Peak Downs Highway | |
|---|---|
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| Peak Downs Highway depicted in green on black. | |
| General information | |
| Type | Highway |
| Length | 283 km (176 mi) |
| Route number(s) |  State Route 70 |
| Major junctions | |
| East end |  Bruce Highway, Mackay, Queensland |
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| West end |  Clermont–Alpha Road (State Route 41), Clermont, Queensland |
| Location(s) | |
| Major settlements | Moranbah, Nebo, Eton |
| Highway system | |
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The Peak Downs Highway links the towns of Mackay and Clermont in the Australian state of Queensland.[1] It represents the main link between Queensland's Whitsunday Coast and the Central West region of the state. The highway runs for a total length of 266 kilometres (165 mi), before joining the Gregory Highway (Highway A7, formerly Highway 55) south to Clermont, a total of 283 kilometres (176 mi).[2] Major settlements served by this route include Walkerston, Nebo, Moranbah (10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north of the highway, but the largest town along the route) and Clermont.
The ABC has described the road as "crucial to the national economy" but, reporting 550 crashes in 10 years, said that it had been likened to roads in the Third World. "Someone is killed or seriously injured on the Peak Downs Highway on average about once every two-and-a-half weeks," it said.[3] In December 2019 Mackay's Daily Mercury reported that 49 people had been killed and more than 1000 injured on the highway.[4]
- ^ Queensland Government - Department of Transport and Main Roads - Maps
- ^ Hema, Maps (2007). Australia Road and 4WD Atlas (Map). Eight Mile Plains Queensland: Hema Maps. pp. 10–11. ISBN 978-1-86500-456-3.
- ^ "Mining towns say deadly highway a disgrace". ABC News. 24 May 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
- ^ "Statistics reveal the Peak Downs Highway has killed 49 and injured more than 1000". Daily Mercury via Courier Mail. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2023.