The plan to seal the iconic Tanami Road in Central Australia has received another boost, with the Commonwealth government announcing it has allocated an additional $200m to the ambitious project.
The supplementary funding facilitates the sealing of additional sections of this crucial western corridor. It will enable the upgrading and sealing of a further 150 kilometres of the 1035km road linking Alice Springs to the Great Northern Highway near Halls Creek. Work on this section is expected to be completed by late 2025.
The major share of infrastructure funding in the Territory comes from the Australian Government, with the Territory relying heavily on this funding to deliver infrastructure upgrades.
The Tanami Road is an adventurous short cut. PIC: Shire of Halls Creek
“The Territory Labor Government will continue advocating for its fair share of funding and we are committed to delivering an infrastructure network that improves efficiency, connectivity and safety for all Territorians,” said Minister for Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics Joel Bowden. “Infrastructure projects in the Territory create local jobs both in our urban hubs, as well as for regional and remote Territorians.”
Earlier this month, Federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King confirmed the sealing of the Tanami Road would go ahead, despite growing fears for a number of major projects due to a $33 billion cost blowout to road and rail projects nationwide.
At the start of this year, communities in the East Kimberley were cut off from southern WA by record-breaking floods that damaged the Fitzroy Crossing bridge.
Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley deputy Shire president Tony Chafer told the WA News that the incident showed how urgently the sealing was needed.
“If the Tanami Road had been done several years ago, we wouldn’t have been nearly as isolated,” he said. “Going down the Tanami, we’re closer by road to Adelaide than Perth from Kununurra … it would have been an excellent second option for us.”
Back in June, a Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee revealed that the work to fully seal the Tanami may not actually be completed for 10 years.
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Sealing these major direct routes will make major cost savings to the economy in the form of better fuel economies, tyre, windsceen, suspension and body repair, costs. The saving of time and most importantly less accidents are the major benefits.
All Governments are guilty of frivolous spending but baulk at critical infrastructure that will have long lasting benefits to their constituents.
“Just get on with it”
A few years ago, Western Australia was cut off by sealed road from the rest of Australia. The Great Northern Highway was cut south of Derby for weeks due to a cyclone and the Eyre Highway was closed due to massive bushfires. Just sealing part of the Tanami rd isn’t good enough. The Great central Road should be sealed in its entirety, giving WA at least another option in case the closure of the other 2 sealed roads are closed again at the same time. The Great Northern Highway was cut for quite some time this year due to the Fitzroy River bridge being washed away, leaving only the Eyre Highway open.
The GCR should be done at the same time as the Tanami, common bl…y sense the government don’t have!
Spot on Rob.Living in WA we need this.+ sealing Hyden to Norseman connect to Great Eastern highway.another way to connect WA .
Having walked cattle from Billiluna Station in the early 60’s and helping put down the bores needed for this to happen, I would love to see this road and the Great Central roads bitumised. Now 84 yrs old I would love to go on this road again. I also graded this road from Yuendemu to Billiluna stn through Mongrel/Tanami Downs in 1967 when it was just a flat graded dirt road.
I omitted to say on my recent comment , that the cattle (usually a herd of 1500 to 2000) were walked from Billiluna stn to Hamilton Downs stn. Almost 500+ miles. The longest dry spell was 3 days. Cattle were walked around 14 miles per day. Almost 2 months on the road.
We crossed the Tanami in 2013 unsealed and Rabbit Flat Roade House closed and had to carry an extra 100Litres of fuel to get to Halls Creek, and I would be happy to pay a toll to travel it when sealed. Even a $25.00 fee to travel the entire 1035 Klms would be less than the fuel costs saved, and you would get more holiday makers traveling the Tanami. Even more would travel it if there was a servo mid-way. Great project.