Bruce Highway, Cairns Southern Access Corridor (Stage 3), Edmonton to Gordonvale, construction

A total transport solution is being undertaken to provide long-term improvements to traffic flow and road safety through reducing congestion, highway travel time and improving road access.

Benefits

• Improves safety
• Increases capacity
• Improves network efficiency
• Increases traffic flow
• Reduces peak hour congestion
• Better road access
• Contributes to regional growth
• Better active transport
• Contributes to economy

Key features

• Duplication of all existing 2 lane sections of the Bruce Highway between Edmonton and Gordonvale to 4 lanes.
• A new alignment for the Bruce Highway to the eastern side of the existing highway between Petersen Road and Warner Road.
• A new signalised intersection at Petersen Road and upgraded signalised intersections at Draper Road and Riverstone Road.
• Over 10km of new service roads to remove local trips from the highway.
• Realignment and upgrade of 4.5km of the Queensland Rail North Coast Line to accommodate the duplicated highway.
• Removal of multiple at grade rail crossings and upgrade of boom gates at other crossings.
• New road and rail bridges at Wrights Creek and Stoney Creek.
• New Bruce Highway road overpass south of Maitland Road connecting Pine Creek-Yarrabah Road and Maitland Road.
• Relocation of existing cane rail lines at locations to accommodate the duplicated highway.
• A new pedestrian overpass south of Draper Road, a new pedestrian underpass north of Draper Road and pedestrian path on the Bruce Highway road overpass south of Maitland Road.
• A dedicated off-road high-speed cycleway from Riverstone Road to tie into the existing pathway at Thompson Road.
• Several intersections and direct accesses to the existing Bruce Highway will either be partially closed or removed to improve traffic flow and increase road safety on the highway.
• Changes to the highway completed through this project will allow the posted speed to be 100km/hr from north of the Draper Road intersection to south of Petersen Road intersection.

Infrastructure naming

TMR is proud to announce 10 new pieces of infrastructure have been officially named on the project, following more than 50 public submissions.

The new names recognise the Edmonton and Gordonvale area's local identities and rich Indigenous culture.

• Gabay Gubudala (ga-buy gooboo-daala) Overpass, for the pedestrian overpass at Gordonvale.
• Menmuny (MEN-murn-ih) Overpass, for the Pine Creek – Yarrabah Road / Maitland Road overpass.
• Bama (BUM-uh) Way Road, for the Jones Road / Pine Creek – Yarrabah Road connector.
• Djarragun (JARRUH-gurn) Way, for the Old Bruce Highway / New Maitland Road connector.
• John Davies Bridge, for the Wrights Creek bridge.
• Kamma (KAMM-uh) Road, for the Warner Road to Harris Road connector.
• Jashar Bridge, for the Stoney Creek bridge.
• Clyde Coleman Bridge, for the Collinson Creek cycleway bridge.
• Luke Azzopardi Cycleway, for the Gordonvale to Cairns cycleway.
• Warren and Linda Pitt Way, for the section of the Bruce Highway from Gordonvale to Edmonton.

Thank you to everyone who put forward a submission.

Pedestrian overpass concept

   

Note: Certain aspects of the scope included in this concept design may change as design progresses.

Funding

The project is jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland governments on an 80:20 (federal:state) basis. Investment ID 383276

Project flyover

Video Transcript

We are upgrading the Bruce Highway between Edmonton and Gordonvale.

This is one of the busiest two-lane sections of the Bruce Highway between Cairns and Brisbane.
This exciting $481 million project will deliver a total transport solution, long-term improvements to traffic flow and road safety for all motorists catering for the future population growth of the southern corridor to Cairns We are duplicating the Bruce Highway to have four-lanes between Edmonton and Gordonvale.

A new signalised intersection will be constructed at Petersen Road.
New road and rail bridges will be built at Stoney Creek and Wrights Creek We're also building a new Bruce Highway overpass connecting to both Pine-Creek Yarrabah Road and Maitland Road which will greatly improve highway access, safety and connectivity.

Upgrades to the signalised intersections at Draper Road and Riverstone Road will improve traffic flow for motorists Several intersections and highway accesses will be either partially closed or removed to improve road safety on the highway Works include the realignment and upgrade of sections of Queensland Rail’s North Coast Line to accommodate the duplicated highway.

Better, safer facilities will be provided for cyclists and the active transport community with a new full length, off-road cycleway.
Upgrades delivered through this project will increase the posted speed between Edmonton and Gordonvale to 100km/hr.
We're investing in the future of North Queensland by delivering projects which will support safety, and population growth We’re committed to bringing you a more efficient highway motoring experience, to get you where you need to be safely and on time.

Current status

Pavement works have been completed across multiple sections of the project. Realignment and upgrade of 4.5km of Queensland Rail's North Coast Line was completed in April 2022. Bridge construction is progressing at Wrights Creek and Stoney Creek, and works are progressing for the Gabay Gubudala and Menmuny Overpasses. The first section of realigned Bruce Highway, between Riverstone Road and Draper Road, is expected to open to motorists by June 2022, weather permitting.

Project map

View Bruce Highway, Cairns Southern Access Corridor (Stage 3), Edmonton to Gordonvale, construction project map