General News
26 November, 2025
$50m for highway upgrades
A FLOOD-prone section of the Bruce Highway in North Queensland is set to be upgraded with $50 million of resilience works to improve a stretch of road between Innisfail and Ingham.
Detailed designs are now complete for improvements to the Gairloch to Ripple Creek section, in the Seymour River area, with the project scheduled to go out to tender in coming months with construction expected to get underway next year.
The crucial works will include safety upgrades, wide centreline treatment, replacing culverts to improve drainage, widening the road and reconstructing the highway to a more resilient standard.
The project will be delivered under the $450 million Queensland Resilience and Risk Reduction Program (QRRRP, which is funded through the joint commonwealth-state disaster recovery funding arrangements and administered by the Queensland Reconstruction Authority.
Federal Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain said “by replacing ageing culverts and strengthening the pavement, we’re ensuring this stretch of highway can better withstand the floods that impact the region year after year,” she said.
Queensland Disaster Recovery Minister Ann Leahy said building back better and delivering more resilient infrastructure was a core pillar of the government.
“Betterment projects like this are smart investments in our state’s future, using the lessons we’ve learned from past disasters to strengthen us for the future,” she said.
“We can’t stop severe weather from occurring, but we can improve our resilience to its impacts, and that’s what these Gairloch to Ripple Creek road improvements are all about.”
Queensland Transport and Main Roads Minister Brent Mickelberg said the resilience works were a long-term, generational investment to help keep North Queensland communities open and moving during the next disaster.
“We are committed to building stronger infrastructure, making sure Queensland is better prepared for disasters in the future,” he said.
“For more than a decade this section of road has been a choke point as it floods regularly during the storm season and holds up logistics, so we are going to deliver the road improvements the region has been asking for.
“Workers will be on-site in the next year building a more durable stretch of road that ensures safer and more reliable travel on the Bruce Highway while reducing the time and +cost of road closures and repair works.”
The project is the next section of the Bruce Highway improvements north of the $48 million Gairloch Floodway project that is already funded by the Australian Government and is currently in the design phase.
Read More: Cassowary Coast