Federal Bruce Highway funding reaches $6.5 billion as Sunshine Coast sections progress

The federal government's cumulative investment in the Bruce Highway has reached $6.5 billion under the current 10-year Bruce Highway Trust program, with the Caloundra-to-Sunshine-Coast Motorway interchange upgrade — one of the highest priority projects for the Sunshine Coast's growing commuter population — having begun construction this month.

The interchange upgrade, a $285 million project, will transform the current at-grade intersection at Caloundra Road and the Bruce Highway into a grade-separated interchange with dedicated turn movements for northbound and southbound Bruce Highway traffic as well as the increasing volume using the Sunshine Coast Motorway to access the Maroochydore CBD growth corridor. Travel times through the interchange at peak periods are currently 12-18 minutes and are projected to be reduced to 2-3 minutes when the upgrade is complete.

Federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King said the Caloundra interchange was among the three highest-priority projects identified by the Sunshine Coast community in every Bruce Highway consultation the department had conducted. "The people of the Sunshine Coast have been asking for this for fifteen years. We are building it," she said.

The broader Bruce Highway investment is delivering safety improvements — wider shoulders, floodway upgrades, and overtaking lanes — across the entire 1,700-kilometre corridor from Brisbane to Cairns. The Sunshine Coast sections between Beerwah and Yandina are among those scheduled for shoulder sealing and median barrier works in the next financial year's construction program.

Queensland's transport department has committed its own contribution of $95 million to the interchange project, consistent with the 80-20 Commonwealth-state funding split that applies across the Bruce Highway program.

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