Premier steers Western Arterial into faster lane

PREMIER Annastacia Palaszczuk has put her foot on the pedal to quicken the pace on a bizarrely unexplainedly long wait for a crucial Far North road design.

The Cairns TNQ Convoy to Capital Q nominated the $365 million Cairns Western

Arterial Rd (CWAR) upgrade as one of its “big six” priorities.

The Premier was briefed on the matter and threw an unexpected bone the region’s way during a half-hour Q&A session with delegates at Parliament House.

“We have committed $12.45 million through the Queensland Transport and

Roads Investment Program to the planning and detailed design for upgrades on the Cairns Western Arterial Rd,” she said.

“A business case is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2022.

“Can we bring that forward, Dave?”

Department of the Premier and Cabinet Director-General

Dave Stewart was sitting in the small crowd’s front row.

“If you want to, we can,” he said.

How far forward that work will be brought remains to be seen, but the sooner the better.

A measure of the convoy’s success will be whether or not the actual construction funds – or a significant portion of it – will be included in the upcoming election budget.

It comes just a day after Barron River MP Craig Crawford told the Cairns Post it made sense to get the ball rolling on the project since the Smithfield bypass would “most likely funnel a lot of extra traffic onto the Western Arterial” once completed.

Mr Crawford said co-ordinated shows of regional unity such as the convoy were important to making the Far North’s voice heard.

“Doing this is the classic kind of regional lobbying that Brisbane needs and Canberra needs as well,” he said.

“Most parts of Queensland don’t do this.”