Toowoomba's $1.6 billion Second Range Crossing project finally gets the go-ahead in Tuesday's federal budget with $317 million provided in 2015-16 to let the important freight project begin.

The long-awaited project has been one of Queensland's highest-profile highway projects since it was developed in the early 2000s and has been subjected to detailed talks between federal and state governments since.

Traffic congested on the Toowoomba Range. Credit:Dave Noonan

The $1.6 billion project is jointly-funded, with 80 per cent coming from the federal government ($1.285 billion) and 20 per cent from the Queensland Government.