Scenic Highway lands funding catch

Tourists and the fishing community will find it even easier to haul home the catch of the day from the ever popular Rosslyn Bay Harbour, by the end of the year.

Parliamentary Secretary for Main Roads, Andrew McNamara, and Member for Keppel, Paul Hoolihan, have announced they’ve reeled in $600,000 for an upgrade of the Rosslyn Bay Road intersection.

“The project includes new dedicated turning lanes for northbound and southbound traffic entering RosslynBay, as well as better intersection lightning for boaties hitting the water early for best catch.

“It’s more than just an aesthetically pleasing make over, it’s a key plank of a $2 million Queensland Government commitment to the Scenic Highway,” Mr McNamara said.

Mr Hoolihan said the Scenic Highway remains the only access road to the harbour from the Rosslyn Bay Road intersection.

“This makes the Scenic Highway not only vital to the local fishing community but also tourists who make a growing cash contribution to the region.

“We’re improving the road infrastructure to make it even easier for visitors to experience the visual appeal of our own unique slice of the Central Queensland coast,”

Mr McNamara said with the construction of the Kinka Connection Road, control of the Scenic Highway had moved to the Livingstone Shire Council.

“Although a substantial share of the region’s traffic has adopted the new connection road as its preferred route,the State Government recognises the tourist potential of the Scenic Highway and will continue to assist, as appropriate, in maintaining that potential."

“Main Roads will hook into more safety upgrades on the highway with work on the Mulambin Road intersection and a new road surface between the Causeway and Kinka by the end of the year.

“We’ll also be hitting the switch on a new set of traffic lights later this month at the intersection of Matthew Flinders Drive to further improve road safety in the area,” Mr McNamara said.

The construction of the new Rosslyn Bay Intersection starts later this month and is expected to be finished by October 2007.