Community & Business
28 February, 2023
Roadwork delays go on
TABLELANDS motorists looking to travel to Cairns have been advised to check for delays beforehand as more works commence on the Kuranda Range Road, Kennedy Highway and Barron River bridge at Kuranda.
Testing and maintenance works on the Barron River bridge at Kuranda have been ongoing since Monday last week and are set to finish this Thursday, 2 March.
Traffic on the bridge has been restricted to one lane for the duration of the works on top of the current delays on the Kuranda Range Road for the installation of the Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) which started in December 2021 and was planned to be completed by late 2022.
Motorists travelling the range between have experienced multiple delays on the road for over a year and on rare occasions, drivers have waited up to 15 minutes.
Motorcycle riders have expressed their concerns surrounding the outcome of the works as when some sections have been ripped up and resealed, a noticeable and feelable bump in the road has remained.
A department spokesperson said resurfacing had been carried out on sections of the Kuranda Range Road that were impacted by the ITS System’s installation with only two small sections left to do.
“Kuranda Range ITS works are carried out at night to minimise impacts for road users,” he said.
“Resurfacing has been carried out to the sections impacted by construction, there are two small sections left that still need to be resurfaced as part of the project.”
Motorists traveling to Cairns from Mareeba have also had to deal with delays immediately as they leave Mareeba as safety upgrades to the Kennedy Highway just outside the town continue.
The department has advised road users to use the QLDTraffic website or phoning 13 19 40 to get up-to-date in-formation about road conditions and delays when planning a trip.
Rehabilitation works have also just begun of the section of road between the Barron River bridge at Kuranda and the Saddle Mountain Road turn-off.
It is suspected the works will take roughly four weeks to complete depending on weather and construction conditions
