The Capricorn Highway is located in Central

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia, and links the city of

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...

with western Queensland. The highway is long, and joins the Landsborough Highway at Barcaldine. Formerly National Route 66, Queensland began to convert to the alphanumeric system much of Australia had adopted in the early-2000s and is now designated as A4. The highway runs parallel with the

Tropic of Capricorn The Tropic of Capricorn (or the Southern Tropic) is the circle of latitude that contains the subsolar point at the December (or southern) solstice. It is thus the southernmost latitude where the Sun can be seen directly overhead. It also reach ...

, hence its name. Other towns situated along the highway include (from east to west): Gracemere, Kabra, Stanwell, Westwood, Gogango, Duaringa, Dingo, Bluff, Blackwater,

Comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...

Emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr., and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991). ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York ...

, Bogantungan,

Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter ''aleph'' , whose name comes from the West Semitic word for ' ...

and

Jericho Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017. F ...

. Running virtually east/west, the highway traverses the area known as the Central Highlands, and crosses the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills. It runs roughl ...

between Alpha and Jericho. File:Capricorn Highway 1312.svg, Capricorn Highway (green on black)

State-controlled road

Capricorn Highway is a state-controlled state-strategic road. It is defined in four sections, as follows: * Number 16A, Rockhampton to Duaringa. * Number 16B, Duaringa to Emerald. * Number 16C, Emerald to Alpha. * Number 16D, Alpha to Barcaldine.

Northern Australia Roads Program upgrade

The Northern Australia Roads Program announced in 2016 included the following project for the Capricorn Highway.

Highway duplication

The project to duplicate the section between Rockhampton and Gracemere was completed in mid 2021 at a total cost of $75 million. This will facilitate the construction of the south-western entry to the proposed Rockhampton Ring Road.

Northern Australian Beef Roads Upgrade

The Northern Australia Beef Roads Program announced in 2016 included the following project:

Road train access to Rockhampton (stage 2)

The project for upgrading between Gracemere saleyards and the Rockhampton abattoirs to provide access for Type 1 Road Trains was completed by early 2021 at a total cost of $30 million. It involved about of road improvements on four roads: * Capricorn Highway – from Saleyards Road at Gracemere to the Bruce Highway roundabout at Rochhampton (). * Bruce Highway – from the Capricorn Highway roundabout to the Yaamba Road intersection (). * Rockhampton–Yeppoon Road – from the Bruce Highway intersection south-west to the Emu Park Road intersection (. * Rockhampton–Emu Park Road – from the Rockhampton-Yeppoon Road intersection to St Christophers Chapel Road at ().

Roads of strategic importance upgrades

The Roads of Strategic Importance initiative, last updated in March 2022, included the following projects for the Capricorn Highway.

Corridor upgrade

A lead project to upgrade the Mount Isa to Rockhampton corridor, including sections of the Capricorn and Landsborough Highways and surrounding state and council roads, at an estimated cost of $237.5 million, was in the planning and scoping stage. Works are expected to include progressive sealing, lane duplications and crossing upgrades.

Intersection upgrade Gregory Highway

A project to upgrade the intersection with the

Gregory Highway The Gregory Highway is a state highway in Queensland, Australia that serves the major coal-mining centres of Central Queensland. The highway was named after Augustus Gregory, an early explorer. Route description The highway runs southward fro ...

in at a cost of $7.9 million is scheduled for completion in mid-2023. This project was targeted for "early works" by the Queensland Government.

Other upgrades

Intersection upgrade

A project to upgrade an intersection in Blackwater, at a cost of $6.24 million, was expected to finish in early 2022.

Pavement strengthening and/or widening

A project to strengthen and widen pavement just east of Emerald, at a cost of $5 million, was expected to finish in mid-2022. A project to widen pavement east of Alpha, at a cost of $9.65 million, was due for completion in late 2022.

Major intersections

Intersecting state-controlled roads

In addition to the Bruce, Leichhardt, Gregory and Landsborough Highways, and the Fitzroy Developmental Road, the following state-controlled roads, from east to west, intersect with the Capricorn Highway: * Gavial–Gracemere Road * Biloela–Duaringa Road * Duaringa Connection Road * Blackwater–Rolleston Road * Blackwater–Cooroorah Road * Comet River Road * Anakie–Sapphire Road * Alpha–Tambo Road * Clermont–Alpha Road * Blackall–Jericho Road * Barcaldine–Aramac Road

Biloela–Duaringa Road

Biloela–Duaringa Road is a state-controlled district road (number 462), rated as a local road of regional significance (LRRS). It runs from the Capricorn Highway in to the Don River crossing on the Gainsford / boundary, a distance of . It does not intersect with any other state-controlled roads. The physical road continues south as Kokotungo–Don River Road.

Blackwater–Cooroorah Road

Blackwater–Cooroorah Road is a state-controlled district road (number 513), rated as a local road of regional significance (LRRS). It runs from the Capricorn Highway in to the Coronado Curragh Mine in Blackwater, a distance of . It does not intersect with any other state-controlled roads. The physical road continues north.

Comet River Road

Comet River Road is a state-controlled district road (number 4607), rated as a local road of regional significance (LRRS). It runs from the Capricorn Highway in to the northern boundary of , where it becomes Comet–Rolleston Road, a distance of . It does not intersect with any other state-controlled roads.

Anakie–Sapphire Road

Anakie–Sapphire Road is a state-controlled district road (number 5501), rated as a local road of regional significance (LRRS). It runs from Bon Accord Road in , across the Capricorn Highway, to Rubyvale Road in , a distance of . It does not intersect with any other state-controlled roads.

Alpha–Tambo Road

Alpha–Tambo Road is a state-controlled district road (number 443), rated as a local road of regional significance (LRRS). It runs from the Capricorn Highway in to the Dawson Developmental Road in , a distance of . It does not intersect with any other state-controlled roads.

References

{{Road infrastructure in Queensland Highways in Queensland