Cairns to Cooktown – bitumen all the way

Cooktown is bracing itself for boom times with ‘black top all the way’ from Cairns, Transport and Main Roads Minister Paul Lucas said today at the official opening of the fully-sealed highway from Cairns, to the famous frontier town named by Captain James Cook.

The Minister today joined the Cooktown community in a special celebration to mark the historic sealing of 300 kilometres of bitumen from Cairns, to the town that has long worn the tag as ‘the last frontier”.

The Beattie Government has spent around $127 million to seal the road between Cairns and Cooktown, including sealing the Byerstown Range crossing on the Peninsula Developmental Road.

"Traffic volumes on the Cooktown Developmental Road have already doubled since the sealing work began in early 1998, from an average of 150 vehicles a day to an average of 300 vehicles a day in 2005.

"Now that it’s fully sealed, we’ve got excellent travelling conditions not only for 4WD and freight vehicles, but family cars.

“Gone are the days when people needed a 4WD to head to Cooktown. You’ll be able to get there in the sedan in four hours now,” Mr Lucas said.

The last few kilometres were fully sealed early this year and the fully upgraded Cooktown Developmental Road was opened to traffic on 27 January 2006.

"This is an historic day for the people of the far north and I’m delighted to be here for the celebrations of a fully-sealed 300km route between Cairns and Cooktown," Mr Lucas said.

Member for Cook Jason O’Brien said the Labor Party had put all the infrastructure pillars in place to meet the future growth of Cooktown.

“We’ve now put in the road, upgraded the power supply and put in sewerage.

“We’re opening up the Cape to future development and we see the sealed road to Cooktown as a critical part of the Cape’s future,” Mr O’Brien said.

“A lot of this work has been done by my predecessor Steve Bredhauer, who as Main Roads Minister at the time, helped deliver this huge project.

“It’s an exciting time for Cape York. Tourism numbers are growing and now that people can get in a car and drive to Cooktown in four hours, opportunities are limitless.

“I expect to see economic growth as a result of this project,” Mr O’Brien said.

The Minister said work on the final three projects took place last year and included the building of seven new bridges, significantly higher than the timber bridges they replaced.

“I know how inconvenient the wet season can be for communities in the Cape that are cut off by floodwaters during the ‘big wet’.

"The last three projects represent an investment of over $40 million in state government funding, out of a total $110 million spent upgrading the Cooktown Developmental Road.

"The road alignment has also been improved. We eliminated steep slopes, crests and narrow winding sections," Mr Lucas said.

And the Minister also told the Cooktown community what they had been waiting to hear.

“The Cooktown Developmental Road will now revert to its historical name – the Mulligan Highway,” Mr Lucas announced today.

A number of road name changes occurred in 1963, due to a state-wide review of road classifications.

"Given that this was formerly the name of the road, and it’s now a highway, the road should revert to its former name.

“It has widespread community support. The Cook and Mareeba Shire Councils, the Cooktown Historical Society, the Cape York Peninsula Development Association and the Member for Cook, Jason O'Brien, all support the renaming.

The Minister said descendants of James Venture Mulligan, the explorer who discovered gold in the Palmer River goldfields, included Cook Shire Mayor Bob Sullivan's wife, Loretta.

In 2001, the new bridge over the Annan River was named the Annan River/Yuku Baja bridge, commemorating both European and indigenous heritage.

“Main Roads has asked the traditional owners to suggest a name for one of the new bridges over the West Normanby River."

“This project has been one of the most culturally significant and successful road building projects in the country.

“It represents a new era of road building where respect for sites of cultural and significance has taken precedence.

“Main Roads built the Black Mountain section of the road with the mutual support of the Kuku Yulangi people, the Buggirikku Land Trust and the Cape York Land Council.

“And I’m pleased to report that Main Roads is also sponsoring Cook Shire Council's community event, "Cruising to Cooktown", on 8 April,” he said.

Today’s event and the community event planned for April will boost the region’s tourism appeal.

James Venture Mulligan is one of the country’s legendary pioneers.

Among his discoveries:

first gold deposit that led to the famous Palmer River Gold Rush in 1873. This in turn led to the establishment of a port and township at Cooktown, and a railway line inland

Hodgkinson goldfields

tin near Herberton which led to settlements and railway lines in the Herberton-Irvinebank region.

“The spirit of James Venture Mulligan will live on in the thousands more tourists who will be lured to the region now that the road is ‘black top’ all the way from Cairns to Cooktown,” Mr Lucas said.

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