The Queensland Inland Freight Route is a proposal to upgrade the almost 1,200 kilometres of highway from Charters Towers in central-northern Queensland to Mungindi on the Queensland-NSW border.
The project aims to offer an alternative route to the Bruce Highway through upgrades to the existing corridor via the Gregory, Dawson and Carnavon Highways. The project is likely to involve a range of upgrades to the inland highways to improve efficiency, capacity, resilience and safety.
Works are likely to include pavement strenghtening, road widening, new alignments, overtaking lanes, and new or upgraded bridges to suit larger vehicle combinations, among other works.
Key Dates
| Oct 2020 | Project Announcement |
Funding contributions
| Federal Government | |
| Queensland Government | |
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In its 2021-22 Budget, the Queensland Government indicated that its $200 million allocation from its FY2020-21 budget has in part been deferred beyond the forward estimates, with $100 million allocated to a future priorities funding commitment. |
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Procurement
| Procuring Agency: | Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads |
PROJECT HISTORY
| Oct 2020 | This project was announced by the Queenland Labor Government during the 2020 Queensland State Election campaign. |
| Dec 2020 | The 2020-21 Queensland Budget committed $200 million towards the expected $1 billion capital cost of a the proposed inland freight rotue. This funding was not expected to commence until FY2022-23 at the earliest. |
| May 2021 | The Federal Government announced $400 million for Queensland Inland Freight Route in the 2021-22 Federal Budget. In announcing the project in October 2020, Queensland Government was seeking $800 million from the Federal Government, to achieve an 80:20 split. |
| Jun 2021 | The Queensland Government deferred half of its $200 million allocation in its FY2020-21 Budget to a future priorities funding commitment outside of the forward estimates. |
| Mar 2022 | The 2022-23 Federal Budget allocated $400 million to the project over four years. |
| Jun 2022 | The 2022-23 Queensland Transport and Roads Investment Program (QTRIP) confirmed the Federal Government will commit $800 million to the project, with the Queensland Government committing the remaining $200 million for the project. The QTRIP profiled $170 million in capital expenditure over the next four years, with the remaining $830 million outside the forward estimates. |
| Nov 2023 | The Queensland Government announced it had awarded the $107 million early works contract for the project. |
| May 2024 | The 2024-25 Federal Budget announced that, following the completion of additional planning, $720 million will be released for the construction of the Inland Freight Route in Queensland. |
