ABC Radio Wide Bay with David Dowsett

DAVID DOWSETT: Well, big announcements for the Bruce Highway are on the way and hopefully it's going to improve road safety, that's for sure. The Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Catherine King, is at Bauple today with Queensland Minister for Transport, Brent Mickelberg. Catherine King, 

CATHERINE KING: Good morning. 

DAVID DOWSETT: So what's the big announcement today? 

CATHERINE KING: Well, today I'm actually in Gympie on my way up to Bauple with the Queensland Transport Minister. We're announcing the start of early works on the Bruce Highway safety package. Remember the Prime Minister and I and the Treasurer were in Gympie in January this year announcing our historic over $7 billion to invest in the Bruce Highway. The Queensland Government has now also come to the party. So, this is the first start of the first tranche of works as part of that safety package to get the Bruce Highway up to three-star rating. 

DAVID DOWSETT: Okay, so what works are involved there? 

CATHERINE KING: Yeah, so at Bauple itself there is, we're breaking ground on new left and right turning lanes at Stratford Road, a new dedicated turning lane at Brooks Road and widening between the Chapmans Road and Stratford Road are the projects that we're looking at in Bauple. There's over five projects that are starting that $300 million package is now underway and you'll start to see more and more work roll out as part of the safety package over the course of the next few years but it's great to be able to actually start that work as quickly as possible. 

DAVID DOWSETT: So what's prompted the focus on that section of the highway? 

CATHERINE KING: Well again what we've done is really looked at where are the worst bits of the road? So where have there been higher rates of accidents, higher rates of near misses? Particularly when you're looking at intersections, they tend to be the, you know, obviously you've got more significant interaction of traffic. They tend to be the less safe roads and safe parts of the road. So really, we've taken advice from Transport and Main Roads and obviously the local community as well, but it's really where the rating of the road is at one or two star, trying to lift it up to what's called a three star rating road. 

DAVID DOWSETT; So has soil already been turned on the work? 

CATHERINE KING: We'll be just about to do that this morning. 

DAVID DOWSETT: Right, okay. So further down the line, once work gets underway, any potential impact to residents and motorists? 

CATHERINE KING: Look, there's always, when there's construction underway, always, you know, there is a bit of disruption that always happens when you're fixing infrastructure or building new infrastructure. Just shout out to people; thanks for your patience but also just you know make sure you obey the road signs slow down there'll be workers around there that we want to be safe. So, sorry for the inconvenience but it'll be worth it in the end. These are the nature of roadworks unfortunately. 

DAVID DOWSETT: So I guess some impact to freight on the highway as well? 

CATHERINE KING: Look it shouldn't be huge but there may be. You'll have lane closures at different points of time as road surfacing works is underway. So, there'll be a bit of that, but of course that will be well signed and well notified in advance. So just people need to be aware that you're interacting around where people are also working. 

DAVID DOWSETT: So underway now, when do you hope it will be completed? 

CATHERINE KING: Well, it shouldn't be a long period of time. Obviously, weather permitting, we're hoping… and there's extra projects, so, for example, there's Hencamp Creek. It's due for completion mid-next year. So generally, these things can take between six to 18 months, depending on the complexity of the project. So we'd hope that they'd be done within the next six months.

DAVID DOWSETT: So this is underway now. What else is on the menu? 

CATHERINE KING: Well, what they've done, what the Queensland Government has done is established a Bruce Highway Advisory Committee. So, they're working very closely with them, all of the councils along the highway and Transport and Main Road roads and RACQ to identify where the next projects are. So, you'll just see this work continuously rolled out. And again, it's concentrating on where the road is rated at a one or two star, the most dangerous bits of the road, to lift them up to three star. And that's really the aim of this $9 billion package that, of course, the Albanese Labor Government announced back in January before the election.

DAVID DOWSETT: Safer roads for all. That is, of course, indeed the goal. Catherine King, thanks for your time this morning. 

CATHERINE KING: Great to be with you, David.

DAVID DOWSETT: Catherine King, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government on ABC Wide Bay. It's almost a quarter to nine.