Mackay Ring Road


The Mackay Ring Road is a bypass route near Mackay, Queensland, Australia The proposed full length of the road is long and will be built in 3 stages. Stage 1 opened in September 2020.
Stage 1 is in length and connects the Bruce Highway to the south of Mackay with the Bruce Highway to the north of Mackay. It includes a new bridge over the Pioneer River and an interchange with the Peak Downs Highway. It provides a bypass of Mackay for Bruce Highway traffic that is immune to flooding and free of signalised intersections. Stage 1 of the project was expected to cost $540 million, 80% of the funding was from the Commonwealth and the remaining 20% from Queensland.
Stage 2 is in length. It will connect Stage 1 near the Bruce Highway at Glenella to Harbour Road at Mackay Harbour. The route will follow the Mackay Harbour Railway.
Stage 3 is in length. An additional connection from Stage 2 to the Port and Slade Point Road.
It was expected that many vehicles would bypass the city once completed.

Construction

Milestones

  • October 2011 – Planning Study commences
  • February 2012 – Analysis and evaluation of alignment options
  • May 2012 – Business Case for preferred alignment commences, community consultations
  • 13 November 2012 – Approval to proceed to design stage
  • January 2014 – Preliminary design phase begins, Initial ground survey and soil testing
  • 2015 – Detailed design work commenced
  • Mid 2017 – Construction of stage 1 commenced
  • 5 September 2020 – Completion of Stage 1 and opening.

    Upgrades

Extend to Bald Hill Road

A project to extend the ring road to Bald Hill Road, at a cost of $497.3 million, was in detailed design in November 2021.

Mackay Port access

A project to provide access to Mackay Port, at a cost of $350 million, was in planning in July 2022,