Carnarvon Highway is a state

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

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 ...

and

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia, linking the township of Rolleston in Queensland's

Central Highlands Region Central Highlands Region is a local government area in Queensland, Australia. In the , the Central Highlands Region had a population of 27,836 people. History '' Wadja'' (also known as ''Wadjigu'', ''Wadya'', ''Wadjainngo'', ''Mandalgu'', a ...

, via the town of

St George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the R ...

, eventually to Moree in northern New South Wales. It is the main access road to the

Carnarvon National Park Carnarvon National Park is located in the Southern Brigalow Belt bioregion in the Maranoa Region in Central Queensland, Australia. The park is 593 km northwest of Brisbane. It began life as a reserve gazetted in 1932 to protect Carnarvon ...

, and serves as a strategic route to take B-doubles and other large vehicles (which cannot use

Bruce Highway The Bruce Highway is a major highway in Queensland, Australia. Commencing in the state capital, Brisbane, it passes through areas close to the eastern coast on its way to Cairns in Far North Queensland. The route is part of the Australian Natio ...

) to the Queensland ports north 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- ...

Route

Carnarvon Highway commences at the intersection with

Dawson Highway The Dawson Highway is a state highway in Queensland, Australia. It runs for between Gladstone, Queensland, Gladstone and Springsure, Queensland, Springsure where it terminates. From Gladstone to Rolleston, Queensland, Rolleston it is signed as ...

just west of Rolleston in Queensland, and heads in southerly direction until it reaches

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

, where it shares a short concurrency with

Warrego Highway The Warrego Highway is located in southern Queensland, Australia. It connects coastal centres to the south western areas of the state, and is approximately 715 km in length. It takes its name from the Warrego River, which is the endpoint ...

, and continues south to

, where it meets the Moonie, Balonne, and

Castlereagh Highway Castlereagh Highway is a state highway located in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia. From north to south the highway traverses South West Queensland and the North West Slopes, Orana (New South Wales), Orana, and Central West (New South ...

s. It crosses the state border at Mungindi to eventually terminate at the intersection with Gwydir Highway in Moree, in New South Wales.

History

The passing of the ''Main Roads (Amendment) Act of 1929'' (which amended the original ''Main Roads Act of 1924'') through the

Parliament of New South Wales The Parliament of New South Wales, formally the Legislature of New South Wales, (definition of "The Legislature") is the bicameral legislative body of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW). It consists of the Monarch, the New South Wa ...

on 8 April 1929 provided for the declaration of State Highways, Trunk Roads and Main Roads, partially funded by the State government through the Main Roads Board (later the Department of Main Roads, and eventually

Transport for NSW Transport for NSW (TfNSW) is a Government of New South Wales, New South Wales Government transport services and roads List of New South Wales government agencies, agency established on 1 November 2011. The agency is a different entity to the NSW ...

). Main Road 232 was declared on 21 November 1933, from the intersection with Main Road 338 (Moree-Boggabilla Road, later to become

Newell Highway Newell Highway is a National Highway (Australia), national highway in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. It provides the major road link between southeastern Queensland and Victoria (state), Victoria via central NSW and as such carries large amo ...

) at Moree, via Ashley, Garah and Boomi to the state border with Queensland at Boonangar, and Main Road 367 was declared on 23 March 1937 from the intersection with Main Road 232 at Garah to the state border with Queensland at Mungindi. The passing of the ''Roads Act of 1993'' through the

updated road classifications and the way they could be declared within New South Wales. Under this act, Carnarvon Highway was declared as State Highway 28 on 7 August 1998, from the intersection with Newell Highway at Moree via Ashley and Garah to the state border with Queensland at Mungindi, subsuming Main Road 367; the southern end of Main Road 232 was truncated to meet Carnarvon Highway at Garah. The highway today, as Highway 28, still retains this declaration. It was formerly known as Carnarvon Developmental Road north of

. Queensland signed its portion of Carnarvon Highway as National Route 55 between 1983 and 1997. However, New South Wales had previously signed

between Gilgandra and Walgett as National Route 55 in 1974, extending it to the border by 1983. This caused a major discrepancy for many years in that National Route 55 met the border at Mungindi but abruptly begun again over 100 kilometres (62 mi) west along the border at Hebel. The Queensland Road Department eventually changed this in 1997, diverting National Route 55 along its portion of Castlereagh Highway over the border south to Hebel; the former allocation between St George and Mungindi was then re-allocated National Route 46, however the New South Wales portion remained unallocated. With Queensland's conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in 2004, its route number was updated to route A7 between Rolleston and Roma (continuing north along Dawson and

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 ...

s to

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 ...

and

Charters Towers Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by road south-west from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the town boomed as the rich gold deposits und ...

), and A55 between Roma and St George; it is still allocated National Route 46 between St George and the border, and is still unallocated between the border and Moree.

Roads of Strategic Importance upgrades

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

Corridor upgrade

A lead project to upgrade the Townsville to Roma corridor, including sections of Gregory, Dawson and Carnarvon Highways and surrounding state and council roads, at an estimated cost of $125 million, commenced construction of some work projects in 2020. Planning continues for other projects.

Intersection upgrade Arcadia Valley Road

A project to upgrade the intersection with Arcadia Valley Road at a cost of $925,000 was completed in January 2022. This project was targeted for "early works" by the Queensland Government.

Intersection upgrade Castlereagh Highway

A project to upgrade the intersection with

at a cost of $3.4 million is due for completion in mid-2022. This project is targeted for "early works" by the Queensland Government.

Intersection upgrade Salmon Road

A project to upgrade the intersection with Salmon Road at a cost of $4.8 million is due for completion in mid-2022. This project is targeted for "early works" by the Queensland Government.

Orange Hill safety treatments

A project to upgrade Carnarvon Highway near at a cost of $3.9 million was expected to finish in late 2021. This project was targeted for "early works" by the Queensland Government.

Other upgrades

Widen and seal

A project to widen and seal a section of road north of Injune, at a cost of $5.22 million, started in May 2021. A project to widen and seal a section of road east of St George, at a cost of $4.5 million, was completed in August 2021.

Replace steel culvert

A project to replace a steel culvert just east of Surat, at a cost of $3.6 million, was completed in October 2021.

Widen and replace culvert

A project to widen and replace a culvert north of Roma, at a cost of $1.36 million, started in September 2021.

Proposals

The Queensland Inland Freight Route is a proposal to upgrade the existing highways from to Mungindi. This would involve significant upgrades to Carnarvon Highway between Rolleston and Mungindi.

List of towns on the Carnarvon Highway

* Moree * Ashley * Garah *

Mungindi Mungindi is a town and locality on the border of New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland, Australia. The town is within Moree Plains Shire in New South Wales. Within Queensland, the locality is split between the Shire of Balonne (the western part) ...

Surat Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...

* Injune * Rolleston

Major intersections

References

{{Road infrastructure in Queensland Highways in Australia Highways in Queensland Highways in New South Wales