Cunninghams Gap upgrade: Heavy oversized vehicles to re-route, likely delays as construction continues

There is a big change coming to a major Queensland highway, as the route continues a mammoth $86m dollar upgrade. Some commuters say it will be a ‘nightmare’.

Cunninghams Gap near Tregony has been a major thoroughfare for heavy and oversized vehicles for decades

A major thoroughfare between South East Queensland and NSW will be closed in coming weeks as work on a major upgrade continues.

Cunningham Gap, which links Brisbane to the Southern Downs, sees hundreds of heavy vehicles transporting all types of loads from livestock to food along the route daily.

Upgrades to the route have been taking place since last year, with minor inconveniences such as delays plaguing motorists in the time since it started.

However, next month, the route will be closed for heavy vehicles and limited for traffic due to a major stage of the upgrade.

The thoroughfare will be closed for multiple days in September for heavy oversized vehicles

From 6pm on September 6 until 5am on September 10, intensive construction is planned to reduce the steep grade of the road at Cunninghams Gap.

Traffic through the gap will be lowered to a single lane at 40km/h, with oversized vehicles having to seek an alternative route due to the road narrowing.

Transport and Main Roads regional director Andrew Wheeler said safety was the highest priority during the upgrades.

“As the project location is also on a key national freight route, we provide advance notice to operators with updates to the Conditions of Operations Database, and to subscribers of TMR’s Heavy Vehicle Bulletin,” Mr Wheeler said.

Artist's rendering of the final reconstruction, including reintroduction of the left slow lane and rockfall protection (Photo: Department of Transport and Main Roads)

Residents took to Facebook to express their feelings on the seemingly endless upgrades to the road.

“Just gonna be an absolute nightmare to get thru,” Glenn Trimble said.

“We are so far behind the rest of the world, tunnels are as common as hell these days. So much time would be saved by avoiding road crossings of mountain areas by going underground,” Howard Thrift commented.

“Just bore a tunnel. Another few years they will close it again for same old issues,” Kevin Stafferton said.

The $86m reconstruction upgrades to the road was announced in 2023 after motorists urged for action.

The highway was damaged back in 2019, with substantial damage caused by the Black Summer bushfires.

The massive $86m development project aims to upgrade the pass which many holiday makers enter the Southern Downs which was heavily damaged in 2019.

The Department of Transport and Main Roads lists benefits of the “complex” project as improving safety, improving network efficiency, better road access and restoring damaged infrastructure.

Features of the project include 1.4km of continuous rockfall protection to minimise risk of damage from landslides as well as installation of cameras to monitor the slope of the highway also.

Furthermore, there is going to be the reinstallation of the left slow lane on the highway and roadside safety barriers to improve safety for motorists.

The Department of Main Roads says due to the severity of damage and complexity of repairs required, the project is still expected to continue until mid-2025