Townsville Road and Infrastructure Projects

[Jesse24]

Because the Queensland Government would rather waste time and more money doing it the way they are now. It's a standard procedure for North Queensland.

[Burden]

I agree, Anna Bligh is a fukin mole.

[Jesse24]

The opposition isn't to crash hot either.

[Wezza]

No, we're pretty fucked in Queensland when it comes to goverment & the alternatives. If the coalition had a decent leader, they'd win the next election no worries.

[Gertzy]

For those who have missed it, the Planning and Design phase of the Douglas Arterial has now started and is being fast-tracked so that it will all be completed by June 2009. Construction will start within the next 3-4 years.

[Burden]

Small part of Townsville's Stage two Motorway Development

There you go CrazyKnightsFan, This is just a small part of the overall enormity of stage two, The new extensions are massive..... Well to NQ standards anyway, Here are some pictures I took yesterday of Stage two. I also dont think there going to make the December deadline.

[Burden]

Omg lol at that lady 40 seconds in!

[crazyknightsfan]

Thanks for those pics, Sean - I must have missed them before!

[Burden]

No worries!

[Burden]

Wrap-up of city's major road upgrades.

HERVEYS RANGE RD
STAGE one of the Herveys Range Rd upgrade, from Blackhawk Boulevard to the Bohle River, is scheduled for completion by the end of this year.

Stage one has involved the widening of 1.95km of Herveys Range Rd, from two to four lanes, to enable the road to serve as a major link between the latest stages of the Ring Road and the developing Thuringowa business precinct.

A new roundabout has been constructed at the intersection of Landel Court and St Andrews Close with Herveys Range Rd.

RoadTek and Main Roads are planning to open the newly-upgraded section of Hervey's Range Road from Blackhawk Boulevard to just west of St Andrews Close `very soon'.

Lights have been installed along the medians and the concrete surrounds of the lights are intended for use as refuge areas for pedestrians.

The Ring Road Extension Project began last December and involves widening 0.7km of Herveys Range Rd to four lanes from east of the Bohle River to connect with new on-and-off ramps for the Ring Rd. Two two-lane bridges will be completed south of the existing bridge, which will be converted for use by cyclists and pedestrians.

PORT ACCESS RD
Work on Townsville's $190 million Port Access Rd began in August.

The 2.5km Stuart Bypass section will connect the Flinders and Bruce highways through Stuart, and will include an overpass of the north coast rail line and Brookhouse St, and a new intersection near Burdell and Small streets.

The Stuart section will initially be built as a two-lane road, with room to allow for future widening to four lanes if required.

The bypass will eventually link with the project's 7.5km Eastern Access Corridor which will take highway traffic directly to the port via a new bridge over the Ross River.

The access corridor will start near the tourist information centre at the Bruce Highway, and follow an existing road reserve east of Cluden and Oonoonba.

The corridor will join Benwell Rd to provide access to the port, and the current access through Boundary St will be restricted.

ABBOTT STREET
Works at Oonoonba will include a signalled pedestrian crossing and refuge opposite the Oonoonba Shops, in the same place as the existing pedestrian crossing, to provide a safe way to cross Abbott Street.

A dual right turn lane between McPherson and Shannon streets aims to provide residents with a safe way to access their properties.

There will also be an upgrade to the existing bus stop opposite O'Donnell St to provide a dedicated area for buses to pick up and drop off passengers.

The works are scheduled for completion later this year.

A new road will eventually link with a connection road to be constructed between the Bruce Highway and Oonoonba Rd.

Traffic lights will be installed at the Oonoonba Rd and Lakeside Dr intersection.

RING ROAD
The Ring Rd will be a highway bypass, incorporating the already-completed Douglas Arterial and two new stages at Condon and Shaw Rd, and will be built to motorway standard for a 100km/h speed limit for most of its length.

A 7km section from Riverway Dr to Dalrymple Rd is being constructed for $119 million.

Two overpasses, crossing Beck Drive and Herveys Range Rd, and two bridges, over the Bohle and Little Bohle rivers are part of the project.

The 3.8km Condon section will link the Riverway Drive bridge to new on-and-off ramps from Herveys Range Rd and includes the two Bohle bridges.

The remaining 3.2km of the current stage will extend Shaw Rd, between Herveys Range Rd and Dalrymple Rd.

[Gertzy]

After all that, it looks as if our Ring Road will just be designated the A1, as opposed to M1, then reverting to A1 at Shaws Rd.

[Burden]

Are they still duping the motorway? Or is the focus of attention on the Southern Corridor & Port Access road?

[Wezza]

Originally Posted by Burden

Are they still duping the motorway? Or is the focus of attention on the Southern Corridor & Port Access road?

That is still the plan AFAIK.

[Gertzy]

As Wezza says, it is still the plan, though when it will be done is another story. Work won't start until at least 2011 at the very earliest, though as to whether construction starts in 2011 or 2014 is a different story.

[Burden]

Still think this thread should be renamed, #Road Infrastructure: Townsville (Or something thereabouts). Bellow are some updates for the new Ring Road which should of opened by now.

Anyway this week The study team has selected their Hybrid Alignment (shown below) as their preference to submit to Main Roads. This decision will now be scrutinised during three months of public consultation.

The Hybrid Alignment maintains the bulk of the current Bruce Highway alignment largely unchanged for local access to the corridor and creates a new separate highway and arterial capacity within a new corridor seaward of the existing railway line providing two freeway standard entrances to Rocky Springs and a further interchange to service likely growth in the Whites Plains area.

This alignment is a departure from the original three broad options and provides an extension of thinking around the separate alignment. This alignment allows the current highway to remain largely unchanged to serve local traffic needs (including bicycle, pedestrian and public transport) with the bulk of traffic redirected onto new freeway standard roads.

The initial section of the preferred alignment between the intersection of the Bruce and Flinders Highways and Vantassel Street has previously undergone significant detailed planning and consultation through projects including the:

Townsville Port Access Road
Stuart Bypass
Abbott Street Deviation.
This existing planning has been accepted and integrated into these plans.

Notable features of the ultimate configuration of this section include:

Design capacity of minimum 80,000 vehicle per day (vpd) ultimately with three freeway standard lanes in each direction (six in total).
Ultimate configuration to utilise grade separated interchanges and divided carriageway to allow continuous 100 km/hour operation and a seamless integration into the broader Townsville Ring Road network to provide an unimpeded high speed link through the city of Townsville.
Ultimate redevelopment of the Flinders Highway intersection into a grade separated interchange.
Deviation of the existing Abbott Street to Lakeside Drive link, incorporating grade separated interchanges and roundabouts to service both Fairfield Waters and the Townsville Turf Club.
Overpass of the Queensland Rail tracks at Jurekey Street.
Closure of existing Jurekey Street and Abbott Street intersections with local traffic access via a new roadway linking Lakeside Drive with Racecourse Road and Jurekey Street. Rail and highway crossings ultimately grade separated.
New Bruce Highway alignment closely following current alignment to Hunter Street and beyond, taking into consideration improved flood immunity and greater corner radius.
Closure of current access to Heleen Downs Station and Townsville Enterprise Limited Information Centre with alternate access to be provided via a service road network linking elements of the Townsville State Development Area.
Ultimate grade separated interchange with Townsville Port Access Road.
Closure of current Hunter Street and Zinc Avenue/Vantassel Street intersections with alternate access via a service road network linking elements of the Townsville State Development Area.

Recent Article in Saturdays Townsville Bulletin.

[Burden]

Told ya it sticked out like dog balls! Fuckin huge. Link for December Update.

[Burden]

Few other photos:

[Burden]

Bump. March Update

[Wezza]

Lol @ the how to use the Ring Road.

I guess there are plenty of numpties around.

[Burden]

Its Townsville, what do you expect!