Community & Business
12 July, 2024
Katter pushes Bridle Track
THE need for an alternate route to Cairns is gathering momentum, with Member for Kennedy Bob Katter now commissioning a topographic map to show where his Bridle Track proposal would go.
Mr Katter says support for a tunnel and new highway to connect resource and produce-rich inland Far North communities with the coast is rapidly growing after multiple failures on existing routes.
He said the travel time between Mareeba and Cairns should be about 25 minutes, via the Kennedy Hwy connecting to the existing Bridle Track (which would be formalised into a major highway), then connecting to a 1-2km tunnel near Copperlode Dam and entering the southern suburbs of Cairns.
Mr Katter has commissioned a topographical map which he has been using to demonstrate the differences between the existing route, and the proposed new route.
“As it stands, you leave Mareeba and head east until you hit Davies Creek, then you start heading north away from Cairns and towards Kuranda. And then to come back from Kuranda you have a winding and twisting road not suitable for heavy traffic loads,” Mr Katter said.
“And that’s why we’re seeing and average of 42 closures per year, of about six hours each time.
“If that was happening on any major route in the southeast, you’d instantly see the ‘Brisbane Government’ pour billions into fixing it. Where’s our fix?”
Mr Katter said the latest wave of support for his proposal comes after the Barron River Bridge had been again deemed unsafe and in need of repairs, and a new bridge mooted which would cost an estimated to exceed $450 million.
“And further adding to the woes of motorists is the condition of the Kuranda Range Road which is still yet to be fully repaired following flooding events in late 2023,” he said.
“With the bridge, we’ve seen over the last five years they cannot decide. One day it’s safe, the next it’s back to single lane.
“And then the Kuranda Range section, it’s been reported that road is built on shale soil and not suitable for the constant drilling and construction associated with the ‘safety works’ being undertaken.
“In fact, it’s the safety works which are causing more washouts and road damage.
“Once again, it’s evident that the Kuranda Range Road should be designated as a beautiful tourist drive and we should be moving all our heavy and regular traffic onto a new highway.
“Brisbane just over one million people and it has 36km of tunnels - meanwhile North Queensland also has about one million people, so where’s our tunnel?
“Did our State Government learn nothing from the December 2023 floods when all three of our major routes connecting Mareeba and the Tablelands to the coast were closed for days and weeks?
“We literally had no way in or out, not just impacting residents, but also our primary producers.
“Build the tunnel so our producers can access the coast, and so that we can resume mining for minerals in the Chillagoe region – offering those miners direct access to Cairns and its port.”
Meanwhile a petition launched by KAP’s candidate for Cook at the next State election, Duane Amos, has amassed 2491 signatures.
The petition stops short of demanding a new bridge over the Barron River, instead calling for it to be urgently repaired “to full capacity and immediately progress to fast track a new inland highway from the Tablelands to Cairns”.
