Hospital construction closes part of Sturt St, Townsville

A major road closure at the entrance to the Townsville CBD is creating traffic chaos at peak-hour.

A MAJOR road closure at the entrance to the Townsville CBD is creating traffic chaos at peak-hour.

A small section of Sturt St, near the intersection with Ingham Rd, has been closed to traffic as part of the development of the Weststate Private Hospital.

Contractors broke ground on the redevelopment of the historic site on February 14 after years of planning.

Traffic

The section of road has been closed since Monday, with traffic from Woolcock St diverted to Ingham Rd and then Flinders St to get into the city.

A public notice in the Townsville Bulletin says contractor Woollam Constructions had to close the street for sewer and stormwater redivision works.

According to the notice, the road will reopen on February 28.

Early morning commuter traffic in conjunction with the road closure has created delays getting into the city in the morning.

The $60m Weststate Private Hospital project amalgamates six parcels of land into a single 8000sqm site.

When construction is complete, it will be a five-storey building with four operating theatres and one procedure room with 19 daybeds and 22 overnight beds.

Traffic

The development will also breathe life into the heritage-listed former Townsville West End State School.

It will be transformed into specialist consulting suites and include a new footbridge to link to the new hospital.

The hospital will focus on the core specialities including orthopaedics, urology, oral and maxillofacial, general surgery.

Construction is expected to be complete in April or May 2023, with the first patients expected in May or June the same year.

Construction of the new development was expected to create 180 full time positions. 

Originally published as Hospital construction closes part of Sturt St, Townsville