The Darling Downs and South West Queensland region has received $820 million in federal infrastructure commitments across the current Commonwealth budget cycle, spanning the Inland Rail program, the Warrego Highway upgrade, the Cunningham Highway safety improvements, and the mobile blackspot and broadband connectivity programs that are extending digital infrastructure to the region's dispersed agricultural communities.
Federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King confirmed the investment during a visit to Toowoomba, where she inspected the Inland Rail construction site at the Coolangatta terminal and announced the next stage of the Warrego Highway duplication between Toowoomba and Dalby. "The Darling Downs feeds Australia and the world. The least we can do is give it world-class transport infrastructure," she said.
The Warrego Highway duplication, the highest priority road project for the Toowoomba Regional Council and the Darling Downs agricultural industry, will add a second carriageway between Withcott and Oakey, eliminating one of the most dangerous passing sections on the corridor. Head-on collisions on the existing two-lane section have claimed lives at a rate that consistently ranks it among Queensland's most dangerous regional roads.
The mobile blackspot round covering the Darling Downs has committed $38 million to fund 64 new mobile network base stations, addressing coverage gaps that have created safety risks for farm workers in isolated locations and constrained the adoption of digital precision agriculture tools that require mobile connectivity to operate. The combined coverage improvement will reach an estimated 850 farm and rural residential properties.
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