The Barkly Highway is a national highway of both

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

and the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Au ...

in Australia. It is the only sealed road between Queensland and the Northern Territory.

Description

The highway runs between Cloncurry and the junction with the Stuart Highway north of Tennant Creek, known as the "Threeways". The entire highway is part of the

National Highway National highway or National Highway may refer to: * National Highways (England) * National Highway (Australia) * List of National Roads in Belgium * Brunei National Roads System * National Highway System (Canada) * Trans-Ca ...

system: in the Northern Territory it is assigned National Route 66; the Queensland portion is designated as National Route A2. The Northern Territory section has a speed limit of along most of its length. It is the main transport route between Queensland and the Northern Territory, consequently many

road train A road train, land train or long combination vehicle (LCV) is a trucking vehicle used to move road freight more efficiently than semi-trailer trucks. It consists of two or more trailers or semi-trailers hauled by a prime mover. History Ear ...

s use it.

Upgrades

An upgrade of the Queensland section of the highway between

Mount Isa Mount Isa ( ) is a city in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) is one of the most productive single mines in world history, b ...

and Camooweal was completed in 2008 and despite floods of 2009, 2010 and 2011, the Queensland sections of road were in good condition (as of 2015). The Northern Australia Roads Program announced in 2016 included the following project for the Barkiy Highway.

Intersection upgrades

The project for intersection upgrades in Mount Isa urban area was completed in mid 2019 at a total cost of $8.3 million.

Georgina River Bridge

Given the economic importance of transport on this route, a longstanding problem was the flooding of the

Georgina River The Georgina River is the north-westernmost of the three major rivers of the Channel Country in Central West Queensland, that also flows through a portion of the Northern Territory, in central Australia. Part of the Lake Eyre basin, the Geor ...

immediately west of Camooweal in Queensland. As the water levels in the Georgina River vary enornmously from being completely dry to flooding, the Barkly Highway bridge over the Georgina River was often unusable for many days due to flooding, with road trains and other heavy vehicles having to wait weeks before it was safe to cross. To alleviate these problems, the Georgina River Bridge was officially opened on 20 December 2002 by Senator Ron Boswell and Steve Breadhauer, Minister for Transport in the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended f ...

. It replaced the previous bridge which was approximately south, and is both higher and longer so traffic on the highway can continue to cross during floods. The bridge is long and is accompanied by a highway deviation west from Camooweal. The bridge uses an unusual arch design to avoid placing pylons into the river bed which is culturally significant to the local Dugalunji people, who call the new bridge ''Ilaga Thuwani'' meaning ''The Camping Ground of the Rainbow Serpent''. File:Barkly Highway 0116.svg, Barkly Highway in Queensland and the Northern Territory (green and black)

List of towns along the Barkly Highway

* Cloncurry *

* Camooweal

Major intersections

References

External links

{{Road infrastructure in Queensland Highways in the Northern Territory Highways in Queensland North West Queensland