The Cairns Western Arterial Road is a numbered state route in the Cairns Region of

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The road provides a primary access route across the Brinsmead Gap for suburbs west of the Whitfield Range, and is one of two major crossings over the Barron River. In 2007, it was estimated that 24,000 vehicles per day used the road. After proceeding north-west for 2.4 km from the Bruce Highway at

Bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas. The first house in England that was classified as a b ...

, the

dual carriageway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

road alignment follows Reservoir Road west of a signalised intersection with Pease Street in the suburb of Manoora. A number of suburban streets connect directly to the arterial between here and Enmore Road. West of Enmore Road, the route rises over high terrain. A grade separated interchange provides access to McManus Street, Whitfield through this section. Beyond this point, access from some side streets is possible as the alignment passes Kanimbla and Brinsmead. Turning north from Brinsmead to follow the Redlynch Valley, the road becomes a single carriageway passing over the

Kuranda Scenic Railway The Kuranda Scenic Railway is a tourist railway service that operates along the heritage-listed Cairns-to-Kuranda railway line. Constructed in 1891, the line runs from Cairns, Queensland, over the Great Dividing Range to the town of Kuranda o ...

and through Kamerunga where it crosses the Barron River. North of the river, the arterial provides access to

Caravonica Caravonica ( lij, Caironega) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about northwest of Imperia. Caravonica borders the following municipalities: Borgomaro, ...

before joining the Captain Cook Highway at a large

roundabout A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford En ...

adjacent to the

Skyrail Rainforest Cableway Skyrail Rainforest Cableway is a scenic tourist cableway running above the Barron Gorge National Park, in the Wet Tropics of Queensland’s World Heritage Area in Australia. It operates from the Smithfield terminal () in Cairns to the ...

terminal. Plans exist to duplicate the road between Brinsmead and Caravonica, which would include the construction of two bridges and an overpass. Based on current capacity this upgrade is estimated to be complete by 2023, however a proposed 7,500 room resort and casino at

Yorkeys Knob Yorkeys Knob is a coastal suburb of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Yorkeys Knob had a population of 2,759 people. Geography The suburb is approximately north of the centre of Cairns, and is the third beach sub ...

may require the upgrade to occur earlier due to increased traffic volumes associated with the development.

Upgrades

Intersection upgrades

A project to upgrade the intersection with Harley Street, at a cost of $16.3 million, was completed in July 2021. A project to investigate possible upgrades of the Loridan Drive intersection, at a cost of $550,000, was completed in December 2021.

Roadway duplication

A project to duplicate a section of the road, at a total cost of $300 million, completed its planning phase in November 2021. The design phase followed, with construction scheduled to start in late 2022.

Major intersections

The entire road is in the

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

local government area.

References

Roads in Queensland Buildings and structures in Cairns {{Australia-road-stub