Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has attended the sod turning for the new Townsville water pipeline, one of the projects she hopes will shore up seats in the area ahead of Saturday's election.
Labor has already allocated $215 million to the pipeline, which is needed to secure the city's supply during drought.
Mayor Jenny Hill welcomed the start of construction and thanked the premier for the funding.
"This is a critical piece of water security infrastructure for our city and the premier delivered on her promise to find a solution to our water issues," Cr Hill said.
The premier said she had decided to put the money in the budget and not wait for federal funding because she recognised how important the project was to Townsville.
However it will also be important in her quest to retain electorates.
Labor's Coralee O'Rourke is facing stiff competition for the seat of Mundingburra, while the party will hope to retain Thuringowa and Townsville itself as it looks to reach 47 seats and a majority in the 93-seat parliament.
"I value all of my local members here. Coralee, Aaron (Harper) and Scott (Stewart) are some of the hardest working local members you'll meet," the premier said.
"Through the hard work of these local members, as well as talks with the mayor, we're delivering things like the Townsville stadium."
Another critical piece of infrastructure in the region is the Adani megamine and associated rail link, which will directly benefit Townsville.
However Mayor Hill said she didn't believe the premier's decision to veto a federal government loan for Adani to build the rail link would cost her votes in the region.
"It's not a show-stopper; this is a huge project and Adani has said the NAIF funding isn't necessary and I'll hold them to their word," she said.
The mayor added she would like to see federal funding to upgrade the Port of Townsville.
The pipeline is expected to be completed in the next 26 months, with a focus on local construction jobs.
