Finally! Work to start on Youngs Crossing bridge

Work will start on a long-awaited new $86 million four-lane bridge and road at Youngs Crossing next week after an official sod turning ceremony this morning.

Mayor Peter Flannery, Federal Member for Dickson Ali France, Labor Senator for Queensland Corinne Mulholland, Councillors Cath Tonks and Jim Moloney, principal contractor Seymour Whyte and design contractor HDR were onsite to celebrate the milestone.

Mayor Flannery said it was exciting to see the work start after “many decades of the community putting up with this WWII culvert” as a method to cross the Pine River.

He said, during the past 10 years, the crossing had been closed on average 12 days each year due to flooding or dam releases.

“In the last year alone, it has been closed for 14 days. It has a significant impact on the community,” he said.

Mayor Flannery thanked the Federal and State Governments for their funding contributions to make the upgrade happen – $51.6 million Federal and $15 million State.

He said it demonstrated how three levels of government could come together to “solve a huge problem”.

“It’s one, that as a local council, we couldn’t solve on our own,” Mayor Flannery said.

For generations, heavy rain and water flows into the North Pine River and Sideling Creek have led to the closure of Youngs Crossing Rd, causing delays, congestion on surrounding roads and economic impacts.

The road is used by more than 20,000 vehicles a day.

“This highly anticipated upgrade is one of the most extensive road infrastructure projects to be delivered by Council, with other improvements including new pedestrian, cycling and safety features,” Mayor Flannery said.

“I’m pleased that our Council has been able to pull this project out of the ‘too hard basket’ where it has been stuck for decades.”

Upgrade timeline

The upgrade is expected to be completed in 2027, subject to weather, but the Mayor is committed to seeing it delivered during that calendar year.

In the meantime, there will be impacts on traffic flow which council and the contractor aim to keep at a minimum.

“A lot of works, we’ll try to carry out during the night so it doesn’t have that impact on traffic movements,” Mayor Flannery said.

“Wherever possible we’ll try to do that but there will be some impacts during the day … we’ll try to limit that and still allow some traffic movement through here wherever possible.

“There will be an impact, we appreciate that, but we’ll try to limit that impact as much as possible.”

Mayor Flannery said council would also carefully manage impact on the environment.

“There’s some beautiful trees behind me and we’ve asked to try to protect as many of them as possible. It is a four-lane bridge and it’s going to have pedestrian and cycleway access on it as well, so it is a significant footprint,” he said.

“We (will) put the road up on piers to decrease the impact on the waterway and environment. We’re doing everything we can to try to reduce that impact. There will be some impact.”

He said the new bridge and “koala protection areas” would make it safer for koalas in the area, which are presently being hit by cars on the road and crossing.

Welcome upgrade

Federal Member for Dickson Ali France said she knew how much sudden road closures due to rain affected the community.

“This significant road update will help people in Dickson get home faster, so they can spend more time with their families and less time on the road. This project will be felt for generations to come,” Ms France said.

“In 2024, the Albanese Government announced it would commit an additional $18.9 million towards the project, bringing our total commitment to $51.6 million and demonstrating our support for this critical project.”

State Transport and Main Roads Minister Brent Mickelberg said the State Government was supporting the project by providing $15 million towards the enhancement on and around Dayboro Rd.

“We’re committed to delivering the vital transport infrastructure communities across our State need to ensure safety, reliability, and connectivity,” he said.

“Part of the upgrade includes improvements to the Dayboro Rd intersection, which includes boosting its turning capacities, additional lanes, new cyclist and pedestrian facilities and safety improvements.”

Senator Corinne Mulholland said it was great to see the project coming to fruition.

“It is fantastic work will soon kick off on this much-needed upgrade for the community who have experienced frequent closures of this vital crossing for years. It’s a project the Australian Government is proud to support,” she said.

Councillor Jim Moloney (Div 8) said: “This is an exciting day. I know locals will be pleased to see construction begin after many years of waiting for a more flood-resilient crossing over the North Pine River”.

Councillor Cath Tonks (Div 9) said: “It’s great to see work crews and equipment on site for this long-awaited upgrade, which is crucial to improve road safety and capacity. Having lived locally my whole life it is an exciting time - there will be some disruptions while work is happening, so I urge locals to please be patient”.

Mayor Flannery urged residents and road users to register for project updates.

For the latest on the project, visit www.moretonbay.qld.gov.au/youngs-crossing and register via the ’Stay Connected’ link.