{"id":368908,"date":"2026-02-02T16:58:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T06:58:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=368908"},"modified":"2026-02-02T16:58:40","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T06:58:40","slug":"bridge-upgrade-moves-closer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/02\/02\/bridge-upgrade-moves-closer\/","title":{"rendered":"Bridge Upgrade Moves Closer"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_368910\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-368910\" style=\"width: 740px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260202backcreek1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-368910\" src=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260202backcreek1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"740\" height=\"460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260202backcreek1.jpg 740w, https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260202backcreek1-300x186.jpg 300w, https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260202backcreek1-269x167.jpg 269w, https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260202backcreek1-285x177.jpg 285w, https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260202backcreek1-340x211.jpg 340w, https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260202backcreek1-263x163.jpg 263w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-368910\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington with other government officials at the Back Creek Bridge (Photo: Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>February 2, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Detailed design work will begin soon for the upgrade of the Back Creek Bridge at Cooyar following the completion of minor safety works at the site.<\/p>\n<p>A State Government statement said technical investigations were now under way, including surveys, soil\u00a0sampling\u00a0and cultural heritage assessments to inform\u00a0the detailed\u00a0design.<\/p>\n<p>Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington said the upgrade would provide two traffic lanes on the bridge, improve the New England Highway and Cooyar\u2013Rangemore Road intersection and upgrade McDougall and Fergus streets (the Cooyar Hotel corner).<\/p>\n<p>The project would also improve heavy-vehicle stopping areas through Cooyar.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cThis project has been a priority for our community for many years, and I have been fighting for this upgrade since 2017. Planning is now complete, and detailed design work is under way so construction can begin,\u201d Mrs Frecklington said.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese works will improve safety, support economic growth and strengthen liveability for locals and freight operators who rely on this key route.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to thank the Minister for Transport and Main Roads, Brent Mickelberg, for travelling the road with me to see firsthand the safety issues that need addressing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Minister Mickelberg said the approach to Back Creek Bridge was well known for rear-end crashes, particularly when drivers failed to give way at the one-way crossing.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Related article: <a href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2025\/08\/26\/lnp-promises-to-upgrade-bridge\/\">LNP Promises To Upgrade Bridge<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_368911\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-368911\" style=\"width: 740px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260202backcreek2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-368911\" src=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260202backcreek2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"740\" height=\"460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260202backcreek2.jpg 740w, https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260202backcreek2-300x186.jpg 300w, https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260202backcreek2-269x167.jpg 269w, https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260202backcreek2-285x177.jpg 285w, https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260202backcreek2-340x211.jpg 340w, https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260202backcreek2-263x163.jpg 263w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-368911\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A B-Double stock truck approaches as another semi-trailer negotiates the single-lane Back Creek Bridge (Photo: Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Detailed design work will begin soon for the upgrade of the Back Creek Bridge at Cooyar following the completion of minor safety works at the site.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":368910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[70],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.11 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Bridge Upgrade Moves Closer - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Detailed design work will begin soon for the upgrade of the Back Creek Bridge at Cooyar following the completion of minor safety works at the site.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/02\/02\/bridge-upgrade-moves-closer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bridge Upgrade Moves Closer - southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Detailed design work will begin soon for the upgrade of the Back Creek Bridge at Cooyar following the completion of minor safety works at the site.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/02\/02\/bridge-upgrade-moves-closer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-02T06:58:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-02T06:58:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260202backcreek1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"740\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"460\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/02\/02\/bridge-upgrade-moves-closer\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/02\/02\/bridge-upgrade-moves-closer\/\",\"name\":\"Bridge Upgrade Moves Closer - southburnett.com.au\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-02T06:58:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-02T06:58:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#\/schema\/person\/d43a5027bdddc95f54e9c6274d8a57ae\"},\"description\":\"Detailed design work will begin soon for the upgrade of the Back Creek Bridge at Cooyar following the completion of minor safety works at the site.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/02\/02\/bridge-upgrade-moves-closer\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/\",\"name\":\"southburnett.com.au\",\"description\":\"Kingaroy and South Burnett News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#\/schema\/person\/d43a5027bdddc95f54e9c6274d8a57ae\",\"name\":\"Anne Miller\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/author\/anne-miller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bridge Upgrade Moves Closer - southburnett.com.au","description":"Detailed design work will begin soon for the upgrade of the Back Creek Bridge at Cooyar following the completion of minor safety works at the site.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/02\/02\/bridge-upgrade-moves-closer\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bridge Upgrade Moves Closer - southburnett.com.au","og_description":"Detailed design work will begin soon for the upgrade of the Back Creek Bridge at Cooyar following the completion of minor safety works at the site.","og_url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/02\/02\/bridge-upgrade-moves-closer\/","og_site_name":"southburnett.com.au","article_published_time":"2026-02-02T06:58:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-02T06:58:40+00:00","og_image":[{"width":740,"height":460,"url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260202backcreek1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Anne Miller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Anne Miller","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/02\/02\/bridge-upgrade-moves-closer\/","url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/02\/02\/bridge-upgrade-moves-closer\/","name":"Bridge Upgrade Moves Closer - southburnett.com.au","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-02-02T06:58:02+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-02T06:58:40+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#\/schema\/person\/d43a5027bdddc95f54e9c6274d8a57ae"},"description":"Detailed design work will begin soon for the upgrade of the Back Creek Bridge at Cooyar following the completion of minor safety works at the site.","inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/02\/02\/bridge-upgrade-moves-closer\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#website","url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/","name":"southburnett.com.au","description":"Kingaroy and South Burnett News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#\/schema\/person\/d43a5027bdddc95f54e9c6274d8a57ae","name":"Anne Miller","url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/author\/anne-miller\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368908"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368908"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":368913,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368908\/revisions\/368913"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/368910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}