Minister for Transport Bart Mellish said today the Captain Cook Highway between Cairns and Port Douglas is now open to traffic. The Palmerston Highway southern access to the Atherton Tablelands single-lane construction is making strong progress, with reopening expected mid-February.
“Major progress has also been made on the recovery of the Kuranda Range with 39 of the 61 damaged sites now cleared. The Captain Cook Highway between Buchans Point and Oak Beach has reopened after major recovery and repair efforts following ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper,” Minister Mellish said.
From today, road users can travel between Cairns and Port Douglas via the Captain Cook Highway.
The reopening reconnects local communities ahead of the school year and allows freight and other critical supplies to move between Cairns and Port Douglas. Several single-lane sections of the road will remain under traffic control.
In order to reopen this significantly impacted part of the Captain Cook Highway, recovery crews had to clear a large number of landslips and remove significant amounts of mud and debris.
All of the smaller slips have been cleared with about 75 per cent of the larger slips cleared and ready for stabilisation activities if required.
A total of 48 water structures (culverts) were either blocked with debris or required emergency repairs, with emergency works undertaken on about 70 per cent of the culverts so far.
Road users are advised to expect some delays due to traffic control in single lane sections of the Captain Cook Highway and are reminded to check QldTrafffic.com.au for the latest road updates.
Meanwhile, Queensland Rail crews are working tirelessly to bring back Far North Queensland’s most iconic rail service, the Kuranda Scenic Rail to full timetable, following substantial damage caused by ex-tropical cyclone Jasper.
Despite the mammoth scope of recovery and ongoing rain in the tropical Far North Queensland region, major progress has been made thanks to the hard work of QR crews and contractors.
QR is working with the local community, tourism partners and all government agencies to potentially run a Kuranda Scenic Rail service on the weekends by late February, weather permitting.
Separately, works to construct a temporary single-lane access on the critical freight route Palmerston Highway between Crawfords Lookout and Junction Road are progressing.
The Palmerston Highway sustained significant damage including major pavement slips. While the temporary single-lane route will restore access, repairs to the highway are expected to take an extended period of time.
How long these wrecked roads will remain open is anybody’s guess as another cyclone threatens the Northern coastline, already dumping more rain on soaked Far North Queensland
