- The 41-kilometer infrastructure concession is for 25 years.
- This is the largest road project ever completed in the state of Queensland.
- Improves traffic conditions by reducing the circulation of heavy vehicles through the city center.
Ferrovial, via subsidiary Cintra Infrastructure and in a consortium with Plenary Group and Acciona Concessions, has cut the tape on the final stretch of the Toowomba Second Range Crossing, in the Australian state of Queensland. The project, which represents an investment of over 1.6 billion Australian dollars (1.1 billion euros), is now open to traffic.
Attending the inauguration ceremony were the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development, Michael McCormack, and the Queensland Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey. Mr. McCormack said the Toowoomba bypass forms “a strategic link within Australia’s National Freight Network ”, while Mr. Bailey highlighted the project’s contribution to relieve pressure on Toowoomba’s roads and to the economy of the region.
In July 2015, the Nexus consortium, comprising Cintra, Plenary and Acciona, was chosen to design, finance, operate and maintain the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing, the largest road projects ever implemented in the state of Queensland. Financial completion of the project was attained in August of that year. Ferrovial Agroman and Acciona Infrastructure were in charge of designing and building the project. Broadspectrum will take charge of operation and maintenance.
The 41-kilometer bypass will improve traffic conditions in the region by reducing the heavy goods vehicle traffic that currently crosses the center of town. The concession has a duration of 25 years. The first section of the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing was opened in December last year. This toll road crosses the Great Dividing Range, a mountain range that runs roughly parallel to east coast of Australia over a distance of 3,700 km. Users of the Second Range Crossing will cover the 500-meter difference in altitude between connection roads on slopes with gradients of no more than 6.5%, avoiding the steeper 10% gradients and the 18 traffic lights in the existing road, which passes through the town center.
This was the first road concession contract awarded to Ferrovial in Australia. Ferrovial, through subsidiary Cintra, is one of the world’s leading private sector developers of transport infrastructure, in terms of the number of projects and the volume of investment. It currently manages over 1,468 kilometers of toll roads in 24 concessions in Canada, the US, Europe, Australia and Colombia.
