DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT AND MAIN ROADS
In 2014 the 1700km Bruce Highway in Queensland was named as one of the world ’ s most dangerous roads , accounting for a fifth of Australia ’ s road death toll . Just two years later , thanks to a safety program from Queensland ’ s Department of Transport and Main Roads ( TMR ), the number of crashes on this road has continued to drop . Amanda Yeates , General Manager Program Delivery and Operations , explains : “ Two years ago we had 50 deaths and last year this was down to 15 . We carried out some safety work where we moved the centre line further apart on the road , which has reduced the possibility of headon crash impacts .” An impressive achievement that has come as part of the $ 9 billion Bruce Highway upgrade , although this particular improvement wasn ’ t at a high financial cost . Yeates adds : “ I ’ m really proud of the fact our innovation doesn ’ t have to come through massive capital investment . We ’ ve got some very , very clever people who are looking at world best practice and then having the courage to implement those things .”
This is just one of the programs Yeates heads up since being promoted to General Manager in May this year . She is responsible for about $ 4 billion of capital infrastructure expenditure annually , with overall responsibility for the transport network . “ I am responsible for all of the capital upgrades across the transport network , both the road network and the rail network ,” she adds . Aside from the Bruce Highway upgrade , current projects Yeates is delivering include the $ 1.1 billion Moreton Bay Rail Link project – a 12.6km dual-track passenger rail line between Petrie and Kippa- Ring – and the $ 1 billion , 41km Toowoomba Second Range Crossing , that will take heavy vehicle highway traffic around north of Toowoomba rather than through it , as well as the second stage of the Gold Coast Light Rail .
Game plan The light rail stage two , and about
112 November 2016