Gatton-Helidon Road is an important rural road connecting agricultural communities in the Lockyer Valley, including Gatton, Grantham and Helidon, directly to the Warrego Highway.
Gatton-Helidon Road is a vital route connecting agricultural communities in the Lockyer Valley, including Gatton, Grantham and Helidon, to the Warrego Highway. The Gatton-Helidon Road Widening Sections 3 & 4 project delivers a range of safety treatments, including road widening to enable a widened centreline treatment, dedicated turning lanes, audio tactile line marking, new signage and line marking and the removal of roadside hazards.
In mid-2024, Bellwether Contractors were awarded section 3 of this R2 Transport and Main Roads (TMR) road contract. A few months later, the team successfully tendered for and were awarded section 4.
With a combined total construction value of almost $20 million, this project strengthens our team’s TMR road construction and TMR project delivery processes and systems to guarantee certainty of delivery for our client and, more importantly, the local community that relies on this infrastructure.
It has also played a key role in helping Bellwether Contractors attain R3 prequalification with TMR and the National Prequalification Scheme.
Progress
Progress has generally followed plans, although, as with any construction project, we’ve encountered unexpected challenges. These include significant weather events, changes to traffic staging and unforeseen constructability issues.
Projects like these impact local communities, both in the short and long term. As a local contractor ourselves, we always aim to support local communities. Together with the region’s state MP, Jim McDonald, we hosted our first community event to support local businesses in Grantham.
Lesson learned and looking ahead
We are optimistic that the weather will stabilise as the year progresses! Since most of the pavement reconstruction and extension work starts from black soil foundations, getting out of the ground quickly will reduce wet weather risks. Widened formations are taking shape, and recent asphalt surfacing work across both sections has already made noticeable improvements. The public is seeing and feeling the benefits of our work.
Momentum is strong on both sections. Over the next few weeks, we’ll continue to open newly surfaced pavement areas to traffic, further improving travel conditions
“Our Gatton to Helidon Road project is progressing well. We continue to focus on providing a high standard of product for the benefit of all stakeholders, in a timely and safe manner and at value for money,” Bellwether’s Gatton-Helidon Road Widening Sections 3 & 4 Project Manager.
