Queensland’s Bruce Highway is a bit like a 1980s family sedan: dated, worn in places, and often more than a little dangerous. But it’s also a necessary part of life for people just trying to get from A to B.
Indeed, the Bruce remains the sunshine state’s most vital road artery. Running 1,700 kilometres along the eastern seaboard, it connects and keeps alive cities and towns between Brisbane and Cairns – a distance farther than Brisbane to Melbourne.
Little wonder, then, that the Bruce Highway perennially features in state and federal election campaigns. In 2020, for example, the Liberal National Party state opposition boldly promised $33 billion – without prior federal agreement – to upgrade the beleaguered Bruce over 15 years.
