This is a proposal for the duplication of a 6 kilometre two-lane section of the Bruce Highway between Vickers Bridge and Shaw Road in the south west of Townsville. This is the only remaining section of the 36 kilometre long Bruce Highway route through Townsville that is not at a four-lane standard. The proposed project aims to improve road safety and freight efficiency, provide travel time reliability and ease congestion.

The business case was accepted for Infrastructure Australia's evaluation on 16 December 2019.

On 7 April 2020 Infrastructure Australia has concluded its independent evaluation of the Bruce Highway - Townsville Ring Road Stage 5 project and has determined it will not include the project on the Infrastructure Australia Priority List at this time.