Great Central Road reopens through Laverton but drivers still urged to be cautious going through

Driving into WA? A segment of ‘Australia’s longest shortcut’ has reopened but there’s still over 1100kms of the road left to seal, according to the chair of the Outback Way Development Council.

A segment of Great Central Road, just east of the remote community Cosmo Newberry, was still flooded two weeks after the rain. Picture: Cosmo Newberry Community/Facebook

The remote road linking WA with the NT has reopened after it was closed due to floods but drivers are still being asked to “exercise extreme caution” through Western Australia as the road remains under repair.

Sections of the Great Central Road – which runs from Laverton WA through to the Yulara in NT – was shut due to flooding at the start of March, but on Tuesday morning the Shire of Laverton declared the road “open to all traffic.”

However, sections of the road are still under repair, leading the Shire of Laverton to issue an “extreme caution” to drivers who wish to traverse through the section which are being worked on.

The Great Central Road is one of many roads which comprise of “Australia’s longest shortcut” – also known as Outback Way, runs from Laverton through to Alice Springs and into Winton in Queensland.

The Outback Way Development Council has been pushing for the road to be fully sealed – a move which could create Australia’s own ‘Route 66’ according to chair Patrick Hill — who said sealing all the roads that run through WA, NT and Queensland would deliver a time saving of 10-19 hours when compared to taking the Nullabor route.

A sealed segment of Outback Way.

“Australia’s rural, regional and remote roads need to be focused on, it is the lifeblood of the nation,” he said.

“Current projections are that 50 per cent of (east to west) freight will use the Outback Way when sealed, this translates into a huge impact on some of the very remote areas the Outback Way goes through.”

The Outback Way Development Council is set to host an Outback Way forum in Canberra at the end of June, with Mr Hill calling on all interested parties to come to the table and help them develop a 10-year plan to get the last 1190kms of road sealed.

“We have not encountered or heard of any resistance to the sealing of the roads (or) highways that make up the Outback Way from the Indigenous communities and land councils representing them,” he said.

“The great thing about this project is the support it enjoys across all sections of society as it has massive benefits not only to local communities but also to the nation as a whole.”

The Outback Way forum will run from June 30 to July 1 and registrations can be made on the Outback Way website.