Richmond–Croydon Road is a continuous road route in the

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

and Etheridge local government areas of

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. It is part of the shortest route from the / area to and . It is also part of the inland freight network linking cattle properties to major freight routes on the Landsborough and

Flinders Flinders may refer to: Places Antarctica * Flinders Peak, near the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula Australia New South Wales * Flinders County, New South Wales * Shellharbour Junction railway station, Shellharbour * Flinders, New South Wa ...

highways.

Route description

The Richmond–Croydon Road commences at an intersection with the Flinders Highway in . It starts as Goldring Street, running generally north-west through the locality of Richmond. It passes the Richmond Airport and crosses the

Flinders River The Flinders River is the longest river in Queensland, Australia, at approximately . It was named in honour of the explorer Matthew Flinders. The catchment is sparsely populated and mostly undeveloped. The Flinders rises on the western slopes o ...

soon after leaving the town. It then runs through from south to west, crossing the Woolgar River (a tributary of the Flinders) and turning north to follow the boundary between Burleigh and . It continues north, following the boundary between Burleigh and . In Saxby it runs north and then north-east, leaving Saxby and crossing the north-west corner of . It enters and turns north, crossing the

Norman River The Norman River is a river in the Gulf Country, Queensland, Australia. The river originates in the Gregory Range, southeast of Croydon and flows northwest to the Gulf of Carpentaria. It is joined by three major tributaries, the Carron, C ...

and an eastern section of , re-entering Bellfield and turning west. It re-enters Victoria Vale and turns north-west. It then enters and continues generally north until it reaches the northern boundary. Crossing the boundary it enters , where it continues mainly north-west. Reaching the western boundary it loosely follows it until it reaches the

Gulf Developmental Road Gulf Developmental Road is an Australian highway linking the Cairns, Queensland, Cairns and Normanton, Queensland, Normanton regions in northern Queensland, Australia. It is the only sealed (Asphalt concrete, asphalt) road linking these two reg ...

, where it ends at a T-junction. This intersection is about east of Croydon, on the Croydon / Gilbert River mid-point. The section within Gilbert River is in the Etheridge local government area. Land use along this road is mainly stock grazing on native vegetation. There are no major intersections on this road.

Road names

Various sections of the road are known as Richmond–Woolgar Road, Richmond Road, and Croydon Road. Not all mapping systems use the same names for the sections. The name "Richmond–Croydon Road" is used in this article as the most definitive for the entire road.

Road condition

Much of the road remains unsealed, but approximately was sealed in 2018–19 under an $5.2 million project funded by 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. ...

. As at April 2022 the road has approximately single lane sealed, split into sections, and approximately single lane unsealed.

History

Richmond Downs

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 Pastoral farming, graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands. Austral ...

was established in 1864. Gold was discovered at , just north of Richmond, in 1880, and Richmond became a stagecoach stop for prospectors on the way to Woolgar. The town was surveyed in 1882, and the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

arrived in 1904. The town became the administrative centre for the district. There are many large properties (cattle stations) to the north of Richmond, including Middle Park (in Woolgar), Kalda and Etheldale (in Saxby), and Walker Park (in Burleigh). Croydon pastoral run was established in the 1880s. Gold was discovered in 1885, and by 1887 the town had a population of 7,000. The railway from arrived in 1891. The town was surrounded by other cattle stations, and became the administrative centre for the district, serving both the miners and the cattle stations. Early roads were cut from both Richmond and Croydon to provide access for wheeled vehicles to the pastoral runs and other settlements. Over time these tracks were improved and extended to eventually form a through road.

Modern usage

Although not yet fully sealed the road is used extensively by road trains carrying cattle, and by other large trucks conveying heavy goods. The road is described in a Queensland Government regional map as the "Cattle Corridor Byway".

References

Roads in Queensland {{DEFAULTSORT:Richmond-Croydon Road