I know some think the Kuranda Range repairs are stuck in the slow lane-but in reality, it’s steadily progressing, just not at the speed anyone would wish for.
The Kuranda Range is not a standard road fix-it’s one of the most technically and environmentally complex road corridors in the country, if not the world. Crews have been dealing with more than 30 major landslips, requiring deep geotechnical reconstruction, slope stabilisation, soil nailing, netting, and long-term drainage works. Did you know that our region has required more soil nails to fix our ranges than the whole of Australia uses in a year? On top of that, the road sits within the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, meaning every stage of work must carefully protect rare and threatened flora and fauna, while also meeting strict environmental approval requirements.
Native Title considerations and cultural heritage assessments add further layers of consultation and compliance, alongside the engineering challenge of rebuilding on steep, unstable terrain that continues to move after extreme rainfall events.
To make it even more complex, a lot of the machinery required to fix the road can’t be used while traffic is using the road. That is why we have night closures so that specialised road crews and machinery can operate safely.
It’s absolutely inefficient and costly, and TMR would love to make it happen faster.
The only way that would happen though is if the road was closed for longer periods, or for several months to get the works done which would impact the community significantly.
The community must remember that this disaster was the worst thing to hit our region in 100 years.
There is no progress without pain.
TMR are making steady but necessarily careful progress on a uniquely challenging corridor, and they tell me that they are still on track to finish the repairs by the end of the year despite an extended wet season this year, and another weather event in 2025 that added more work to this already massive job.
The good news is, any repairs TMR have done over the years have a 98% success rate of holding, so once it’s repaired- it’s a long-term fix.
TMR has implemented manual traffic control to improve traffic flow on this critical route. If there was no traffic control and automated, sure, it would cost a lot less. But the flow would not be managed as well as it is by humans. We’ve all been at one of the automated lights and it’s malfunctioned. A target average delay of 10 minutes is in place, with travel times continuously monitored. Peak traffic times, accidents and incidents still happen on the range which as expected, extend this time.
Progress report to date: 37 sites identified for repair with 30 sites now completed.
More night works are expected to commence in order to get these final, very complex sites finished by the end of the year. Your patience and understanding during this time will be tested, however we are on the home stretch- I will continue to keep you up to date.
To enable major reconstruction works to continue safely, the Kuranda Range will be closed overnight from Sunday 2 August through to Thursday 24 September 2026, subject to weather and site conditions.
During this period:
- The road will close at 9:00pm and reopen at 4:00am.
- Closures will occur Sunday to Thursday nights only.
- There will be no scheduled closures on Friday or Saturday nights.
- Traffic will be permitted through once in each direction at midnight to assist motorists needing access during the closure period.
The closures will allow crews to complete critical reconstruction work at the major downslope slip below Henry Ross Lookout, including rebuilding road pavement and installing new safety barriers. Additional works requiring a full road closure will also be carried out during this period.
Since Tropical Cyclone Jasper, extensive repair work has been undertaken along the Kennedy Highway between Cairns and Mareeba.
As of July 2026:
Tropical Cyclone Jasper Recovery Works
- 37 damaged sites were identified for repair.
- 30 sites have already been completed, including 25 on Kuranda Range Road and five on the Kennedy Highway between Kuranda and Mareeba.
- Four sites are currently under repair.
- Three additional sites are scheduled to commence later this year.
February 2025 Weather Event Recovery Works
- 10 sites were identified for repairs on Kuranda Range Road.
- Three sites have been completed.
- Two sites are currently under repair.
- Remaining sites are expected to commence during 2026
One of the most significant achievements to date has been the completion of an 11-metre-high gabion basket retaining wall at the major landslip site below Henry Ross Lookout.
Work is now focused on rebuilding the traffic lane and rehabilitating the access track, with repairs currently on schedule for completion and the restoration of full two-way traffic in October 2026, subject to weather and site conditions.
A second major repair site located approximately 1.5 kilometres towards Kuranda from Henry Ross Lookout is also progressing, where crews are stabilising three separate downslope slips. Day and night works are continuing at this location.
Despite the ongoing reconstruction effort, travel data indicates traffic impacts have remained relatively minor for most road users.
In June 2026:
- 98.4% of uphill journeys towards Kuranda experienced delays of less than five minutes.
- Less than 0.1% of journeys experienced delays greater than ten minutes.
The Department of Transport and Main Roads continues to monitor real-time traffic data to minimise disruption wherever possible while balancing the need to complete these essential repairs.
Motorists should also be aware that routine maintenance and inspections will be undertaken on the Barron River Bridge between 3 August and 28 August 2026.
These works will involve:
- Single-lane traffic arrangements.
- Short intermittent full bridge closures between 17 and 28 August.
- Maintenance occurring every night, including Fridays and Saturdays.
Importantly, any full closures will pause during the midnight traffic release period to allow queued vehicles to pass safely.
The Kuranda Range reconstruction project represents one of the most significant recovery efforts undertaken in our region following the devastating impacts of Tropical Cyclone Jasper and subsequent severe weather events.
While there is still work ahead, the completion of 30 repair sites and the progress being made at the major landslip locations demonstrate that the project is steadily moving toward restoring the Range’s full capacity and improving resilience for the future.
I thank local residents, commuters, transport operators and businesses for their patience and understanding as these vital works continue. The end result will be a safer, stronger and more reliable Kuranda Range for everyone who depends on it
