Queensland Labor has unveiled a plan to future-proof the Bruce Highway, including $200 million a year to make it safer and less susceptible to natural disasters.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says Labor will set up the Bruce Highway Trust to identify and manage spending priorities over the next 15 years.
She's promised to tip in an initial $175 million, then $200 million annually, to improve the state's longest transport artery, if Labor is re-elected on November 25.
"It's about delivering a 1700km world-class highway that's resistant to cyclones and floods so we can better protect local communities, keep our state moving in times of disaster, and cut repair and restoration bills into the future," Ms Palaszczuk said in a statement.
The plan includes fast-tracking the upgrade of the Townsville Ring Road to a dual-carriageway between Douglas and Bohle Plains, and completing the Gympie bypass with the construction of the final link from Cooroy to Curra.
Roads Minister Mark Bailey says an eminent Queenslander will be chosen to chair the trust.
But he says the opposition leader will get to nominate the deputy chair "to take politics out of Bruce Highway funding".
