Kuranda Range closed: Delays as fallen tree blocks critical route to Cairns
Motorists have been brought to an infuriating standstill with warnings of long delays after a fallen tree shut down traffic on a critical Far North route.
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UPDATE 2.27PM: A large fallen tree has been cleared from the Kuranda Range road after traffic was brought to a standstill for hours.
QLD Traffic issued an alert at 2.23pm saying the road had been cleared with traffic back to normal in both directions.
Delays were in place for about two hours.
EARLIER 1.30PM: Motorists have been brought to an infuriating standstill with warnings of long delays after a fallen tree brought a critical route to a dead halt.
The Kuranda Range road has closed to traffic in both directions after the tree fell about 12.20pm on Saturday.
The tree was blocking all lanes near the Henry Ross Lookout on the Kennedy Highway link.
A motorist waiting for the critical route to be cleared said she had not moved for more than 40 minutes.
Traffic control arrived at the scene about 1pm to begin the clearing effort.
Motorists have also reported receiving a text message from the Department of Transport and Main Roads saying the road had been reduced to one lane with half-hour delays.
However, the message came as a surprise to those waiting for 40 minutes with no movement whatsoever due to both lanes being blocked.
“TMR sent a text message … but it was all lies,” one motorist said.
“There are no lanes.”
Queensland Traffic has warned motorists to expect significant delays in all directions.
No time had been set for the road’s return to moving traffic as of 1.10pm.
Earlier in the month the Kennedy Highway was closed for seven hours after a truck and a fallen tree combined to shut the road.
The horrendous situation has sparked the Cairns Post’s Fix Our Broken Link campaign to finally solve traffic chaos on the Kuranda Range.
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Originally published as Kuranda Range closed: Delays as fallen tree blocks critical route to Cairns
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