One of Australia’s most iconic unsealed roads is unsealed no more, as the bitumenising of the Cape Leveque Road in Western Australia has been completed.
The $65-million upgrade of the 90-kilometre stretch of road between Broome and the Dampier Peninsula in the Kimberley region has transformed the drive … and will no doubt encourage many more grey nomads and other travellers to explore the area.
But there are concerns.
The WA Government allocated $1 million to a working group of stakeholders on the Peninsula last year, which included Bardi Jawi Indigenous Protected Area coordinator, Daniel Oades.
The ABC reports that he and the group have been working on a management plan but have not formalised any plans at this stage to manage tourists and communicate appropriate usage of the area.
“It’s the majority of Aboriginal native title land up the Peninsula … there’s a lot of tracks that should not be accessed by just the average tourists — for privacy, landowner and cultural heritage concerns,” Mr Oades told the ABC. “You’re going to get a lot of uninformed people looking for free camping and we’ve been taking care of some of those people, but we’ve got to really get our story straight … and really make it clear to any visitors about what kind of visitation is allowed.”
In the interim, signage will be erected to inform tourists entering the region.
There already a large number of established stunning camping spots in the area, including the likes of Middle Lagoon and James Price Point.
The project to seal the road began in 2018 in a bid to improve access to and from the Dampier Peninsula year-round. The road has long been prone to flooding during the wet and a rough drive during the dry.
Hoping the WA premier opens the border so the other state ‘nomaders’ can enjoy the area.
I drove from Broom to Beagle Bay many years ago and the ruts in the road were HUGE. Could feel the bottom of the 4WD bottom out many a time. Was not game to drive any further.
Glad we did it when it was rough and not so many on that road
Glad qe did it while still unsealed
Gate it & pay for a permit to go on it, that will stop a lot of people destroying the area