General News
15 September, 2026
Roads forum sets priorities
FROM Picaninny Plains to Bamaga, from Lakeland to Mareeba, from Cairns to the Tablelands, and across connecting roads to the south, a regional forum has pinpointed five crucial transport priorities to prevent the FNQ region from “stagnating” under a lack of road improvements.
FROM Picaninny Plains to Bamaga, from Lakeland to Mareeba, from Cairns to the Tablelands, and across connecting roads to the south, a regional forum has pinpointed five crucial transport priorities to prevent the FNQ region from “stagnating” under a lack of road improvements.
Hosted by Member for Cook David Kempton, the second Cook Electorate Road Network Forum attracted a brains trust of representatives from local transport businesses, agriculture, tourism, councils, the chamber of commerce, cattle producers and interested residents, who rolled out the maps and workshopped a critical plan to be taken to both state and federal governments.
“I think the single biggest eyeopener today is the recognition by everybody that infrastructure has been neglected, and that people have not been listened to,” Mr Kempton said.
Both state and federal governments needed to engage locally – with councils, with service providers, and with the forum, before enacting projects such as individual sealing or bridge repairs to macro projects for transport routes.
Cooktown Mayor Robyn Holmes said the Peninsula Development Road (PDR) sealing project was a typical example where expert local knowledge was overlooked. Not one meeting was held in Cooktown for stage 3 of the project, or information provided to council.
“When we talk about the PDR from Mareeba to Lakeland, where was the input to determine overtaking lanes to enable doubles or triples (trucks) to go up there?” she said.
“We’re missing this deep part of the conversation to say, well, this is the requirements for service capability.”
Inconsistency across road freight planning and the inability of type 2 trucks (those towing multiple trailers) to travel seamlessly from north to south also featured heavily in discussions including the “frustrating” ad hoc truck permit system to access routes.
One operator gave a recent example of four local trucks applying for permits for a pilot vehicle to accompany each Type 2 moving cattle.
The Department of Transport and Main Roads had encouraged the applications but then approved only two and rejected the others even though they were exactly the same.
Another issue was the positioning of breakdown pads (road side areas where trucks can assemble or disassemble trailers) which caused truck drivers to lose time, leave livestock on the side of the road, open trucks to the possibility of theft, and increase fuel and operational costs.
Responsibility for roads also needed a shakeup. Forum suggestions included making the Cairns to Mareeba connection a federal road as part of the National Highway to provide consistency of maintenance and upgrades.
One forum member also noted the section of road between Picaninny Plains and Bamaga on Cape York was not even a state responsibility, let alone federal, but was a shared responsibility between local councils.
Specific road upgrades, bridge improvements, floodproofing, road sealing, traffic reliability, road reclassifications, and the economic impacts of improved infrastructure, were also raised before forum members split into groups and, using maps of the region, marked out areas which would become the priorities for action.
After almost two hours, the four groups provided their top five points, distilled from up to 21 issues.
The main priorities, not in order, were the reopening of Quaid Road, the Mareeba bypass, the Ootan Road completion, the Cairns-Mareeba connection via Kuranda Range, and the Peninsula Development Road (PDR).
These priorities underlined that Mareeba was the natural hub for transport routes, north and south.
Each priority had sub-priorities that were essential in supporting major upgrades.
On the PDR, there were still single-lane bridges such as the Kennedy, Mile Creek, and “the bridge cluster” around the Macleod River, Rifle Creek, and Spear Creek that needed improvements.
“If you can’t pass them, you still can’t get into Cape York,” a forum participant pointed out.
Meanwhile areas between the sealing were “atrocious”.
On the Kuranda Range, issues included road works to re-start after the Jasper damage was complete next month, which would run over the next three years. Works would include widening and safety, line-marking and other maintenance.
This will continue to impede traffic, freight opportunities, and economic growth across the region, not to mention commuter traffic, emergency services, FIFO workers and tourism visitors and needed to be managed.
The Barron River bridge upgrade, which was also facing delays, needed to take in future traffic combinations including type 2 trucks.
Quaid Road was supported by all groups as a real option for alternative access for commuters. The road was approved and built as a Class A forestry road 37 years ago but was closed following maintenance disputes.
A recent petition attracted 9,000 signatures for the road to be opened, and the forum was committed to pushing for a program of road re-sheeting, guard rails, signage, line marking and mass (weight) restrictions for vehicles.
In relation to the Ootan Road, the forum supported the completion of its sealing to Mareeba, upgrading it to a type two classification, and ensuring it is a state road.
“It’s a connecting link to the southern markets. Once we get the Ootan Road through the Hahn … it’s approximately 1,000km shorter to reach Melbourne markets,” a forum member said.
In closing the meeting, Mr Kempton said the priorities raised addressed the “bottlenecks” in the Far North transport routes, as well as possible “small wins” that could be achieved which would support broader future planning negotiations.
The priorities would now be documented and an action plan developed for the next meeting which would be in three months.
