Queensland government commits $470 million for construction works on Goorganga Plains, Bruce Highway

Long-awaited funding for construction works needed to fix the Bruce Highway between Mackay and Proserpine is finally being tabled, but concrete funding will not be allocated this financial year. Will we ever see our section fixed?

Cars travelling north on the Bruce Highway, around the Goorganga Plains, just south of Proserpine which has been surrounded by water after heavy rain. Photo Lee Constable / Daily Mercury

As long-awaited funding for construction works to fix an “atrocious” stretch of the Bruce Highway has been tabled, there are fears the works won’t ever happen as long as the federal government remains dead set on reducing its infrastructure projects funding.

The Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads has committed $470m to flood proof the Goorganga Plains corridor, located between Mackay and Proserpine, a year after a $15 million business case was conducted on the project.

The upgrade that would go from O’Connell River to Proserpine would achieve flood immunity at Thompson Creek, Goorganga Creek and Lethebrook Creek as well as provide overtaking lanes north and south of the Bruce Highway at Goorganga.

Cars travelling north on the Bruce Highway, around the Goorganga Plains, just south of Proserpine which has been surrounded by water after heavy rain. Photo Lee Constable / Daily Mercury

The stretch of road is regularly flooded, with the most recent incident in January 2023 when the highway was cut for four days leaving hundreds of truck drivers, families and tourists stranded.

Locals have been calling for the corridor to be fixed for decades, with most recently Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson calling the conditions on that stretch of road as “atrocious in the 21st century”.

Road Tek crews are busy patching potholes along the Bruce Highway after January 2023 rainfalls closed the road at several points including at Bowen and Proserpine. Picture: Heidi Petith

A TMR spokeswoman said funding for the project would be sourced from the 2024-2025 $500 million federal and state commitment to the Bruce Highway that’s funded on a 80:20 basis.

But in the Queenland 2024-2025 budget handed on Tuesday, there was no amount allocated to the project for this financial year, but $24m allocated under the 2025-2026 columns and more funding for the following years.

It also outlined that only $170,000 was planned to be secured by the end of the 2027-2028 budget.

A TMR spokeswoman said details as to the particulars of funding were also “subject to an Australian Government agreement”.

“The Queensland Government will work with the Australian Government to release funding to commence design and construction of the proposed works,” the spokeswoman said adding that the full funding needed to be secured prior any stage of construction could commence.

Andrew Willcox, who snared the federal seat of Dawson, has marked his first official day in the office – where his predecessor once tread. You can find him at Level 2, 45 Victoria St, Mackay. Picture: Contributed

Federal member for Dawson Andrew Willcox said the announcement of the federal government to split funding from 80:20 to 50:50 with their state counterparts for new regional infrastructure projects would put a stop to a lot of projects in Queensland.

“If this decision isn’t reversed, our state government will be forced to pick and choose between future upgrades, leading to potentially disastrous consequences for our regional communities,” he said.

Shadow Minister for Child Protection Amanda Camm at Southport. Picture Glenn Hampson

State member for Whitsunday Amanda Camm said upgrades on other important roads in the Whitsundays such as the 24m upgrade on the Hamilton Plains stretch had also been delayed for a long time, with 18,560 million budgeted only by the end of 2027, while the upgrade was still deemed at the “post business case stage”.

“Labor can promise funding for regional infrastructure, but they have a track record of not delivering on time, on budget or to the promised scope”, Ms Camm said.

This publication has reached out to the department and asked how much of the $470m is currently funded under the already existing $500m pool of funding, and the department did not have an answer to that.

We have also asked whether the department can release a timeline on each stage of the project and the response was that a timeline could not be released at this stage.