General News
28 April, 2026
Frustration vented over range road works
MOTORISTS are sick and tired of the works on the Kuranda Range Road, sounding off about the time the repairs to the busy road are taking after Member for Barron River Bree James shared an update.
The works to repair numerous landslips that occurred in December 2023 as a result of Cyclone Jasper and the associated heavy rainfall are not expected to be finished until the end of this year.
Ms James said she shared the update on the reconstruction works, because “I know just how important this road is to our community and how frustrating delays and traffic changes can be”.
“Please know there is a huge amount of work happening behind the scenes, and crews are making steady progress on this major project,” she wrote on her Facebook post.
The Department of Transport and Main Roads is responsible for the works and, to date, crews have repaired 25 geotechnical sites on Kuranda Range Road, with six sites currently under construction and more than 15 additional sites planned for works this year.
“I’ll continue to keep the community updated as works progress. Thanks for your ongoing patience. I know it’s not easy, but this work is critical to making the road safer and more reliable for everyone,” Ms James wrote.
But her update caused a swift reaction from locals who think the works are just taking too long.
“Having travelled overseas, I can tell you that if this same situation was in China, the Kuranda Range would have not only been completely fixed from top to bottom but have been upgraded to a dual carriageway and done so in three weeks with remediation and upgrade works carried 24 hours per day,” one man wrote.
“All the hot air about how much progress is being made on the Kuranda Range falls on deaf ears when I compare it to the expedited efficiency of what I have seen overseas.”
“Thanks for the update Bree but seriously it’s now 30 months since this happened. There’s just no excuses that justify this amount of time to fix a road,” another man posted.
“Not to mention this timeline would be unheard of if it was closer to Brisbane. It’s a bloody joke to say it’s one of the main highways to the Tablelands,” a woman responded.
“That’s not an update. You told us nothing. There is only one section that needs to be fixed, the big slide at the lookout. Focus all efforts on that, then get out of there and give us our road back,” one man said.
“It only took five years for the pioneers to make the entire railway line from Cairns to Kuranda, hacking and blasting through where there was nothing before,” another man commented.
“It’s 135 years in now since that was completed and we are getting this work done at a snail’s pace.
“Is this like the pyramids where nobody knows how the old guys did it? Or were they just not playing games? Someone’s not fair dinkum here!”
“Seeing how they constructed the entire Kuranda railroad by hand in five years, including 55 bridges and 15 tunnels, and this road repair has been 2.5 years to fill a couple of damaged sections, it’s truly a pathetic effort,” another person wrote.
Others commented on the cost of traffic control during the past two and a half years.
“30 plus months of ‘stop and go’ on the Kuranda Range with no end in sight, what is the total bill for 24/7 traffic control over this period? Surely there is a more cost-effective way to manage this ‘lifeline’ road,” one man queried.
“Appreciate the update. The reality for many locals though is that this has been going on for a long time, with daily delays, lane closures and ongoing disruption,” one woman wrote.
“For people commuting between Cairns and the Tablelands, running businesses or relying on that connection for work, freight and tourism, it’s not just inconvenient – it’s constant.
“There are also growing concerns in the community around the length of time this is taking and the cost implications, particularly with ongoing manual traffic control.
“Is there a clear timeline for completion, and what’s being done to minimise both the day-to-day impact and costs in the meantime?”
The Express asked TMR exactly what works were left to be done and a timeline for the works, but received only a vague response.
“Most reconstruction works on Kuranda Range Road following Ex Tropical Cyclone Jasper are expected to be completed by late 2026, subject to site and weather conditions,” a spokesperson said.
“Some additional repairs from the February 2025 tropical low may take longer due to the extent of damage.”
Night works on bridge
NIGHT maintenance works on the Barron River bridge at Kuranda will be undertaken in May.
As part of the ongoing inspection and maintenance program of the ageing bridge, the next round of testing has been scheduled each night from 5-29 May.
The works will occur between 8pm and 4am each night, meaning the bridge will operate as single lane over the four weeks, with the reduced speed of 40km/h.
For the final two weeks (18-29 May) short, intermittent full closures will be needed.
