The Queensland Government have invited construction companies to submit their interest in building the $150 million Walkerston Bypass.

The Walkerston Bypass located in Mackay will be the link to addressing safety, connection and congestion issues on the Peak Downs Highway.

Key features of the project include a new flood-immune bridge over Bakers Creek as well as three overpasses above the local road and cane railway network.

The new bypass is destined to become the designated heavy vehicle route for B-double and other multi-combination vehicles including A-double road trains.

The Walkerston Bypass will complement other major infrastructure projects taking place in the region including the $189 million Eton Range Realignment project and the $497.3 million Mackay Ring Road project.

The bypass will provide a 10.6-kilometre link between the Bruce Highway and the Peak Downs Highway. 2.6-kilometres of the bypass has already been completed as part of the Mackay Ring Road project. The creation of the rest of the 8-kilometres of road is expected to support another 200 local jobs.

Queensland Minister for Transport and Main Roads, Mark Bailey, announced that more road projects are in the pipeline for the Mackay region.

“We’ve also locked in a further $18 million in joint funding for safety upgrades on the Peak Downs Highway between Mackay and Eton as part of the $1 billion Queensland roads stimulus packages announced since April, so we’re pleased more projects are due to come online,” Mr Bailey said.

The federal and state governments will jointly fund the $150 million Walkerston Bypass with the Australian Government committing $120 million and the Queensland Government committing $30 million.

Completion of the Walkerston Bypass is expected by late 2023 with the winning contractor to be awarded by March 2021 and construction starting soon after.

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Sources: The Queensland Cabinet and Ministerial Directory, Department of Transport and Main Roads