Federal Assistant Minister for Road Safety and Freight Transport Scott Buchholz has been inspecting some of the government road infrastructure projects in Queensland's north west.
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The driving tour started in Karumba where Carpentaria Shire mayor Jack Bawden showed Mr Buchholz through the Barramundi Discovery Centre and impressed upon him the critical nature of roads for tourism and business in the Gulf.
Mr Buchholz took the Gulf Development Road to Croydon, discussing infrastructure investments with Croydon Shire Council mayor Trevor Pickering before heading out on the 380km Richmond to Croydon Road.
There is still 230km of single lane unsealed gravel on the road that links beef producers to major freight routes on the Landsborough and Flinders Highways.
Under the last funding package completed in 2019, 15km was sealed with $4m, $3.2m contributed by the federal government.
In Richmond, Mr Buchholz inspected progress on the $13m Richmond-Winton Road upgrade, before checking a long list of projects in the Flinders Shire, including an upgrade to the Hughenden Driver Reviver rest stop on the Flinders Highway.
The new $6.7m Alderley Bridge on the Dalkeith Road north west of Hughenden, which replaces an old causeway that was severely damaged in the February 2019 monsoon, was viewed.
The causeway was the only access point to the Basalt Byway but flooding closes the road for up to 10 weeks every wet season.
Funding for the new 150m bridge was split between the federal government ($4.05m) and the state government ($2.65m).
Mr Buchholz also saw the result of the $1.2m Glentor Road crossing project. Also known as the Flinders River Byway, it was completed in December 2020, making the road accessible through almost the whole of the 2020/21 wet season.
The federal government contributed $700,000 to the project, and co-funding was received from the state.
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Sally Gall
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
