Flashback: 10 years since Ring Road route unveiled
The Daily Mercury has documented every step of the $497.3M project that is set to open in the coming weeks.
Mackay
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A DECADE has passed since the Daily Mercury first unveiled plans for the Mackay Ring Road that is set to open in the coming weeks.
Since that time, the Mercury has closely followed development of the 11.3km stage one stretch of the $497.3 million dollar project from its inception to its near-completion.
That includes talking to farmers whose properties would be affected like Stockroute Rd canegrower Greg Plath.
"The line on the map for the ring road goes straight through my property, centre pivot irrigator and irrigation bore," he told the Daily Mercury in August 2010 concerning the original route.
"It dissects my farm into two pieces.
"I probably stand to lose about 10 hectares."
A decade later and journalist Ashley Pillhofer reported on what a Mackay lawyer called questionable land resumption practices within the Department of Transport and Main Roads.
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The Mercury also documented the changing design of the Ring Road including the removal of areas like Andergrove which had been included in the original plans.
More recently, there was NQ First's Mirani candidate Jason Borg's plans to reroute the Walkerston Bypass component altogether along Eton Homebush Rd at Rosella.
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As stage one now nears completion, the Mercury is now following the naming of the 13 key pieces of infrastructure.
And it will be there for the Ring Road's grand opening and for every step of stage two to follow.
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