Main Roads paves way for smoother, safer Leichhardt Highway

Main Roads work crews have finished sealing and widening the shoulders of a 12km section of the Leichhardt Highway, north of Taroom, on time and under budget.

The sealing work is part of the $2 million Targeted Road Safety Initiative program for the Leichhardt Highway, which complements a $5 million widening upgrade to be carried out in the next two years.

Main Roads Minister Warren Pitt said the project would provide important safety benefits for motorists and the freight industry.

"Work can now start on a section of the Leichhardt Highway north of Miles, near Guluguba, that will involve more shoulder widening, as well as upgrading signage, improving linemarking and visibility, and providing more pullover areas," Mr Pitt said.

"The cost savings from the Taroom project will also allow for an extra 4km of shoulders to be widened near Guluguba."

Mr Pitt said the upgrade would deliver real benefits to industry, especially with the future development of coal-gas seam deposits in the Bowen and Surat basins.

"The road forms part of a route for over-dimensional vehicles such as Type 1 road trains, which primarily transport equipment to the coal mines of Central Queensland,” he said.

"The highway is also an important tourist route and forms part of a north-south intrastate route linking central and northern Queensland with southern states."

Media contact: Minister Pitt’s Office 3227 8819