Donohue Highway
Submitted: Friday, Oct 14, 2005 at 14:03
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Kurd
I was passing through
Boulia in early September and was surprised to find it hard to get a bed for the night. Turned out the local goverment reps were in town for a meeting to discuss upgrading the Donohue. Speaking to the locals in the pub they seemed quite excited that it could be upgraded to at least match the Plenty. Some optimists thought bitumen might even be on the cards but the general consensus was that local gov wouldn't spring the dollars to that extent, however, any improvement to the Donohue would be most welcome.
I'm wondering if any
forum folk had heard anything further on this?
Reply By: Member - Vince B (NSW) - Friday, Oct 14, 2005 at 20:46
Friday, Oct 14, 2005 at 20:46
Hi Kurd.
I travelled through western Qld in july & read a small article in a local paper which said that the Plenty & Donohue were to be upgraded to form an inland route for east to west travellers.
The word bitumen was also mentioned!!
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Follow Up By: Kurd - Friday, Oct 14, 2005 at 21:14
Friday, Oct 14, 2005 at 21:14
Vince,
That may clarify why some of the blokes were betting on bitumen as some thought there were NT reps at the meeting. The NT tourist industry would no doubt like to have better roads to feed more tourists into the centre.
The Plenty is in good nick and gives the choice of straight to Alice via the Stuart H'way or turning off at Mt. Riddock and going via the East MacDonnells. However, this is let down by the current state of the Donohue.
If the upgrade happens then no doubt it will be given a slick marketting name to fit in with the Matilda and Savannah Ways to entice us. Hope I can still afford the petrol by then!
Cheers,
Kurd
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Reply By: Footloose - Friday, Oct 14, 2005 at 21:20
Friday, Oct 14, 2005 at 21:20
This is part of the planned upgrade of the tracks so that one can travel from WA to the Qld coast. Around 4 years ago I was told that the section from Warberton to
Laverton had been surveyed. The Govt web site had a fair bit but it wasn't current...they seemed to have been bogged down somewhere in Federal Money Land. As the ad said, it will happen but it won't happen overnight.
Tar ? How about they start with fixing existing roads.
If the track matches the Plentys condition when I was there in June, they'd better plan for a few mechanical workshops to be built along the way :)))))
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