Bruce Highway

The Bruce Highway is a major highway in Queensland, Australia. Commencing in the state capital, Brisbane, it passes through areas close to the eastern coast on its way to Cairns in Far North Queensland. The route is part of the Australian National Highway and also part of Highway 1, the longest highway route in Australia. Its length is approximately 1,679 kilometres (1,043mi); it is entirely sealed with bitumen. The highway is named after a popular former Queensland and federal politician, Harry Bruce. Bruce was the state Minister for Works in the mid-1930s when the highway was named after him. The highway once passed through Brisbane, but was truncated at Bald Hills when the Gateway Motorway became National Highway 1 upon its opening in December 1986.[citation needed]

It was previously known as the Great North Coast Road, being renamed as the Bruce Highway in 1934 after the state's Minister for Public Works, Harry Bruce.

The highway is the biggest traffic carrier in Queensland. It initially joined all the major coastal centres; however, a number of bypasses, particularly in the south, have diverted traffic around these cities to expedite traffic flow and ease urban congestion. As a result, the highway is constantly being shortened. The road is a dual carriageway from Brisbane to Curra, north of Gympie, many of these upgrades being completed in the 1980s (Glass House Mountains, Tanawha, Maryborough) and 1990s (Nambour, Yandina, and Cooroy).[citation needed]

The highway commences just south of the bridge over the Pine River at the Gateway Motorway interchange, 21 kilometres (13mi) north of the Brisbane central business district. The highway has changed its route numbering from National Highway 1 to the M1 (motorway road) or A1 (single carriageway, generally with overtaking lanes).[citation needed]

Major cities along the route include Gympie, Maryborough, Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville, and Cairns. The highway passes the Glasshouse Mountains, rainforests and pastures in the Sunshine Coast, the Gunalda Range (north of Gympie), Mount Larcom (north of Gladstone), and the arid countryside north of Rockhampton; after that, it passes through land predominantly used for sugar cane, crop growing and dairy farms and the sub-tropics and tropics.[citation needed]

In November 2024, the Bruce Highway Advisory Council was re-established.

State-controlled road

The Bruce Highway is a state-controlled road, subdivided into fourteen sections for administrative and funding purposes. All sections are part of the National Highway.

The sections are:

• 10A – Brisbane to Gympie
• 10B – Gympie to Maryborough
• 10C – Maryborough to Gin Gin
• 10D – Gin Gin to Benaraby
• 10E – Benaraby to Rockhampton
• 10F – Rockhampton to St Lawrence
• 10G – St Lawrence to Mackay
• 10H – Mackay to Proserpine
• 10J – Proserpine to Bowen
• 10K – Bowen to Ayr
• 10L – Ayr to Townsville
• 10M – Townsville to Ingham
• 10N – Ingham to Innisfail
• 10P – Innisfail to Cairns

State-controlled roads that intersect with the highway are listed in the main article.

Route description

Commencing in Bald Hills at the junction of the Gateway Motorway and Gympie Arterial Road, the Bruce Highway is a motorway standard road (signed as the M1) for its first 163 kilometres (101mi) to Curra, where it becomes a two-lane sealed highway for most of its remainder. The first 2.5 kilometres (1.6mi) to the Dohles Rocks Road interchange has eight lanes and a variable (electronically signed) speed limit of up to 100 kilometres per hour (60mph). The next 22 kilometres (14mi) to the Caboolture / Bribie Island interchange has six lanes and a maximum speed limit of 100 kilometres per hour (60mph). From there to Curra the road has four lanes and a speed limit of 110 kilometres per hour (70mph).

Brisbane to Rockhampton

Bald Hills to Caboolture

This section of the Bruce Highway crosses the Pine River into the City of Moreton Bay, passing through mainly urban areas before crossing the Caboolture River and reaching the Caboolture / Bribie Island interchange after 24.5 kilometres (15.2mi). It runs past or through Murrumba Downs, Griffin, Kallangur, Mango Hill, North Lakes, Dakabin, Narangba, Burpengary and Morayfield. On the way it is crossed by the Redcliffe Peninsula railway line and passes the Caboolture BP Travel Centre.[citation needed]

Caboolture to Caloundra

The Caboolture / Bribie Island interchange also provides access to the D'Aguilar Highway via a service road. After the D'Aguilar Highway interchange the Bruce passes through mainly rural areas and the Beerburrum and Beerwah State Forests, entering the Sunshine Coast Region before reaching the Caloundra Road interchange after a further 36.1 kilometres (22.4mi). It passes the southern entry to Steve Irwin Way, a bypassed section of the highway, which provides access to Beerburrum, Glass House Mountains, Beerwah, Australia Zoo and Landsborough before terminating at the Caloundra Road interchange.[citation needed]

The Caloundra Road Interchange is also Australia's first Diverging diamond interchange.

Caloundra to Noosa

The next 5.6 kilometres (3.5mi) to the Sunshine Motorway interchange, providing access to the Sunshine Coast, widens to 3 lanes in either direction. It then narrows back to 2 lanes. After another 7.5 kilometres (4.7mi) the Maroochydore Road interchange provides access to Maroochydore and Woombye. The Bli Bli Road interchange, after a further 7 kilometres (4.3mi), provides access to Bli Bli and Nambour. The Yandina–Coolum Road interchange, after 6.7 kilometres (4.2mi), provides access to Yandina and Coolum. The Eumundi interchange, after 8.4 kilometres (5.2mi), provides access to Eumundi and Noosa. The Cooroy interchange, after 7.2 kilometres (4.5mi), provides access to Cooroy, Tewantin and Noosa. Total distance from Caloundra Road to this interchange is 42.4 kilometres (26.3mi).[citation needed]

Noosa to Gympie

The 33 kilometres (21mi) to the end of the M1 at Kybong includes three interchanges that provide access to the Old Bruce Highway. From Kybong the highway is designated A1. It has numerous parts with lower speed limits, including urban areas, high crash zones and roadwork sites. After 8 kilometres (5.0mi) from Kybong the Mary Valley Road interchange provides access to the west of the Mary River. The highway then passes through the Gympie urban fringe, with several at grade intersections providing access to various parts of the city. North of Gympie, 14.3 kilometres (8.9mi) from the Mary Valley Road interchange, the Wide Bay Highway interchange is reached, providing access to Kilkivan. Total distance from the Cooroy interchange is 55.4 kilometres (34.4mi).[citation needed]

Gympie to Maryborough

The 73.9 kilometres (45.9mi) from the Wide Bay Highway interchange to the Maryborough–Biggenden Road interchange at Maryborough passes through Tiaro and the Gympie Road exit to Maryborough before crossing the Mary River.[citation needed]

Maryborough to Rockhampton

The highway maintains a speed limit of 100 occasionally slowing down to 60 or 50 while driving through several small towns including Childers, Gin Gin, Miriam Vale and Mount Larcom before reaching Rockhampton.[citation needed]

Development of the M1

With the completion of Section D of the Bruce Highway – Cooroy to Curra upgrade project (Woondum to Curra) in October 2024 the M1 has now been extended to Curra, 14 kilometres (8.7mi) north of Gympie. The Bruce Highway from Curra onwards remains signed as A1.

Further extensions are currently not funded by the federal government excluding the Tiaro Bypass, which will be built to motorway standard and will start construction in mid-2027.

History

Remnants of early roads to the north of Brisbane

Roads to the north of Brisbane in the early days of settlement were constrained by the need to use reliable low level crossings of rivers and creeks well upstream from the coast.[citation needed]

South Pine Road runs from Enoggera Road at Alderley through Everton Park to Everton Hills, crossing Kedron Brook.

Bunya Road runs from South Pine Road at Everton Hills to Eatons Crossing Road at Draper, after crossing the South Pine River at Drapers Crossing (a fordable crossing).[citation needed]

Old Northern Road runs from South Pine Road at Everton Park to another South Pine Road at Albany Creek. Eatons Crossing Road runs from this road (north of the South Pine River) to Draper. This South Pine Road continues north over the South Pine River via Cash's Crossing and thence to Gympie Road at Strathpine.

Old North Road links this South Pine Road at Brendale to Youngs Crossing Road at Bray Park. Youngs Crossing Road continues to Dayboro Road at Petrie after crossing the North Pine River. Further upstream, Whiteside Road (now submerged by Lake Samsonvale) provided a fordable crossing at Quinn's Crossing when water level was too high at Youngs Crossing.[citation needed]

Further north, another segment of Old North Road starts at Caboolture River Road in Upper Caboolture, crosses the Caboolture River at Zillmans Crossing and proceeds to Wamuran.

Early roads from the North Pine River crossing to the Caboolture River crossing may have included parts of:[citation needed]

• Narangba Road from Anzac Avenue in Kallangur to Narangba, where it becomes (after a short distance as Main Street) Oakey Flat Road, to Morayfield Road at Morayfield.
• Burpengary Road from Boundary Road at Dakabin to Burpengary, where it becomes Station Road. From Station Road the direct route to Morayfield follows Obrien Road and Lindsay Road.
• Old Gympie Road from Anzac Avenue in Kallangur to Morayfield Road at Burpengary.
• Caboolture River Road from Morayfield Road at Morayfield to Old North Road at Upper Caboolture.

The Oakey Flat Road route avoids the crossing of Burpengary Creek on Obrien Road at Burpengary. From Oakey Flat Road at Morayfield a route consisting of Williamson Road, Forest Hills Drive, Haywood Road and Moorina Road runs to Caboolture River Road at Upper Caboolture, avoiding the crossing of Sheep Station Creek on Morayfield Road at Morayfield.[citation needed]

Early roads from Caboolture (after travelling east from Wamuran) to Landsborough and then to the Bruce Highway at Palmview may have included parts of:[citation needed]

• Another segment of Old Gympie Road from Caboolture to Landsborough.
• Beerburrum Road from Caboolture to Beerburrum, where it joins the Steve Irwin Way to Landsborough and Palmview.

Tom Petrie’s roads

Murrumba Homestead Grounds

The following quotations are from the Murrumba Homestead Grounds article.

• "To facilitate his timber operations Tom Petrie marked out several early northern roads, including a track between the Pine River and Bald Hills and a trail from Murrumba to Maroochydore, which later became the Gympie Road. He also blazed a track from North Pine to Humpybong (Redcliffe)."
• "In 1869 Cobb & Co opened a coach route from Brisbane to Gympie via the route Tom had helped mark out."

Anzac Avenue

Anzac Avenue is part of the history of the Bruce Highway as the highway followed it from Petrie to Rothwell for many years prior to the construction of its present alignment.[citation needed]

The following quotation is from the Anzac Avenue article.

• "A road from Bald Hills to Redcliffe was formed by the early 1860s, but by 1864 this was almost impassable. Tom Petrie marked a track from the Hays Inlet crossing and in the early 1870s assisted in surveying the road. Known as the "Brisbane Road" it became the primary way of accessing the Redcliffe Peninsula by road."

Upgrades

One of the most dramatic deviations of the highway was the Bald Hills to Burpengary Deviation. Beginning construction in 1972, the new route stretched from Roghan Road at Bald Hills to Deception Bay Road at Burpengary. Construction took place across four stages, the last of which was opened on 10 November 1977.

Due to the nature of wet weather and tropical cyclone prone areas of North Queensland, the highway is prone to frequent flooding in a number of places. Following the catastrophic Queensland floods in 2010–2011 the Australian Government commissioned a feasibility study on flood-proofing the highway.

Numerous stretches of the highway are set to undergo redevelopment, realignment, flood-proofing and extension of dual carriageway sections. Former Premier Anna Bligh announced the plans while launching the Queensland Infrastructure Plan (Now (A part of) known as Building Our Future, it includes all Transport Infrastructure Projects Nation-wide). The works are expected to total A$2 billion and include 77 projects over a period of two decades. As of December 2020, 23 major projects had been completed under the program including the delivery of 64 bridges, 30 new rest stops, 300km safer roadsides, and 190km wide centre line treatments.

To improve flood immunity of the highway south of Childers, a new and improved road alignment and a higher bridge over the Isis River were completed in September 2011.

Between the Gateway Motorway and Caboolture, the highway has been widened to eight and six lanes since 2001, including the Dohles Rocks Road to Boundary Road section in October 2004, the Boundary Road to Uhlmann Road section in March 2007, and the latest section Uhlmann Road to Bribie Island Road in November 2009. Extension of the six lane section to Steve Irwin Way is proposed to commence in 2020.[citation needed]

A new interchange has been built at the notorious intersection of Roys Road at Beerwah. It also connects to the nearby Bells Creek Road, eliminating another dangerous intersection.

The Nambour-Bli Bli Road interchange was upgraded in 1997 from a half-diamond to a dumbbell. The old interchange had lasted just 7 years. Later on, the entire Nambour Bypass went through a process of rehabilitation due to the extremely rough surface and dangerous pothole appearances during wet weather. This work was completed in 2009.[citation needed]

As of 2020 Sections A, B & C of the joint State and Federal funded 61 kilometres (38mi) Cooroy to Curra upgrade of the highway are open. The final part of the upgrade, Section D, which provides a motorway-standard bypass of Gympie, opened in October 2024.

In January 2025, the Australian prime minister announced that the Bruce Highway would get AU$7.2 billion dollars funding from the Australian Government. This funding is meant to upgrade failing sections of the highway between Mackay and Bowen, notably around the very flood prone section south of Proserpine known as Goorganga Plains. This section is earmarked for an elevated carriageway similar to what was built at the Yeppen Floodplain near Rockhampton. The Goorganga Plains section can be closed for days resulting in huge economic loss for the state of Queensland.

Major upgrades: Bald Hills to Cooroy

Major upgrades: Cooroy to Rockhampton

Major upgrades: Rockhampton to Townsville

Major upgrades: Townsville to Cairns

Projects

Northern Australian Beef Roads Upgrade

The Northern Australia Beef Roads Program announced in 2016 included the following project:

Road train access to Rockhampton (stage 2)

The project for upgrading between Gracemere saleyards and the Rockhampton abattoirs to provide access for Type 1 Road Trains was completed by early 2021 at a total cost of $30 million. It involved about 29 kilometres (18mi) of road improvements on four roads:

• Capricorn Highway – from Saleyards Road at Gracemere to the Bruce Highway roundabout at Rockhampton (7.7 kilometres (4.8mi)).
• Bruce Highway – from the Capricorn Highway roundabout to the Yaamba Road intersection (8.3 kilometres (5.2mi)).
• Rockhampton–Yeppoon Road – from the Bruce Highway intersection south-west to the Emu Park Road intersection (2.4 kilometres (1.5mi).
• Rockhampton–Emu Park Road – from the Rockhampton–Yeppoon Road intersection to St Christophers Chapel Road at Nerimbera (10.2 kilometres (6.3mi)).

Highway towns

Travelling north, the following towns and small cities are found on (or very close to) the Bruce Highway.

Major intersections

M1

To avoid unnecessary length this table does not show any bridges (see River crossings below)

A1

To avoid unnecessary length this table does not show any bridges (see River crossings below)

Route of former Bruce Highway through Townsville

The former Bruce Highway diverts from the A1 at the Annandale, Douglas, Mount Stuart tripoint (1,331 kilometres (827mi) from start – see Major intersections – A1) and rejoins at the Deeragun / Mount Low boundary (1,350 kilometres (840mi) from start) It runs north as University Road, crossing the Ross River via the Charles N Barton Bridge and continuing north as Nathan Street. It crosses Ross River Road (State Route 72) and Dalrymple Road, continuing north as Duckworth Street. It then turns west into Woolcock Street, crossing Louisa Creek and the Bohle River before turning north-west to rejoin the A1 after crossing Saunders Creek and Stony Creek. Total distance is 17 kilometres (11mi), compared to almost 19 kilometres (12mi) on the A1.[citation needed]

River crossings

This diagram shows the crossings of all named rivers by the Bruce Highway.

Queensland Electric Super Highway

To facilitate the use of electric vehicles the Queensland Government has installed fast chargers in convenient, safe locations close to major highways where there are existing amenities such as cafes, restaurants and shops. This network is collectively described as the Queensland Electric Super Highway. For a limited time charging electric vehicles at these stations will be free. The majority of these are along the Bruce Highway, at the locations listed below (from south to north):

• Cooroy
• Maryborough
• Gin Gin
• Childers
• Miriam Vale
• Mt Larcom
• Rockhampton
• Marlborough
• Carmila
• Mackay
• Proserpine
• Bowen
• Ayr
• Townsville
• Cardwell
• Tully
• Cairns

Other locations are:

• Hamilton
• Helensvale
• Coolangatta
• Springfield
• Gatton
• Toowoomba

Precise locations

Only three of the charging stations are on the highway. They are at Cardwell, Marlborough and Carmila (Puma Service Stations) The others are some distance from the highway in car parks or other places as listed in the reference. Note that the reference does not include the precise location of the Townsville charging station.

Distances

The greatest distance between charging stations used to be about 216km from Townsville to Tully. Other stages greater than 150km (which may have exceeded the range of some electric vehicles) were:

• Childers to Miriam Vale (about 155km)
• Miriam Vale to Rockhampton (about 170km)
• Mackay to Bowen (about 191km)
• Bowen to Townsville (about 202km)

Phase 2

The distance issues described above have been alleviated with phase 2 of the project which added more charging stations, for example at Gin Gin, Mt Larcom, Proserpine and Ayr.

Phase 3

The network has been extended to the west, encompassing locations from the east coast to and between Cummamulla, Cloncurry, Longreach and Mount Isa.

Bruce Highway Advisory Council

In November 2024, the Bruce Highway Advisory Council was re-established.

See also

• Freeways in Australia
• Freeways in Brisbane
• Freeways in Sunshine Coast
• Highways in Australia
• List of highways in Queensland
• Michael 'Tarzan' Fomenko (c.1930–2018), an eccentric Australian bushman, who for many decades was a familiar site walking along the highway in various parts of north Queensland

External links