Upgrades to strengthen safety and resilience on Kuranda Range Road

6 September 2024

The Australian and Queensland Governments have developed a strategy to increase safety and resilience on the Kennedy Highway between Smithfield and Kuranda, known locally as Kuranda Range Road.

This 13-kilometre stretch of road is the most direct route between Cairns, the Northern Tablelands and the Cape York Peninsula, and is popular among motorists, carrying around 9,000 vehicles per day, a mix of local, freight and tourism traffic.

The road is narrow and winding, passing through the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, an area of immense biodiversity and scenic value, and home to a variety of rare and threatened flora and fauna species, including the southern cassowary.

By improving driving conditions along the road, the strategy aims to better protect motorists while reducing the amount of unplanned road closures experienced and the length of time closures are in place for.

The Kuranda Range Road Upgrade Strategy is backed by a $262.5 million commitment from federal and state governments, with the Australian Government investing $210 million and the Queensland Government contributing $52.5 million.

The announcement of the strategy comes in the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper, a catastrophic weather event for Far North Queensland that underlined the importance of safe and resilient roads in the region.

As part of the strategy, Queensland’s Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) is proposing several critical upgrades to Kuranda Range Road, including:

  • A safe turnaround area suitable for vehicles up to 19 metres, allowing drivers to act if the route is closed unexpectedly
  • A concrete median barrier at The Hairpin bend to reduce the risk of head-on collisions
  • The installation of 10 additional Intelligent Transport Systems across 5.5 kilometres of the road, which will provide real-time information on hazards and allow road conditions and traffic behaviour to be monitored

Further safety options proposed in the strategy include extra guardrails, shoulder widening, centre line treatments, vegetation management, and slope stability treatments.

For TMR, priority on Kuranda Range Road is currently the delivery of long-term repairs to sections damaged during Tropical Cyclone Jasper and the associated monsoonal rainfall, with works in design.

These repairs are jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland Governments through the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA), and are in addition to the Kuranda Range Road Upgrade Strategy.

Safety and resilience upgrades that require lane closures will start after completion of repair works to mitigate further disruptions to road users.

For more information on proposed upgrades to Kuranda Range Road visit www.tmr.qld.gov.au/projects/kuranda-range-road-safety-and-resilience-up….