Bruce Highway
The Bruce Highway is a major highway in Queensland, Australia. Commencing in the state capital, Brisbane, it passes through areas close to the eastern coast on its way to Cairns in Far North Queensland. The route is part of the Australian National Highway and also part of Highway 1, the longest highway route in Australia. Its length is approximately ; it is entirely sealed with bitumen. The highway is named after a popular former Queensland and federal politician, Harry Bruce. Bruce was the state Minister for Works in the mid-1930s when the highway was named after him. The highway once passed through Brisbane, but was truncated at Bald Hills when the Gateway Motorway became National Highway 1 upon its opening in December 1986.
It was previously known as the Great North Coast Road, being renamed as the Bruce Highway in 1934 after the state's Minister for Public Works, Henry Bruce.
The highway is the biggest traffic carrier in Queensland. It initially joined all the major coastal centres; however, a number of bypasses, particularly in the south, have diverted traffic around these cities to expedite traffic flow and ease urban congestion. As a result, the highway is constantly being shortened. The road is a dual carriageway from Brisbane to Curra, north of Gympie, many of these upgrades being completed in the 1980s and 1990s.
The highway commences just south of the bridge over the Pine River at the Gateway Motorway interchange, north of the Brisbane central business district. The highway has changed its route numbering from National Highway 1 to the M1 or A1.
Major cities along the route include Gympie, Maryborough, Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville, and Cairns. The highway passes the Glasshouse Mountains, rainforests and pastures in the Sunshine Coast, the Gunalda Range, Mount Larcom, and the arid countryside north of Rockhampton; after that, it passes through land predominantly used for sugar cane, crop growing and dairy farms and the sub-tropics and tropics.
In November 2024, the Bruce Highway Advisory Council was re-established.
In January 2025, the Australian prime minister announced that the Bruce Highway would get AU$7.2 billion dollars funding from the Australian Government. This funding is meant to upgrade failing sections of the highway between Mackay and Bowen, notably around the very flood prone section south of Proserpine known as Goorganga Plains. This section is earmarked for an elevated carriageway similar to what was built at the Yeppen Floodplain near Rockhampton. The Goorganga Plains section can be closed for days resulting in huge economic loss for the state of Queensland.
State-controlled road
The Bruce Highway is a state-controlled road, subdivided into fourteen sections for administrative and funding purposes. All sections are part of the National Highway.The sections are:
- 10A – Brisbane 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 Cairns
Route description
Commencing in Bald Hills at the junction of the Gateway Motorway and Gympie Arterial Road, the Bruce Highway is a motorway standard road for its first to Curra, where it becomes a two-lane sealed highway for most of its remainder. The first to the Dohles Rocks Road interchange has eight lanes and a variable speed limit of up to. The next to the Caboolture / Bribie Island interchange has six lanes and a maximum speed limit of. From there to Curra the road has four lanes and a speed limit of.Brisbane to Rockhampton
Bald Hills to Caboolture
This section of the Bruce Highway crosses the Pine River into the City of Moreton Bay, passing through mainly urban areas before crossing the Caboolture River and reaching the Caboolture / Bribie Island interchange after. It runs past or through Murrumba Downs, Griffin, Kallangur, Mango Hill, North Lakes, Dakabin, Narangba, Burpengary and Morayfield. On the way it is crossed by the Redcliffe Peninsula railway line and passes the Caboolture BP Travel Centre.Caboolture to Caloundra
The Caboolture / Bribie Island interchange also provides access to the D'Aguilar Highway via a service road. After the D'Aguilar Highway interchange the Bruce passes through mainly rural areas and the Beerburrum and Beerwah State Forests, entering the Sunshine Coast Region before reaching the Caloundra Road interchange after a further. It passes the southern entry to Steve Irwin Way, a bypassed section of the highway, which provides access to Beerburrum, Glass House Mountains, Beerwah, Australia Zoo and Landsborough before terminating at the Caloundra Road interchange.The Caloundra Road Interchange is also Australia's first Diverging diamond interchange.
Caloundra to Noosa
The next to the Sunshine Motorway interchange, providing access to the Sunshine Coast, widens to 3 lanes in either direction. It then narrows back to 2 lanes. After another the Maroochydore Road interchange provides access to Maroochydore and Woombye. The Bli Bli Road interchange, after a further, provides access to Bli Bli and Nambour. The Yandina–Coolum Road interchange, after, provides access to Yandina and Coolum. The Eumundi interchange, after, provides access to Eumundi and Noosa. The Cooroy interchange, after, provides access to Cooroy, Tewantin and Noosa. Total distance from Caloundra Road to this interchange is.Noosa to Gympie
The to the end of the M1 at Kybong includes three interchanges that provide access to the Old Bruce Highway. From Kybong the highway is designated A1. It has numerous parts with lower speed limits, including urban areas, high crash zones and roadwork sites. After from Kybong the Mary Valley Road interchange provides access to the west of the Mary River. The highway then passes through the Gympie urban fringe, with several at grade intersections providing access to various parts of the city. North of Gympie, from the Mary Valley Road interchange, the Wide Bay Highway interchange is reached, providing access to Kilkivan. Total distance from the Cooroy interchange is.Gympie to Maryborough
The from the Wide Bay Highway interchange to the Maryborough–Biggenden Road interchange at Maryborough passes through Tiaro and the Gympie Road exit to Maryborough before crossing the Mary River.Maryborough to Rockhampton
The highway maintains a speed limit of 100 occasionally slowing down to 60 or 50 while driving through several small towns including Childers, Gin Gin, Miriam Vale and Mount Larcom before reaching Rockhampton.Development of the M1
With the completion of Section C of the Bruce Highway – Cooroy to Curra upgrade project in February 2018 the M1 has now been extended to Kybong, south of Gympie. The Bruce Highway from Kybong to Gympie remains signed as A1. Section D of the project will, when completed in 2024, become the next stage of the M1.While the references use Woondum as a designator for sections of the project the new intersection that marks the end of the M1 is wholly within the locality of Kybong, although bordered on two sides by Woondum.
History
Remnants of early roads to the north of Brisbane
Roads to the north of Brisbane in the early days of settlement were constrained by the need to use reliable low level crossings of rivers and creeks well upstream from the coast.South Pine Road runs from Enoggera Road at Alderley through Everton Park to Everton Hills, crossing Kedron Brook.
Bunya Road runs from South Pine Road at Everton Hills to Eatons Crossing Road at Draper, after crossing the South Pine River at Drapers Crossing.
Old Northern Road runs from South Pine Road at Everton Park to another South Pine Road at Albany Creek. Eatons Crossing Road runs from this road to Draper. This South Pine Road continues north over the South Pine River via Cash's Crossing and thence to Gympie Road at Strathpine.
Old North Road links this South Pine Road at Brendale to Youngs Crossing Road at Bray Park. Youngs Crossing Road continues to Dayboro Road at Petrie after crossing the North Pine River.
Further upstream, Whiteside Road provided a fordable crossing at Quinn's Crossing when water level was too high at Youngs Crossing.
Further north, another segment of Old North Road starts at Caboolture River Road in Upper Caboolture, crosses the Caboolture River at Zillmans Crossing and proceeds to Wamuran.
Early roads from the North Pine River crossing to the Caboolture River crossing may have included parts of:
- Narangba Road from Anzac Avenue in Kallangur to Narangba, where it becomes Oakey Flat Road, to Morayfield Road at Morayfield.
- Burpengary Road from Boundary Road at Dakabin to Burpengary, where it becomes Station Road. From Station Road the direct route to Morayfield follows Obrien Road and Lindsay Road.
- Old Gympie Road from Anzac Avenue in Kallangur to Morayfield Road at Burpengary.
- Caboolture River Road from Morayfield Road at Morayfield to Old North Road at Upper Caboolture.
Early roads from Caboolture to Landsborough and then to the Bruce Highway at Palmview may have included parts of:
- Another segment of Old Gympie Road from Caboolture to Landsborough.
- Beerburrum Road from Caboolture to Beerburrum, where it joins the Steve Irwin Way to Landsborough and Palmview.