Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to inform the House that this week will mark another important milestone in a significant project on the Bruce Highway in Central Queensland. On Thursday 15 October traffic will for the first time begin using the completed sections of the $170 million Yeppen South floodplain upgrade on the outskirts of Rockhampton. The project is expected to be officially commissioned in late November and has been largely funded thanks to a $136 million federal government contribution. At a federal level, the coalition's lion's share towards the stage 2 Yeppen South project was one of my major election promises.

I am pleased to say that it has been delivered well under the original estimated cost. In doing that, the federal coalition government has helped to successfully deliver a game changer to Rockhampton and to the state's economy. By redeveloping this section of the highway we have doubled the capacity of the road south of Rockhampton, reducing travel times for freight operators and other drivers. This section is now home to the longest bridge on the Bruce Highway in Queensland—a huge advantage in wet weather. The project has been constructed to remain open to traffic and the state's freight sector in a one-in-100-year flood event.

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