Road transport operators and Member for Kennedy Bob Katter inspect the ailing Barron River bridge in 2023
Local News
Mareeba and Atherton are facing the possibility of losing road freight services supplying the Tablelands due to an impending load limit being placed on the ailing Barron River bridge.
The Main Roads has again restricted traffic to one lane allowing work to be done on the bridge. It appears the bridge could be confined to single lane for the remainder of its life.
A TMR spokesman said inspections on the Barron River bridge had identified an issue with retro-fitted Macalloy bars to provide additional strength after it had been built. The bridge was commissioned in 1963 and engineers say it has reached the end of its designed lifespan.
Proponents of the new road access have stressed the bridge should be left in situ as a light vehicle access to Kuranda and form part of a scenic tourist drive from Cairns.
Transport operators are concerned weight limits could be imposed on the bridge which would prevent use by semitrailers with a gross allowable weight of 42.5 tonnes coming off the dangerous Kuranda Range Road from Cairns.
Katters Australian Party candidate for Cook Duane Amos has weighed into the dilemma calling a public meeting in two weeks demanding the State Labor government start surveying a new road corridor for heavy vehicle access to Cairns.
There are two options which Mr Amos has analysed, with the assistance of the Kuranda Range Road Bypass Committee, being a tunnel through the range from Davies Creek Road or the Reddicliffe proposal which starts one kilometre east of the Davies Creek Bridge on the Kennedy Highway and exits next to Boral Quarry on Reservoir Road in Redlynch.
“Either way we need a new road access because building an expensive new bridge leaves motorists with the notorious Kuranda Range Road which has all but fallen apart after the prolonged wet season and is unsuitable for heavy transport,” Mr Amos said.
Transport operators have warned that carrying freight to the Tablelands from Cairns via the Palmerston Highway, the only alternative route, is economically unviable and Queensland Rail divested itself of freight services 15 years ago which left no alternative but road transport.
Former Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said in 2023 his department had not allocated any funds to design a new road, claiming the existing road would not have to be upgraded until 2050.
The proposed new road corridors will be presented in detail at the public meeting to be held at a time and place to be confirmed.