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Bruce Highway (National Highway 1) (Decommissioned)

Statistics:

• Length: 1679 km
• Northern Terminus: Captain Cook Hwy (NR1), Florence St and Sheridan St, Cairns
• Southern Terminus: Gateway Motorway (Metroad 1) and Gympie Arterial Rd (Metroad 3) at Bald Hills
• Suburbs, Towns & Localities Along Route: Bald Hills, Burpengary, Caboolture, Beerwah, Nambour, Eumundi, Cooroy, Gympie, Maryborough, Childers, Gin Gin, Miriam Vale, Benaraby, Mt Larcom, Rockhampton, Sarina, Mackay, Proserpine, Bowen, Ayr, Townsville, Ingham, Cardwell, Tully, Innisfail, Babinda, Gordonvale and Cairns

Route Numbering:

• Current: M1 A1

• Former:
• Road Authority Internal Classification: 10A (Bald Hills to Gympie), 10B (Gympie to Maryborough), 10C (Maryborough to Gin Gin), 10D (Gin Gin to Benaraby), 10E (Benaraby to Rockhampton, 10F (Rockhampton to St Lawrence), 10G (St Lawrence to Mackay), 10H (Mackay to Proserpine), 10J (Proserpine to Bowen), 10K (Bowen to Ayr), 10L (Ayr to Townsville), 10M (Townsville to Ingham), 10N (Ingham to Innisfail), 10P (Innisfail to Portsmith) and 810 (Portsmith to Cairns CBD) 1

General Information:

The Highway 1 corridor is the main coastal route from the NSW border to the northern tip of the east coast of Australia, and links major cities and towns with Brisbane, and beyond the NSW border, Sydney.

Bruce Highway is named after former Minister of Public Works, Henry Bruce and connects Brisbane with all coastal regions north of the city.

The route is freeway standard from the Gateway Motorway interchange to Curra, north of Cooroy. From there, the route alternates between single and dual carriageway, and passes through rural, residential, industrial and commercial areas.

History:

• October 1929: Work starts on Petrie Creek Bridge, Nambour. 2
• November 1929: Maroochy River Bridge, Yandina opened. 3
• October 1934: Bruce Highway named after Minister for Works. 3
• November 1934: Bruce Highway declared. 4
• December 1934: Bruce Highway was officially opened at Glasshouse Mountains. 5 After many years of agitation by the Great North Coast Road Committee, local authorities and the RACQ, the first declaration of the Bruce Highway, between what is now Rothwell and Eumundi was officially opened. 6
• June 1939: Bruce Highway between Nambour and Woombye opens. 8
• May 1940: Original Wallaville Bridge completed. 7
• 1942: By this time, the route was bitumen sealed between Brisbane and Eumundi. 6
• 1957: Landsborough to Mooloolah Connection Road Reconstruction completed (4km). Also now former Isis River Bridge completed. 7
• 1958: Caloundra Road to Sippy Creek Reconstruction completed (3.7km). Mooloolah Connection Road to Caloundra Road Reconstruction completed, including channelised Calounda Road junction (3.2km). 7
• 17 October 1959: South Gympie Deviation (Mary River Road to Excelsior Road) completed and opened, including Normanby Bridge. 7
• 1960: Sippy Creek to Crosby Hill Road Reconstruction including channelised Crosby Hill Road junction completed (2.8km). Yurol Deviation between Yurol State Forest and Skyring Creek commenced. 7
• 1961: Tanawha deviation (old route now Main Creek Road) completed (2.4km). Work began on the Landsborough Bypass. 7
• December 1961: Gordonvale Deviation / Mulgrave River bridge opened. 7
• 1962: Eudlo Creek to Maroochydore Road Reconstruction including Eudlo Creek Bridge and channelised Maroochydore Road junction completed. 7 By this time, the highway was bitumen sealed between Brisbane and Cairns. 6
• June 1962: Construction completed on Landsborough Bypass, which became the first section of limited-access road on the Bruce Highway. 7
• December 1962: Completion of Yurol Deviation. 7
• November 1963: Construction begun on first four lane section with the Maroochy Shire Council region. 9
• 1964: North Gympie Deviation (Monkland Street to Oak Street) completed. 7
• March 1965: Construction of Stage 1 of Caboolture Bypass (Burpengary to Bribie Island Road) commenced. 7
• August 1966: Completion of Stage 1 of Caboolture Bypass. 7
• 1967: Gympie CBD Bypass (between River Road and Monkland Street) completed. 7
• July 1967: Work commenced on a new route across Bellenden Plains / Murray River (near Cardwell). 7
• December 1967: A deviation was completed north of Mount Larcom, which bypassed what is now Gentle Annie Road. Also Ambrose to Raglan Deviation completed. 7
• April 1968: New bridges over St Helens Creek and Waterhole (35km north of Mackay) commenced. 7
• July 1968: Beerburrum to Glasshouse Mountains reconstruction completed. 7
• 28 September 1968: Herbert River bridge at Ingham opened. 7
• December 1968: Completion of new route across Bellenden Plains / Murray River (near Cardwell). 7
• 1969: Glasshouse Mountains to Beerwah reconstruction completed. 7
• January 1969: Stage 2 of Caboolture Bypass (Pumicestone Road to Beerburrum) completed. 7
• 20 December 1969: New bridges over St Helens Creek and Waterhole opened to traffic, replacing crossing built in 1934. 7
• 1972: Work begins on the Bald Hills to Burpengary Deviation. The new route took traffic from Gympie Road at Bald Hills to Uhlmann Road at Burpengary along a much more superior alignment which was also constructed to four lanes. 10
• August 1970: Stage 3 Caboolture Bypass (Bribie Island Road to Pumicestone Road) completed. 7
• April 1970: Work on the Pumicestone Road interchange commenced. 7
• October 1970: Pumicestone Road interchange completed. 7
• 1974: National Route 1 replaced by National Highway as part of the Federal National Highway funding program.
• June 1974: Ramsay Creek bridge works commenced. 7
• August 1974: Ramsay Creek upgrade roadworks commenced. 7
• January 1975: Ramsay Creek bridge completed. 7
• December 1975: Ramsay Creek upgrade work completed. 7
• 1974-1975: Calliope River Bridge was completed. 7
• November 1975: Six Mile Creek bridge works commenced. 7
• April 1976: Work on the Bajool Bypass commenced. 7
• August 1976: 9.5km Bauple Deviation opened. 7
• October 1976: Completion of Six Mile Creek bridge. 7
• May 1977: Bajool Bypass completed. 7
• 10 November 1977: The Bald Hills to Burpengary Deviation was officially opened. 10
• 23 December 1977: 6.2km Bakers Creek Deviation including railway overpass opened by Russ Hinze. 7
• March 1979 3.3km Mackenzie Creek Deviation (just south of Bauple - Woolooga Road) opened. 7
• April 1979: Completion of Mackenzie Creek Deviation. 7
• December 1979: Sandy Creek bridge between Maryborough and Gin Gin opened. 7
• April 1980: 1.8km Mackenzie Creek to Oaky Creek Deviation opened. 7
• October 1981: 2.3km Oaky Creek and Gutchy Creek and overflow bridges and approaches completed. 7
• May 1982: Upgrade work to improve Woombye turn-off from Bruce Highway. 11
• September 1984: O’Connell River Bridge and associated 3.4km-long deviation opened by Minister for Welfare Services G. Muntz. 7
• 5 November 1984: Rollingstone Creek Bridge opened by Russ Hinze. 7
• 9 December 1985: Bruce Highway deviated around the Glass House Mountains region. 12
• 1991: First stage of Babinda Deviation was completed and removed the last one-lane bridge on the highway. 7
• 2005: M1 was extended to take in the Bruce Highway from Bald Hills to Cooroy, replacing National Highway 1.
• March 2008: Work began on the Woodlands to Veales upgrade near Townsville, and included the upgrade of the junction of Bruce Hwy and Veales Rd to a seagull intersection, a new Stoney Creek bridge and the construction of an overpass at Mount Low. 13
• December 2008: Completion of a 15.5 kilometre federally-funded upgrade of the Bruce Highway south of Tully, which included 3 new bridges over Tully River, Tully River Overflow and Murray River. 14
• January 2009: Completion of seagull junction treatment at the Bruce Hwy / Veales Rd intersection near Townsville. 13
• May 2009: Traffic signals at the Bruce Highway/Monkland and Channon Street intersections in Gympie switched on. 15
• July 2009: Works for Cooroy to Curra Upgrade started on Section B. 16
• November 2009: Bridges in the Tully area named: Joe Kinjun /K injufile Bridge, for the new bridge over the Tully River on the Bruce Highway, Euramo Bridge, for the new bridge over the Tully River overflow on the Bruce Highway and Henry Family Bridge, for the new bridge over the Murray River on the Bruce Highway. 14
• April 2011: Work commences on replacing NH1 with A1 between Curra and Gin Gin.
• September 2011: To improve flood immunity of the highway south of Childers, a new and improved road alignment and a higher bridge over the Isis River were completed. 17
• October 2011: Conversion from NH1 to A1 mostly complete between Rockhampton and Cairns.

1 Department of Transport and Main Roads, The State Road Network of Queensland, 30 June 2010
2 Nambour Chronicle, 4 October 1929
3 Nambour Chronicle, 8 November 1929
3 Nambour Chronicle, 26 October 1934
4 Nambour Chronicle, 23 November 1934
5 Nambour Chronicle, 21 December 1934
6 Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, North Coast Roadside Rest Areas
7 Tyler Bullock
8 Nambour Chronicle, 16 June 1939
9 Nambour Chronicle, 8 November 1963
10 Caboolture in the 70s
11 Nambour Chronicle, 20 May 1982
12 Sam Laybutt (Ozroads)
13 Queensland Cabinet and Ministerial Directory, Media Statements, Veales Road Intersection Safety Improvements
14 Queensland Cabinet and Ministeral Directory, Media Statements, New bridge names honour Tully region, 17 November 2009
15 Department of Transport and Main Roads, Main Roads Local Links, In and around Wide Bay/Burnett, May 2009
16 Department of Transport and Main Roads, Projects, Bruce Highway (Cooroy to Curra)

Last updated: 25-Oct-2021 0:13

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