New Bribie Island bridge design puts all 4 lanes on one span

The Queensland Government has put forward a revised preferred design for a new Bribie Island bridge, moving all four traffic lanes onto a single new crossing and converting the existing bridge into a dedicated walking and cycling path, according to a Brisbane Development social media post published on 19 October 2026. The project sits on the Caboolture-Bribie Island Road corridor in the City of Moreton Bay, the crossing that connects the mainland to Bribie Island in southeast Queensland.

Brisbane Development’s post, illustrated with an artist’s impression of the new four-lane span, said geotechnical investigations were due to begin this week and that community feedback on the revised design is open until 27 November 2026. The post did not state a project cost, a funding source, a builder, or a construction start or completion date, and none of those figures is reported here because they were not disclosed in the source material.

Why it matters

Putting all four lanes on one new structure, rather than splitting traffic across the new and existing bridges, is a different commitment to the staged approach the project has previously been associated with in public reporting. Retiring the 1963 bridge from vehicle duty and repurposing it as a walking and cycling link, instead of keeping it in service for traffic, may change the design, environmental and heritage assessment the project needs before any construction approval, although the post did not describe the assessment requirements.

For contractors and suppliers watching the Moreton Bay corridor, the post reported geotechnical investigations starting this week; it gave no tendering or procurement detail. For residents and commuters on Bribie Island, the design is still a proposal open for comment, not a confirmed construction program, and the Queensland Government has not stated when, or whether, the revised design will be locked in following the consultation period.

The numbers

Brisbane Development’s post describes four traffic lanes carried on the new bridge, with the existing bridge reserved for walking and cycling only, a change from an active-transport path running alongside traffic lanes. Geotechnical investigations, the ground survey work that precedes detailed design, were reported to start this week. Community feedback on the revised design closes on 27 November 2026, giving residents, cyclists and freight operators roughly five weeks from the post date to respond.

No lane width, bridge length, clearance height or construction cost was included in the post, and the Queensland Government has not published a parallel statement confirming those figures as of this report. Readers should treat the design as the version put to public consultation, not a locked specification.

What’s next

The design remains subject to the feedback period running to 27 November 2026, and no construction approval or funding commitment has been announced alongside it. It also sits apart from the state’s separate $2.4 billion Infrastructure Activation Fund (fine print on that fund), which is not a funding source named for this bridge. Geotechnical investigations beginning this week will feed into further design work regardless of the consultation outcome, but the Queensland Government has not said when a final design or a construction timeline will be set. Builders and suppliers with an interest in the corridor will be watching for a funded, final design to follow the consultation, rather than treating the revised concept as an approved project.