Community & Business
17 May, 2021
Public information meeting called for the Kuranda Bypass Road
MEMBERS of the Kuranda Range Bypass Road committee have inspected the proposed corridor for the new road which heads east off the Kennedy Highway just past the Davies Creek bridge and finishes up 18 kilometres away in Redlynch Valley.
MEMBERS of the Kuranda Range Bypass Road committee have inspected the proposed corridor for the new road which heads east off the Kennedy Highway just past the Davies Creek bridge and finishes up 18 kilometres away in Redlynch Valley.
As a result the committee will be organising a public meeting in on June 1 at Mareeba Turf Club from 7pm.
At a recent general meeting committee spokesman Ron Reddicliffe said the new road would pick up the existing Clohesy River Road approximately 10kms east of the Kennedy Highway.
“The Clohesy River Road follows a major ridge line towards Redlynch Valley and is in good shape especially after a lot of recent rain,” Mr Reddicliffe said.
“There is ample room to build a four-lane carriageway right to Crystal Cascades Road including a railway line which would start at the Freshwater rail loop coming back up the hill, crossing the Kennedy Highway and back to the track at Biboohra.”
In a group discussion with Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch 18 months ago, Mr Reddicliffe said he was told the Federal Government would fund the bypass, being an extension of Highway 1, provided the State Government would release the required land for a corridor.
Committee chairman Ken Harley said construction of the new road would be a “contractor’s dream” as there was no privately held land along the route, no other road intersections and no need for traffic control which can consume up to 30% of a road construction budget.
“It is all state-owned land, with a lot of open forest that has been logged many times in the past and should sit well with environmentalists because it will take a large volume of traffic off the Kuranda Range,” Mr Harley said.
“It would also remove the threat of cassowaries and other wildlife being hit by one of the 9000 traffic movements on the range every day. “Engineers have told us the Barron River Bridge is past its use-by date and the cost of a new bridge simply is not feasible when compared to the estimated cost of the bypass road.
“The TMR could repair the bridge to a state suitable for tourism and would keep Kuranda going as a destination and be part of a pleasant tourist drive.”
The committee had been in touch with Cairns Regional Council and would invite Mareeba and Cook Shire Councils to attend as well.
