Bruce Highway speed increase on Sunshine Coast at Sippy Downs after five year wait
Sunshine Coast motorists are enjoying quicker, smoother journeys after a long-awaited speed limit increase along a section of the Bruce Highway.
Sunshine Coast
Don't miss out on the headlines from Sunshine Coast. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A Sunshine Coast section of the Bruce Highway is back to full speed as roadworks reach a significant milestone along the busy stretch.
The speed limit along the southbound and northbound lanes of the Bruce Highway through Sippy Downs and past Aussie World has been lifted from 80km/h to 110km/h.
It means motorists can now enjoy a smooth 110km/h run starting at Tanawha and running down past Caloundra.
It’s not just the speed either, with three lanes open through the Sippy Downs section on both sides as well.
There have been three northbound lanes open between Caloundra Road and Sunshine Motorway for some time, but the southbound section fully opened up on Monday.
A Transport and Main Roads spokesperson said major construction on the Bruce Highway upgrade - Caloundra Road to Sunshine Motorway project (CR2SM) was nearing completion.
“The speed limit on the Bruce Highway between Caloundra Road to the Sunshine Motorway was reduced to 80km/h at the start of works in 2017,” they said.
“Works on all six lanes between the two interchanges is now complete and the posted speed limit was increased from 80km/h to the permanent 110km/h this morning.”
However, they said while major construction on the CR2SM project is nearing completion, some temporary lane closures will continue at night to complete fencing and landscaping, ongoing maintenance and minor works.
Traffic control measures, including reduced speed limits, remain in place on other sections of the highway where upgrades are currently taking place.
Those measures specifically relate to the Bruce Highway upgrades at Deception Bay Road Interchange at Burpengary, the Caboolture-Bribie Island Road to Steve Irwin Way (Exit 163) at Elimbah and the Maroochydore Road and Mons Road Interchanges at Forest Glen.
The contract for the $929.3 million Bruce Highway upgrade between Caloundra Road and the Sunshine Motorway was awarded to Fulton Hogan and Seymour Whyte in a joint venture in 2016.
In October last year the Daily reported the upgrade had needed an extra $119m injection after long periods of inclement weather.
The revised cost of the project at the time was $932 million, with the federal government contributing an extra $95.24 million and the state government an extra $23.81 million.
A Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads spokesman said major projects carried out over longer timescales could encounter budget variance, which was particularly impacted by weather.
He told the Daily at the time that more than 1406mm of rain had fallen across the construction area since mid-January 2020 and about 6450mm of rain had fallen on the area since major construction started in May 2017, causing “unforeseen time and cost pressures”.
“Further improvements have been made to the design during the works to capture additional value to improve and maintain network performance during and after construction,” the spokesman said last year.
“As the project is on a flood plain, we have been required to provide additional environmental controls recognised as industry best practice.”
A diverging diamond interchange to replace the existing Caloundra Road interchange was among the works.
Workers’ key move in ongoing battle with council
Cleanaway and Noosa Council workers turn up the heat with new and ongoing strikes as safety concerns are called out and key services disrupted.
‘Looking for blood’: Chilling allegations of $2.4m extortion, kidnapping
Two men are accused of being in a group that took a man against his will over a perceived multimillion-dollar debt owed to a NSW organised crime syndicate.