The plan proposes 10 ring roads, bypasses and deviations along the length of the highway at centres such as Gympie, Rockhampton, Mackay, Innisfail, Childers and Ingham.

It also expands the Bruce to at least four lanes for the entire journey between Brisbane and Bundaberg and sets out 340 kilometres of highway duplication over the next 20 years.

"We've identified priority investments for the highway over the next 20 years which will see 340 kilometres of highway duplication, bridge replacements to improve flood immunity, intersection upgrades and other valuable improvements,” Bligh said yesterday.

The upgrades on the state’s transport backbone will focus on the six key regional economic hubs along the highway – Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Gladstone, Gympie and southeast Queensland.

Some of the short-term projects have already started or are in the project planning phase and scheduled to start before 2015.

The federal and state governments have set aside $2 billion for upgrades to the Bruce Highway from Brisbane to Cairns.