Diamantina Developmental Road

The Diamantina Developmental Road is a gazetted road in Queensland, Australia, that runs from Charleville in the south-central part of the state to Mount Isa in the north-west.^[1]

Diamantina Developmental Road Queensland
Diamantina Developmental Road, Charleville to Quilpie, 1979
General information
Type	Rural road
Length	1,344 km (835 mi)
Route number(s)	State Route 14 (Charleville – Windorah) State Route 12 (Windorah – Bedourie) National Route 83 (Bedourie – Mount Isa)
Major junctions
South-east end	Mitchell Highway (State Highway A71), Charleville, Queensland
	Quilpie Adavale Road Quilpie Thargomindah Road Cooper Developmental Road Thomson Developmental Road (former National Route 79) Birdsville Developmental Road (State Route 14) Eyre Developmental Road (National Route 83) Winton Road (State Route 62) Donohue Highway
North-west end	Barkly Highway (National Route 83 / State Route A2), Mount Isa, Queensland
Location(s)
Major settlements	Quilpie, Windorah, Bedourie, Boulia, Dajarra

Route description

Near Quilpie, 2012

Near Mount Isa, 2016

The road passes through the towns of Quilpie, Windorah, Bedourie, Boulia, and Dajarra in its 1344 kilometer length, and most of it is sealed.^[2] Some sections between Windorah and Boulia are unsealed. The section from Boulia to Mount Isa is also known as the Boulia Mount Isa Highway and the section from Bedourie to Boulia is also known as the Boulia Bedourie Road. The section from the Eromanga boundary to the Windorah CBD is also known as the Quilpie Windorah Road.

The road crosses several well known rivers and creeks of the Channel Country of south-west Queensland, including the Paroo River, Bulloo River, Cooper Creek and Diamantina River.

Responsible authority

Maintenance of the road is the responsibility of the Queensland Government.^[1]

Northern Australia Beef Roads upgrade

The Northern Australia Beef Roads Program announced in 2016 included the following project for the Diamantina Developmental Road.

Rehabilitation and widening

The project to rehabilitate and widen the road from Boulia to Dajarra was completed in mid 2019 at a total cost of $5 million.^[3]

Other upgrades

Widen narrow seal

A project to widen the narrow seal on almost 3 kilometres (2 mi) of road immediately south of Boulia, at a cost of $2.145 million, was completed in June 2021.^[4]

Reconstruct and widen

A project to reconstruct and widen 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) of road immediately north of Boulia, at a cost of $1.025 million, was completed in April 2021.^[5]

Widen and seal

A project to widen and seal two sections of road west of Charleville, at a cost of $6.65 million, was completed in March 2022.^[6]

Floodway upgrade

A project to upgrade the Top Limestone Creek floodway, at a cost of $1.5 million, was completed in September 2020.^[7]

Major intersections

LGA	Location	km	mi	Destinations	Notes
Murweh	Charleville	0	0.0	Mitchell Highway (State Highway A71) – north – Augathella / south – Cunnamulla	South-eastern end of Diamantina Developmental Road (State Route 14)
Quilpie	Quilpie	197	122	Quilpie Adavale Road – north – Adavale
		212	132	Quilpie Thargomindah Road – south – Thargomindah
		247	153	Cooper Developmental Road – west – Eromanga
Quilpie / Barcoo boundary	Eromanga / Windorah boundary	385	239		Name changes to Quilpie Windorah Road
Barcoo	Windorah	450	280	Thomson Developmental Road (See Notes column) – north – Longreach	Thomson Developmental Road is part of a former proposed National Route 79 from Melbourne to Longreach. This route is now signed as M79/A79 from Melbourne to Mildura, then B79 to Broken Hill, beyond which there is no signed number.[8]
		456	283		Name reverts to Diamantina Developmental Road as it passes through Windorah CBD
		566	352	Birdsville Developmental Road (State Route 14) – south–west – Birdsville	Road changes to State Route 12
Diamantina	Bedourie	824	512	Eyre Developmental Road (National Route 83) – south – Birdsville	Road changes to National Route 83
		847	526		Name changes to Boulia Bedourie Road as it passes through Bedourie CBD
Boulia	Boulia	1,038	645	Winton Road (State Route 62) – east – Winton	Name changes to Boulia Mount Isa Highway
		1,048	651	Donohue Highway – west – Queensland / Northern Territory border, where it becomes Plenty Highway (NT State Route 12)
Mount Isa	Mount Isa	1,344	835	Barkly Highway (State Highway A2) – north, then west – Camooweal / Barkly Highway (National Highway 83) – east – Cloncurry	North–western end of Diamantina Developmental Road
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Route transition

References

1. "Queensland Government – Department of Transport and Main Roads – Maps". Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
2. Hema, Maps (2007). Australia Road and 4WD Atlas (Map). Eight Mile Plains Queensland: Hema Maps. pp. 16, 17, 18, 19. ISBN 978-1-86500-456-3.
3. "Diamantina Developmental Road – (Boulia – Dajarra) – Rehabilitation and Widening". Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications. 18 June 2019. Archived from the original on 16 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
4. "Diamantina Developmental Road (Bedourie – Boulia), widen narrow seal". Queensland Government. 22 November 2021. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
5. "Diamantina Developmental Road (Boulia – Dajarra) Outback Way, reconstruct and widen". Queensland Government. 22 November 2021. Archived from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
6. "Diamantina Developmental Road (Charleville – Quilpie), widen and seal". Queensland Government. 24 May 2022. Archived from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
7. "Top Limestone Creek floodway upgrade". Queensland Government. 22 November 2021. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
8. "National Route 79". ozroads.com.au. Archived from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2017.

External links

Media related to Diamantina Developmental Road at Wikimedia Commons