The Flinders Highway is a highway that crosses
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 ...
east to west, from
Townsville
The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...
on the Pacific coast to
Cloncurry
Cloncurry is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia. It is informally known by local people as The Curry. Cloncurry is the administrative centre of the Shire of Cloncurry.
Cloncurry is known as the ''Friendl ...
. The road continues as the
Barkly Highway
The Barkly Highway is a national highway in Queensland and the Northern Territory in Australia. It is the only sealed road between Queensland and the Northern Territory. The highway is named after the Barkly Tableland, which in turn was named b ...
from Cloncurry to the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
border at
Camooweal and beyond. The Flinders Highway passes a number of small
outback
The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than Australian bush, the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastli ...
towns and typical outback landscape predominates towards the inland. It was known as National Route 78 before Queensland began to convert to the alphanumeric system being adopted in Australia and is now designated as A6. The highway is also known as
Overlanders Way. Its entire length is part of the National Land Transport Network (formerly Auslink).
State-controlled road
Flinders Highway is a state-controlled national road. It is defined in five sections, as follows:
* Number 14A, Townsville to Charters Towers.
* Number 14B, Charters Towers to Hughenden.
* Number 14C, Hughenden to Richmond.
* Number 14D, Richmond to Julia Creek.
* Number 14E, Julia Creek to Cloncurry.
History

As at 1957, only the Townsville to Charters Towers section was
sealed
Seal may refer to any of the following:
Common uses
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, also called "true seal"
** Fur seal
** Eared seal
* Seal (em ...
. The rest of the highway was progressively sealed with the last section completed in November 1976.
In the 1980s, the second stage of the
Ross River Dam necessitated a deviation of the Flinders Highway and
Mount Isa railway line (which previously ran straight north-south) to be further east. This was completed by 1986 and resulted in the closure of Toonpan and Barringha railway stations on the removed route; they were not re-established on new route.
Northern Australia Roads Program upgrades
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 two projects for the Flinders Highway.
Pavement strengthening
The project for pavement strengthening and rehabilitation between Townsville and Torrens Creek was expected to finish in late 2021 at a total cost of $22.2 million.
Replacement of culverts
The project for replacement of culverts between Charters Towers and Richmond was completed in late 2018 at a total cost of $15.1 million.
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 projects for the Flinders Highway.
Corridor upgrade
A lead project to upgrade the Queensland section of the Tennant Creek to Townsville corridor, including sections of the
Barkly and Flinders Highways, the
Kennedy Developmental Road
The Kennedy Highway is a highway in northern Queensland, Australia. It runs as National Route 1 for approximately 243 km from Smithfield, Queensland, Smithfield, on the northern outskirts of Cairns, to the Gulf Developmental Road in the vic ...
and surrounding state and council roads, at an estimated cost of $250 million, was in the planning stage in 2020.
Overtaking lanes
A project to construct overtaking lanes between Townsville and Charters Towers at a cost of $33.4 million is planned to be completed by mid-2023. This project is targeted for "early works" by the Queensland Government, and has been split into two packages.
Pavement strengthening and widening
A project to strengthen and widen the pavement at Scrubby Creek, between Julia Creek and Cloncurry, at a cost of $32.6 million is due for completion in early 2024. This project is targeted for "early works" by the Queensland Government.
[
]
Wide centre line treatment
A project to deliver wide centre lines on a section of road between Townsville and Charters Towers at a cost of $9.7 million was due for completion in early 2022. This project was targeted for "early works" by the Queensland Government, and was split into two packages.[
]
Other upgrades
Construct acceleration lane
A project to construct an acceleration lane at Woodstock, at a cost of $5 million, was completed in December 2020.
Towns
Charters Towers
Charters Towers
Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by road south-west from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the town boomed as the rich gold deposits und ...
, 133 km to the south west from Townsville. A former gold rush town with a population of 30 000 in 1890. At that time it was known as "The World" because it seemed to be the centre of everything. Presently it is a centre for cattle grazing, with gold mining continuing to be an important industry. Much of the elegant gold rush architecture of the nineteenth century remains in place and is a tourist attraction.
Pentland
Pentland is located between Charters Towers
Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by road south-west from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the town boomed as the rich gold deposits und ...
and Hughenden. Pentland is about away from the town of Hughenden and from the North Queensland city of Townsville
The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...
. Hughenden has about 2000 people and Charters Towers has about 9000. Pentland's population is estimated to be 250 people.
Hughenden
Located 243 km further on, Hughenden, the administrative centre of Flinders shire is in the heart of sheep and cattle country.
Richmond
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 ...
, a former gold rush town located 112 km further west. Currently a pastoral centre.
Julia Creek
Julia Creek, 147 km further west, another pastoral settlement
Cloncurry
Cloncurry
Cloncurry is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia. It is informally known by local people as The Curry. Cloncurry is the administrative centre of the Shire of Cloncurry.
Cloncurry is known as the ''Friendl ...
, former copper-mining town located 139 km west from Julia Creek. The first regular Qantas
Qantas ( ), formally Qantas Airways Limited, is the flag carrier of Australia, and the largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations in Australia and List of largest airlines in Oceania, Oceania. A foundi ...
flights started between here and Charleville in 1922 and Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia
The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), commonly known as the Flying Doctor, is an Aeromedical retrieval, aeromedical retrieval service in Australia and the largest of its kind in the world. It is a non-profit organisation that provides urgen ...
service started here in 1928. Nowadays it is an important road and rail junction. Flinders Highway ends here.
Major intersections
Intersecting state-controlled roads
In addition to the Bruce, Landsborough and Barkly Highways, and the Gregory, Kennedy, Wills and Burke Developmental Roads, the following state-controlled roads, from east to west, intersect with the Flinders Highway:
* Townsville Port Road
* Townsville Connection Road
* Woodstock–Giru Road
* Burdekin Falls Dam Road
* Aramac–Torrens Creek Road
* Hughenden–Muttaburra Road
* Richmond–Winton Road
* Julia Creek–Kynuna Road[
]
Julia Creek–Kynuna Road
Julia Creek–Kynuna Road is a state-controlled district road (number 5807), rated as a local road of regional significance (LRRS).[ It runs from the Flinders Highway in to the Landsborough Highway in , a distance of . It does not intersect with any other state-controlled roads.]
See also
* Highways in Australia
Highways in Australia are generally high capacity roads managed by states and territories of Australia, state and territory government agencies, though Australia's federal government contributes funding for important links between capital cit ...
* List of highways in Queensland
References
External links
Overlander's Highway
A driving guide by Roderick Eime
{{Road infrastructure in Queensland
Highways in Queensland
North West Queensland