Captain Cook Highway to open with single lane from January 20
Highways critical for the Far North’s tourism and agriculture industries will be opened with some limitations. FIND OUT WHEN
Cairns
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About 30,000 tonnes of mud and debris have been cleaned up on the Captain Cook Highway between Cairns and Port Douglas and the road, critical to the tourism industry, will reopen on January 20.
Transport Minister Bart Mellish said there would be several single lane sections under traffic control.
He said there had been a massive effort from road crews over Christmas and the New Year.
“There are over 15 trucks and heavy vehicles working on the site making about 100 trips each day to dispose of the debris,” Mr Mellish said.
He said there were 100 workers, including those from local civil and construction companies, and 65 pieces of machinery.
Meanwhile, work on a temporary single lane on the Palmerston Highway, between Crawfords Lookout and Junction Rd, for heavy vehicles, began this week.
He said only essential travel should be undertaken, to enable crews to keep working on the road.
“The Palmerston Highway suffered significant damage with major pavement slips occurring,” Mr Mellish said.
“This will unfortunately mean unavoidable long-term closures of this road to enable significant repairs.”
He said as well as providing temporary permits for an alternative route, work to restore access on the Palmerston Highway was being fast-tracked.
Mr Mellish said he recognised the impacts on heavy vehicles and the agricultural industry.
He said the single lane on the Palmerston would be open to traffic by mid-February and TMR was investigating long-term solutions for repairs to Palmerston Highway.
Premier Steven Miles said DTMR was moving heaven and, literally, earth to get the Palmerston and Captain Cook Highways open quickly.
“Our roads are the arteries of our great state, they are what allow us to get our fantastic produce to stores and to ports for markets,” Mr Miles said.
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Originally published as Captain Cook Highway to open with single lane from January 20
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