Enraged at Easter: Council, motorists see red on Bruce Highway

Published 07 April 2026

• The Bruce Highway in Moreton Bay has been akin to a car park for most of the Easter weekend, with extremely heavy congestion clogging the key arterial
• Motorists spent much of the holiday period seeing red lines on navigation maps indicating traffic gridlock
• To alleviate congestion, Council is calling on the State and Federal Governments to hop to it and get cracking on delivering the Bruce Highway Western Alternative

City of Moreton Bay has been seeing red this Easter – and so have thousands of motorists – on the Bruce Highway.

Motorists kept seeing red lines on navigation maps indicating traffic gridlock on the stretch of highway through Moreton Bay, while Council is seeing red over how long it is taking to tackle the congestion.

“We are all sick of seeing red,” Mayor Peter Flannery said.

“We’re frustrated that motorists keep seeing red lines on their sat navs when they drive on the Bruce Highway in Moreton Bay and red lights from the long line of vehicles ahead.

“The level of congestion over the Easter long weekend isn’t an isolated occurrence – every time there is a public holiday, a crash or a breakdown the traffic comes to a complete standstill, and our local roads are flooded with traffic.

“The Bruce is busted, and the current timeline for the Bruce Highway Western Alternative delivery as 2041 is just not sustainable

“Our community – and the rest of SEQ – needed a solution to this traffic yesterday, not in 15 years’ time.

“It’s well and truly beyond time for the State and Federal Governments to get cracking on an expedited 2032 delivery commitment for the Bruce Highway Western Alternative.”

According to map apps over the Easter long weekend, there were extreme delays on the Bruce Highway in City of Moreton Bay.

The Bruce Highway Western Alternative will help ease congestion and unlock housing for 100,000 new residents as it will provide critical connections to growth areas.

Funding to fast-track the project is City of Moreton Bay's number one ask in its budget submissions to both the State and Federal Governments.

The critical piece of infrastructure is also the highest priority project in Council’s City of Tomorrow Advocacy Strategy, a bold agenda to meet the needs of the City’s population which is set to double to 1 million in the next 30 years.

“Without the Bruce Highway Western Alternative, home supply will stall and traffic congestion will get even worse,” Mayor Flannery said.

“Planning stages must be fast-tracked today to prevent greater gridlock during the 2032 Games and ensure access to the Waraba Priority Development Area, west of Caboolture, which will become home to 70,000 people.

“Council and motorists are growing ‘egg-stremely’ frustrated that such an important project – which has been talked about for many years – is taking so long.”