Mackay Ring Road

Infrastructure design and consultancy company AECOM has been selected as the preferred contractor to carry out the detailed design of the A$565m ($433m) Mackay Ring Road Stage I project in Queensland, north-east Australia.

Deputy prime minister and minister for infrastructure and regional development Warren Truss said the works were part of the A$8.5bn ($6.5m) investment in partnership with the Queensland government to fix the Bruce Highway.

"Mackay is one of Queensland’s fastest growing regions and this project will improve the local road network and ease congestion and safety issues," Truss said.

Stage I of the project will involve the construction of a 11.3km two-lane rural highway bypass that will avoid ten signalised intersections from Stockroute Road to Bald Hill Road.

As part of the project, 14 new bridges will also be built, including local road overpasses and major waterway crossings of the Pioneer River and the Fursden Creek floodplain.

"Local residents, businesses and visitors to Mackay will be the beneficiaries of a better, more efficient road network."

Upon completion, the Mackay Ring Road is expected to cut down the amount of heavy vehicles carrying hazardous loads through built-up areas.

The project completion will also improve efficiency, as well as safety on the highway.

Queensland minister for main roads and road safety Mark Bailey said the detailed design phase of the project is expected to take two years to finalise.

"Local residents, businesses and visitors to Mackay will be the beneficiaries of a better, more efficient road network," Bailey said.

"Importantly, this project will generate more than 600 direct jobs for workers at a time when jobs and job security are more important than ever."

Construction for Stage I of the project is expected to begin in 2017 with completion planned to take about two and a half years.

Image: Map of Stage I of Mackay Ring Road. Photo: courtesy of Advanstra via OpenStreetMap.