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Warrego Highway
The Warrego Highway is located in southern Queensland, Australia. It connects coastal centres to the south western areas of the state, and is approximately 715 km in length. It takes its name from the Warrego River, which is the endpoint of the highway. The entire highway is part of the National Highway system linking Darwin and Brisbane: formerly National Highway 54, Queensland began to convert to the alphanumeric system much of Australia had adopted in the early-2000s and this road is now designated as National Highway A2. State-controlled roadWarrego Highway is a state-controlled road, divided into seven sections for administrative and funding purposes. Six of the seven sections (numbers 18A to 18F) are part of the National Highway, while section 18G is a regional road.[1][2][3][4] The sections are:
State-controlled roads that intersect with the highway are listed in the main article. Route descriptionThe highway commences at the end of the M2 Ipswich Motorway, near Ipswich and runs to Helidon Spa, at the foot of the Great Dividing Range. From there it follows the Toowoomba Bypass to Charlton, west of Toowoomba. The Warrego then crosses the Darling Downs, bypassing the town of Oakey and then passing through the towns of Dalby, Chinchilla and Miles, in the Western Downs. The highway continues through the towns of Roma and Mitchell in the Maranoa Region of South West Queensland. After Morven, the A2 Route continues north–west along the Landsborough Highway, with the western turnoff continuing the Warrego Highway down to its terminus at Charleville. The section of highway between Ipswich and Charlton is mostly motorway grade; a four lane divided highway with motorway-style on-ramps and off-ramps. At a point between Charlton and Oakey the highway merges from 4 to 2 lanes (however, throughout 2017–2019, the highway was planned to be duplicated up until Oakey)[5] Then, the highway mostly continues in a straight line with minimal turns. At Dalby, the highway briefly returns to 4 lanes (where a longer stretch of the highway was planned to be duplicated in 2017). The Warrego then continues as a rural 2 lane highway, until Charleville. TerrainThe Warrego Highway's lowest point along its length is 3.69 m just east of where it crosses the Bremer River near Ipswich, and its highest elevation is at the top of the Great Dividing Range on the Toowoomba Bypass.[6] Speed zones
Towns along the route From east to west, the highway passes through or close to the cities and major towns of:
Gallery
HistoryIn January 2011, the former highway was extensively damaged where it crossed the Toowoomba Range. This included land slips, shoulder and embankment erosion, the erosion of drains and damaged rock fall netting.[7] The road wasn't fully repaired with all four lanes open until September 2011.[8] The Toowoomba Bypass was completed in September 2019 and bypasses the urban area of Toowoomba and provides a better crossing of the Great Dividing Range. Warrego Highway (A2) was rerouted via the bypass between Helidon Spa (in the east) and the interchange at Charlton (in the west). The bypass continues as the Gore Highway (A39) and is 41 km in length. The original section of Warrego Highway through Toowoomba was renamed Toowoomba Connection Road (A21).[9] Major works
Recent developmentsDalby Eastern & Western AccessThese projects began in 2017 to fully duplicate the highway to 4 lanes, between Cecil Plains Road and Black Street. 4 new traffic signals were added at Black Street, Jandowae Road, Orpen Street and a pedestrian signal near Owen Street. Both projects were completed in November 2018, at a combined cost of $115 million.[22] Roads of Strategic ImportanceThe Roads of Strategic Importance initiative, last updated in March 2022, includes the following project for the Warrego Highway. Priority section projectsA project to upgrade priority sections of the Toowoomba to Ipswich corridor, including the Warrego Highway and surrounding state and council roads, at an estimated cost of $75 million, was in planning in May 2020.[23] Other projectsBrimblecombe Road intersectionA project to upgrade the Brimblecombe Road intersection between Toowoomba and Dalby, at a cost of $2,75 million, was completed in December 2021.[24] Gatton heavy vehicle decoupling facilityA project to provide a heavy vehicle decoupling facility at Gatton was completed by November 2021.[25] Master plan Ipswich to ToowoombaA master plan for the upgrade of the highway between Ipswich and Toowoomba has been developed at a cost of $6.78 million.[26] Haigslea–Amberley Road intersectionA project to plan the upgrade of the Haigslea-Amberley Road intersection, at a cost of $799,000, was in progress in May 2022.[27] Mount Crosby Road intersectionA project to plan the upgrade of the Mount Crosby Road intersection, at a cost of $5 million, was in progress in July 2021.[28] Other items of interestDarren Lockyer Way On 28 September 2011 the Queensland Main Roads Minister, Craig Wallace, announced that an 85 km stretch of the Warrego Highway was to be renamed Darren Lockyer Way, in honour of the retired Brisbane Broncos, Queensland and Australian rugby league captain. The section of road renamed is from Riverview to the bottom of the Toowoomba Range at Withcott. Special signage including "Welcome to Darren Lockyer Way" has been erected.[29] Major intersections
See alsoReferences
External links
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