Business
24 July, 2024
Win-win: Carpentaria Shire's road funding to help Burketown, Doomadgee
A $20 million upgrade of the key freight road is already underway.
Carpentaria Shire Council will get the funding to complete the work, but the real winners of a $20 million road upgrade will be the residents of Doomadgee and Burketown.
Assistant Minister for Regional Development Anthony Chisholm joined Carpentaria Shire mayor Jack Bawden in the Gulf earlier this month to meet the team who are leading the upgrade of Burketown-Normanton Road, which has already begun.
The federal government has allocated $16 million towards the project, with Carpentaria Shire committing $4 million.
“We get the work and they (Burketown and Doomadgee) get the road,” said Cr Bawden.
“It’s a win-win, I reckon.”
Senator Chisholm said the key Gulf road was a crucial link for livestock and agricultural industries in the region.
“The upgrades will progressively seal 26.4 kilometres of the road, providing a more reliable road network for tourism and freight, support pastoral and agricultural ventures in the Gulf, and improve connectivity for remote communities,” he said.
Construction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2027.