The Capricorn Highway is located in Central

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, and links the city of

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...

with western Queensland. The highway is long, and joins the

Landsborough Highway Landsborough Highway is a highway in western Queensland, Australia, running in the northwest–southeast direction from Morven to Cloncurry. The Landsborough Highway runs through vast tracts of land that was once occupied by William Landsborou ...

at Barcaldine. Formerly National Route 66, Queensland began to convert to the alphanumeric system much of Australia had adopted in the early-2000s and is now designated as A4. The highway runs parallel with the

Tropic of Capricorn The Tropic of Capricorn (or the Southern Tropic) is the circle of latitude that contains the subsolar point at the December (or southern) solstice. It is thus the southernmost latitude where the Sun can be seen directly overhead. It also reac ...

, hence its name. Other towns situated along the highway include (from east to west): Gracemere, Kabra, Stanwell, Westwood,

Gogango Gogango is a rural town and locality in the Rockhampton Region, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Gogango had a population of 111 people. Geography Gogango is in Central Queensland. The Capricorn Highway traverses the south of th ...

Duaringa Duaringa is a town in the Central Highlands Region and a locality split between the Central Highlands Region and the Aboriginal Shire of Woorabinda in Central Queensland, Australia. In the , Duaringa had a population of 262 people. Geography ...

Dingo The dingo (''Canis familiaris'', ''Canis familiaris dingo'', ''Canis dingo'', or ''Canis lupus dingo'') is an ancient (Basal (phylogenetics), basal) lineage of dog found in Australia (continent), Australia. Its taxonomic classification is de ...

Bluff Bluff or The Bluff may refer to: Places Australia * Bluff, Queensland, Australia, a town * The Bluff, Queensland (Ipswich), a rural locality in the city of Ipswich * The Bluff, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a rural locality * Bluff River (New ...

, Blackwater,

Comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

Emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr. and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991) ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York, p ...

Bogantungan Bogantungan is a rural town in the locality of Willows in the Central Highlands Region, Queensland, Australia. Geography The town is north west of the state capital Brisbane and west of the regional city of Rockhampton. The Central Weste ...

Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , whic ...

and

Jericho Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Gove ...

. Running virtually east/west, the highway traverses the area known as the Central Highlands, and crosses the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...

between Alpha and Jericho. File:Capricorn Highway 1312.svg, Capricorn Highway (green on black)

Northern Australia Roads Program upgrade

The

Northern Australia Roads Program Northern Australia Roads Program is a suite of projects designed to deliver upgrades to high priority roads in northern Australia. In 2016 the Australian Government announced 19 projects to be funded under this program, and in 2020 another was add ...

announced in 2016 included the following project for the Capricorn Highway.

Highway duplication

The project to duplicate the section between Rockhampton and Gracemere was completed in mid 2021 at a total cost of $75 million. This will facilitate the construction of the south-western entry to the proposed

Rockhampton Ring Road Rockhampton Ring Road is a proposed highway from on the Capricorn Highway south-west of to on the Bruce Highway to the north-east of Rockhampton, in Queensland, Australia. The road will be two lanes from the Capricorn Highway to a connecti ...

Northern Australian Beef Roads Upgrade

The

Northern Australia Beef Roads Program Northern Australia Beef Roads Program is a suite of projects designed to deliver targeted upgrades to key roads for transporting cattle in northern Australia. In 2016 the Australian Government announced 18 projects to be funded under this program. ...

announced in 2016 included the following project:

Road train access to Rockhampton (stage 2)

The project for upgrading between Gracemere saleyards and the Rockhampton abattoirs to provide access for Type 1 Road Trains was completed by early 2021 at a total cost of $30 million. It involved about of road improvements on four roads: * Capricorn Highway - from Saleyards Road at Gracemere to the Bruce Highway roundabout at Rochhampton (). *

Bruce Highway The Bruce Highway is a major highway in Queensland, Australia. Commencing in the state capital, Brisbane, it passes through areas close to the eastern coast on its way to Cairns in Far North Queensland. The route is part of the Australian Na ...

- from the Capricorn Highway roundabout to the Yaamba Road intersection (). * Rockhampton-Yeppoon Road - from the Bruce Highway intersection south-west to the Emu Park Road intersection (. * Rockhampton-Emu Park Road - from the Rockhampton-Yeppoon Road intersection to St Christophers Chapel Road at ().

Roads of strategic importance upgrades

The

Roads of Strategic Importance Roads of Strategic Importance (ROSI) is a $5.8 billion initiative of the Australian Government designed to help connect regional businesses to local and international markets, and to better connect regional communities. The source for this article ...

initiative, last updated in March 2022, included the following projects for the Capricorn Highway.

Corridor upgrade

A lead project to upgrade the Mount Isa to Rockhampton corridor, including sections of the Capricorn and

s and surrounding state and council roads, at an estimated cost of $237.5 million, was in the planning and scoping stage. Works are expected to include progressive sealing, lane duplications and crossing upgrades.

Intersection upgrade Gregory Highway

A project to upgrade the intersection with the

Gregory Highway The Gregory Highway is a state highway in Queensland, Australia that serves the major coal-mining centres of Central Queensland. The highway was named after Augustus Gregory, an early explorer. Route description The highway runs southward from ...

in at a cost of $7.9 million is scheduled for completion in mid-2023. This project was targeted for "early works" by the Queensland Government.

Other upgrades

Intersection upgrade

A project to upgrade an intersection in Blackwater, at a cost of $6.24 million, was expected to finish in early 2022.

Pavement strengthening and/or widening

A project to strengthen and widen pavement just east of Emerald, at a cost of $5 million, was expected to finish in mid-2022. A project to widen pavement east of Alpha, at a cost of $9.65 million, was due for completion in late 2022.

Major intersections

References

{{Road infrastructure in Queensland Highways in Queensland