The Warrego Highway is located in southern
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 ...
. 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
The Warrego River is an intermittent river that is part of the Darling River, Darling catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, which is located in South West Queensland and in the Orana (New South Wales), Orana region of New South Wales, Aus ...
, which is the endpoint of the highway. The entire highway is part of the
National Highway system linking
Darwin and
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
: 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.
Route description
The highway commences at the end of the M2
Ipswich Motorway
The Ipswich Motorway (M7) is a major road that connects Brisbane and Ipswich in South East Queensland, Australia. It commences at the junction of Ipswich Road and Granard Road and proceeds through to the M2 Logan Motorway interchange. It is t ...
, near
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...
and runs to
Helidon Spa, at the foot of the
Great Dividing Range. From there it follows the
Toowoomba Bypass
The Toowoomba Bypass, known as Toowoomba Second Range Crossing during planning and construction, is a grade separated, dual carriageway bypass and partial ring road constructed to the north and west of Toowoomba, Queensland. Construction comm ...
to
Charlton, west of
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 ...
. The Warrego then crosses 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 general ...
, 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
Roma or ROMA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Roma, Queensland, a town
** Roma Airport
** Roma Courthouse
** Electoral district of Roma, defunct
** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council
*Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
and
Mitchell
Mitchell may refer to:
People
*Mitchell (surname)
*Mitchell (given name)
Places Australia
* Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate
* Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst
* Mitchell, Northern Territo ...
in the
Maranoa Region
Maranoa Region is a local government area in South West Queensland, Australia. The town of Roma is the administrative headquarters of the region.
History
The Gunggari language region of South West Queensland includes the landscape within the ...
of
South West Queensland
South West Queensland is a remote region in the Australian state of Queensland which covers . The region lies to the south of Central West Queensland and west of the Darling Downs and includes the Maranoa district and parts of the Channel Coun ...
. After
Morven, the A2 Route continues north-west along 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 ...
, with the western turnoff continuing the Warrego Highway down to its terminus at
Charleville Charleville can refer to:
Australia
* Charleville, Queensland, a town in Australia
**Charleville railway station, Queensland
France
* Charleville, Marne, a commune in Marne, France
*Charleville-Mézières, a commune in Ardennes, France
** ...
.
The section of highway between Ipswich and Charlton is mostly
motorway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...
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) 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.
Terrain
The 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.
Speed zones
*Ipswich Motorway - Blacksoil 100 km/h
*Blacksoil - Toowoomba Bypass merge 100 km/h, with a drop to 80 km/h and/or 60 km/h through some towns
*Great Dividing Range (Toowoomba Bypass to Charlton) 80 km/h to 100 km/h
*Charlton - Kingsthorpe 90 km/h
*Kingsthorpe - Dalby 100 km/h except through Jondaryan, which is 80 km/h.
*Dalby - 60 km/h
*Dalby - Charleville 100 km/h except running through towns, which speeds can drop to 60 km/h
Towns along the route
![A2Warrego](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/A2Warrego.svg)
From east to west, the highway passes through or close to the cities and major towns of:
*
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...
(Bypassed)
*
Gatton (Bypassed)
*
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 ...
(Bypassed)
*
Oakey (Bypassed)
*
Dalby
*
Chinchilla
*
Miles
*
Roma
Roma or ROMA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Roma, Queensland, a town
** Roma Airport
** Roma Courthouse
** Electoral district of Roma, defunct
** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council
*Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
*
Mitchell
Mitchell may refer to:
People
*Mitchell (surname)
*Mitchell (given name)
Places Australia
* Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate
* Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst
* Mitchell, Northern Territo ...
*
Morven
*
Charleville Charleville can refer to:
Australia
* Charleville, Queensland, a town in Australia
**Charleville railway station, Queensland
France
* Charleville, Marne, a commune in Marne, France
*Charleville-Mézières, a commune in Ardennes, France
** ...
Gallery
File:Warrego Highway Haigslea.jpg, Highway at Haigslea, 2014
File:Light Shining Through Clouds.jpg, Stretch of Highway between Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...
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 ...
File:Signpost on Warrego Highway -Australia-1Aug2009.jpg, A signpost
History
In 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.
The road wasn't fully repaired with all four lanes open until September 2011.
The
Toowoomba Bypass
The Toowoomba Bypass, known as Toowoomba Second Range Crossing during planning and construction, is a grade separated, dual carriageway bypass and partial ring road constructed to the north and west of Toowoomba, Queensland. Construction comm ...
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
The Gore Highway is a highway running between Toowoomba and Goondiwindi in Queensland, Australia. Together with Goulburn Valley Highway and Newell Highway, it is a part of the National Highway's Melbourne-Brisbane link. It is signed as National ...
(A39) and is 41 km in length. The original section of Warrego Highway through Toowoomba was renamed
Toowoomba Connection Road
The Toowoomba Connection Road is a former section of the Warrego Highway that passes through the city of Toowoomba in Queensland, Australia. With the opening of the Toowoomba Bypass in 2019 the Warrego Highway was redirected to it, and the byp ...
(A21).
Major works
* 1957 - Helidon bypass. New road built to bypass Helidon including a steel and concrete bridge over Lockyer Creek opened by the end of June 1957.
* 1959 - Ipswich bypass. New 8 mile long bypass including a steel and concrete bridge over the Bremer River built to bypass Ipswich City, shortening the highway by 2 miles. The date of opening was Tuesday, July 28th.
* 1971 - Marburg bypass. 1.9 miles (3.1 km) of new road built to bypass Marburg, including bridges over Queen Street and Black Snake Creek.
* 1971 - Blanchview deviation. 5.15 miles (8.3 km) of new road that replaced the old twisting route built in the late 1920s. The deviation opened to traffic in December of that year.
* 1974 - Minden Range deviation. 2.6 km of new road built to bypass a sub-standard section of road over the Minden Range.
* 1976 - Hattonvale to Laidley Creek duplication. 8 km of road upgraded to four lanes at a cost of $870,000.
* 1989 - Gatton bypass. 20 km of new road built to bypass Gatton, Grantham and Helidon at a cost of $20 million opened in November 1989.
* 1994 - Dinmore Duplication. 2.7 km of road duplicated to four lanes from the railway at Dinmore to the Bremer River bridge. A grade-separated interchange at River Road was also built.
* 2002 - Yaralla Deviation. 18.5 km realignment built to bypass a notorious section prone to flooding west of Dalby.
* 2017 - Toowoomba to Oakey Duplication Stage 1. Highway duplicated from Nugent Pinch Road to west of Charlton.
* 2018 - Toowoomba to Oakey Duplication Stage 2. Highway duplicated from Charlton to Kingsthorpe including an interchange at Kingsthorpe-Haden Road
Future developments
Dalby Eastern & Western Access Upgrades
These upgrades will begin in 2017 and will fully duplicate the highway to 4 lanes, between Cecil Plains Road and Black Street. 4 new traffic signals will be added at Black Street, Jandowae Road, Orpen Street and a pedestrian signal near Owen Street.
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, includes the following project for the Warrego Highway.
Priority section upgrades
A 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.
Other upgrades
Brimblecombe Road intersection
A project to upgrade the Brimblecombe Road intersection between Toowoomba and Dalby, at a cost of $2,75 million, was completed in December 2021.
Gatton heavy vehicle decoupling facility
A project to provide a heavy vehicle decoupling facility at Gatton was completed by November 2021.
Master plan Ipswich to Toowoomba
A master plan for the upgrade of the highway between Ipswich and Toowoomba has been developed at a cost of $6.78 million.
Haigslea-Amberley Road intersection
A project to plan the upgrade of the Haigslea-Amberley Road intersection, at a cost of $799,000, was in progress in May 2022.
Mount Crosby Road intersection
A project to plan the upgrade of the Mount Crosby Road intersection, at a cost of $5 million, was in progress in July 2021.
Other items of interest
Darren 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
Darren James Lockyer (born 24 March 1977) is an Australian television commentator and former professional rugby league footballer. Lockyer was an Australian international and Queensland State representative captain, who played his entire profes ...
Way, in honour of the retired
Brisbane Broncos
The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...
, Queensland and Australian
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
captain. The section of road renamed is from
Riverview to the bottom of the Toowoomba Range at
Withcott
Withcott is a rural town and locality in the Lockyer Valley Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Withcott had a population of 1844 people.
Geography
Withcott is in the Lockyer Valley. The town is located on the Toowoomba Connection Road, form ...
. Special signage including "Welcome to Darren Lockyer Way" has been erected.
Major intersections
See also
*
Highways in Australia
Highways in Australia are generally high capacity roads managed by state and territory government agencies, though Australia's federal government contributes funding for important links between capital cities and major regional centres. Prio ...
*
List of highways in Queensland
Queensland, being the second largest (by area) state in Australia, is also the most decentralised. Hence the highways and roads cover most parts of the state unlike the sparsely populated Western Australia. Even Queensland's outback is well se ...
References
External links
{{Road infrastructure in Queensland
Highways in Queensland
South East Queensland
Darling Downs
South West Queensland