The Toowoomba Bypass, known as Toowoomba Second Range Crossing during planning and construction, is a grade separated, dual carriageway bypass and partial ring road constructed to the north and west of Toowoomba, Queensland. Construction commenced in April 2016. It opened to traffic on 8 September 2019. History The city of Toowoomba is situated on a plateau on the edge of the Great Dividing Range. A defining characteristic of the city is its high position on an escarpment of the range, which enjoys sweeping views of the Lockyer Valley below. The existing range road was completed in its current alignment in 1939. This road has unfavourable road geometry including tight corners and a rate of climb as high as 10.5%. The Warrego Highway is a major Brisbane-Darwin highway that passes through Toowoomba and utilises the existing range road. The Gore Highway is a major freight corridor that travels from Melbourne (via the Newell Highway and the Goulburn Valley Highway) and terminates in Toowoomba. In 2015, prior to construction of the bypass, up to 22,000 vehicles (including 2900 heavy vehicles) traversed the city's CBD each day, passing through up to 18 sets of traffic lights. Planning The need for a future second range crossing was first highlighted by Queensland Transport in 1991. In 1995, An Ove Arup Traffic Planning Study was completed confirming the need for a second range crossing. In 1997, an alignment route option passing to the immediate north of Toowoomba City was identified in a Maunsell concept phase planning report. The traffic planning study determined that the bypass route has to be close to the city as 85 percent of Warrego Highway traffic is stopping in Toowoomba. The proposed new alignment for the Warrego Highway commenced to the east, bypassing the Toowoomba City centre to the north and linking up to the Warrego and Gore Highways on the western side of Toowoomba. The proposed alignment was 42.2 km long; up to 40 bridge structures; 5 major interchanges; and twin 735 metre long three lane tunnels through the range crest. Detailed planning of the project commenced in 2001 with the preferred alignment option ultimately refined by 2004. In late 2005, the federal government announced funding of $10 million to advance the business case for the project. Auslink committed $43 million towards further planning in 2008. A pilot tunnel 2.4m wide and 3.0m high was dug to provide detailed geological information.