are not currently permitted on this section of road.

Recovery works taking place on the Bruce Highway where an ammonium nitrate truck exploded near Bororen. Photo - TMR

Motorists are reminded to observe all warning signs, speed restrictions, detours and traffic control directions in place. Removal of detour signage will be progressively removed across the road network in the area after the opening of the Bruce Highway.

Transport Minister Bart Mellish visited the site on Monday afternoon and said the crater which was left as a result of a chemical explosion was “quite substantial”.

“There’s twisted pieces of metal about 100 metres from the site, it’s something I’ve never seen before, it’s one of those really, really rare occurrences that are really difficult to comprehend,” Mr Mellish said.

“What we’ve seen at the site there it’s about a five-metre crater next to the Bruce Highway, so very significant damage, not the sort of damage you normally see on our highway network.”

Mr Mellish said the crater site was located on the eastern side of the highway, with road tech clearing the western side in case the road needs to be shifted west.

It comes after One Nation candidate James Ashby slammed the cultural heritage investigation undertaken as part of the works to reopen the highway.

However, the state government on Monday said environmental and heritage studies had been already undertaken and clearance “has been confirmed”.

Queensland Transport Minister Bart Mellish’s Instagram post about Bruce Highway after the crash near Bororen.

It is understood the work did not delay the anticipated reopening of the highway.

As of Tuesday afternoon, road closures were still in place at Wadeleigh Street in Bororen Township (northbound) and just south of the Turkey Beach Road intersection (southbound).

TMR on Tuesday said significant progress had been made to the highway and was on track to a single-lane opening.