Upgraded with funding from both the federal ($55 million) and Queensland ($55 million) governments, the Douglas Arterial forms part of the Townsville Ring Road, whose fourth and final section’s construction is expected to start in early 2014 and should take two years to complete.

Queensland Transport and Main Roads Minister Scott Emerson said the duplication is already delivering safer, quicker and less frustrating driving conditions for the up to 28,000 motorists and truck drivers who use it every day.

“In fact, this upgrade couldn’t come soon enough, with traffic volumes along this 5.3 km section of Townsville’s road network having risen by as much as 8,000 vehicles a day in just the last three years,” Emerson said.

“As well as easing localised congestion, the new, improved Douglas Arterial will also take more trucks off local residential streets and away from the city’s central business district as well as better support the region’s long-term growth.”

Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese was in town last week to commission the newly upgraded road.

He said the Douglas Arterial duplication is only one part of the record $420 million invested in Townsville’s road network through the state’s Nation Building Program, a lot of which has been funded by the new mining tax.

This article first appeared in ILN's sister publication ConstructionIndustryNews.net.