The $85 million road project crossing the Yeppen Lagoon at the southern entrance to Rockhampton – jointly funded by the Gillard and Bligh Labor Governments – is on track and close to being shovel-ready.
Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese said the project will upgrade the Yeppen roundabout, build a new higher bridge across the Lagoon, significantly upgrade the intersection between Upper Dawson Road and Jellicoe Street and make changes to the Port Curtis Road intersection.
“This important project will improve safety and driving conditions for the 22,000 vehicles which pass through the Yeppen Roundabout each and every day,” said Mr Albanese.
“What is proposed will result in a significant upgrade between the Yeppen Roundabout and Port Curtis Road.”
Premier Anna Bligh, whose Government is providing the remaining $17 million for the project, said the project was an example of the massive infrastructure effort taking place across Queensland.
"This is an example of our massive building effort and also an example of how we are building back better making us more resilient from natural disasters in the future," said Ms Bligh.
Queensland Main Roads Minister Craig Wallace said locals will be pleased with the fact construction work on the project is expected to commence in coming months.
"The project details are not a pie-in-the-sky proposal; they are real and deliverable thanks to more than 12 months of intense work by Transport and Main Roads and engineering consultancy AECOM,” said Mr Wallace.
"This is an example of not only the effort going into rebuilding infrastructure around the state but also our commitment to provide new infrastructure for our growing state.
"We have the designs ready to build and we are seeking tenders until 9 February from companies interested in constructing this much-anticipated project.
"All going to plan, the new bridge, roundabout and intersection upgrades will be delivered and open to traffic in early 2014”
The scope of work includes:

• New slip lane for traffic entering Rockhampton from Gracemere thereby avoiding congestion and delays at the roundabout.


• Speed reduction curves at all roundabout approaches to reduce the likelihood of accidents and heavy vehicle roll-over.


• Expansion of the roundabout to two lanes between the Yeppen Bridge entry and Capricorn Highway exit to increase capacity and reduce travel times.


• A new 420m Yeppen Bridge downstream of the existing low-level structure.


• Both lanes of the existing bridge will be dedicated for northbound traffic.


• Upper Dawson Road and Jellicoe Street intersection upgraded to traffic signals and expanded to cater for over-dimensional loads and pedestrians.


• Reconfiguration of Port Curtis Road intersection to be left-in-left-out to directly address safety and visibility concerns at this location.

Further information about the Yeppen Crossing go to: www.tmr.qld.gov.au.
Tender information: https://secure.publicworks.qld.gov.au/etender/index.do.