The roads that join the towns of , and form a triangle that encloses some of the most fertile land on the

Darling Downs The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was generall ...

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. These roads are the

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 ...

Oakey–Cooyar Road Oakey–Cooyar Road is a continuous road route in the Darling Downs and Toowoomba regions of Queensland, Australia. The entire route is signed as State Route 68. It is a state-controlled part regional and part district road (number 417). It ...

and Dalby–Cooyar Road. Several of the more significant internal roads intersect with Dalby–Cooyar Road, and these are briefly described in this article, along with some significant external roads. Dalby–Cooyar Road is a continuous road route in the Western Downs and

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 C ...

regions of Queensland. It is a regional road (number 416). It is part of the shortest route from the Sunshine Coast and to Dalby.

Route description

The Dalby–Cooyar Road commences at an intersection with the

Bunya Highway The Bunya Highway is a state highway of Queensland, Australia. It is a relatively short road, running approximately 173 kilometres in a south-westerly direction from Goomeri to Dalby. The highway connects the Warrego and Burnett Highways. Th ...

(State Route 49) in . It leaves Dalby as Irvingdale Road and runs east, soon becoming Dalby–Cooyar Road. It turns north-east and reaches the eastern boundary of Dalby, where it passes the exit to Dalby–Nungil Road and turns north, passing between Dalby and before turning north-east and running through from south to east. In Kaimkillenbun village it passes the exit to Bell–Kaimkillenbun Road and turns east. At the eastern boundary of Kaimkillenbun it passes the exit to Bunya Mountains Road and enters , which it runs through from west to east, passing the exit to Bowenville–Moola Road. It then runs between and for a short distance before passing the exit to Pechey–Maclagan Road and turning north-east into Maclagan. In Maclagan village Bunya Mountains–Maclagan Road exits to the west and then turns north. Dalby–Cooyar Road continues north-east through Maclagan until it nears the eastern boundary, where it turns east and enters . The road ends at an intersection with

(State Route 68) in Nutgrove. Land use along this road is mainly crop farming. This road is part of a

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

that enables access to the locality of Bunya Mountains from three lowland points, thus providing alternatives in case of flooding, other natural disasters, or planned maintenance.

Internal roads

Pechey–Maclagan Road

Pechey–Maclagan Road is a state-controlled district road (number 418), rated as a local road of regional significance (LRRS). It starts at on the

New England Highway New England Highway is an long highway in Australia running from Yarraman, north of Toowoomba, Queensland at its northern end to Hexham at Newcastle, New South Wales at its southern end. It is part of Australia's National Highway system, an ...

and runs west through several localities before entering the triangle at on the Oakey–Cooyar Road. It continues west to , where it turns north to Maclagan and ends at the Dalby–Cooyar Road. In Brymaroo it intersects with Jondaryan–Nungil Road, thus providing a direct south-north link from the Warrego Highway at to Maclagan.

Bowenville–Moola Road

This road provides a direct south-north link from the Warrego Highway at to the Dalby–Cooyar Road.

Dalby–Nungil Road

This road runs east from Dalby, intersecting with Bowenville–Moola Road and Pechey–Maclagan Road, thus providing a direct west-east link from Dalby to Rosalie Plains and beyond.

External roads

Bunya Mountains Road

Bunya Mountains Road is a state-controlled district road (number 4161), rated LRRS. It runs from Dalby–Cooyar Road to the

Bunya Mountains The Bunya Mountains are a distinctive set of peaks forming an isolated section of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland. The mountain range forms the northern edge of the Darling Downs in the locality also called Bunya Mountains ne ...

. It is part of the shortest route from Dalby to the Bunya Mountains.

Bunya Mountains–Maclagan Road

This is a state-controlled district road (number 4163), part of which is rated LRRS. It runs from Maclagan through Moola to the Bunya Mountains Road. Together with Jondaryan–Nungil Road and Pechey–Maclagan Road it provides a fairly direct route from the Warrego Highway at Jondaryan to the Bunya Mountains. There is an unsealed section of on this road.

Bell–Kaimkillenbun Road

This road connects the Bunya Highway at Bell to the Dalby–Cooyar Road at Kaimkillenbun. Part of it is part of the shortest route from Bell to the Bunya Mountains.

History

The Dalby area was settled in the 1840s, and a township was surveyed in 1853 and founded in 1854. A post office opened in 1855 and a school in 1861. The

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

arrived in 1868, allowing the town to grow as the commercial centre for properties around it. Irvingdale

pastoral run A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands. Australia Pastoral lea ...

was established in the 1840s. In 1849 a pastoral run named Cumkillenbar was established in the area now named Kaimkillenbun. The first roads were cut to enable access to the pastoral runs and other settlements for wheeled vehicles. In 1889 the town that is now Maclagan was surveyed, and a butter and cheese factory was established in Quinalow. A reliable road connection from these towns to Dalby was needed to provide access to markets and larger items of equipment. The extension of the road to Cooyar was the logical completion of a "missing link". Cooyar was first established as a pastoral run. In 1877 a total of was resumed from Cooyar to enable the establishment of smaller farms.

Major intersections

All distances are from Google Maps.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalby-Cooyar Road Roads in Queensland