Richmond–Winton 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 ...

and Winton 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 a state-controlled district road (number 5803) rated as a local road of regional significance (LRRS). 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

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highways.

Route description

The Richmond–Winton Road commences at an intersection with the Flinders Highway in , about west of the town. It runs generally south-west through Richmond and

Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than "Britain" today. The name for Scot ...

, and then roughly follows the boundary between and , ending at an intersection with the Landsborough Highway at the Corfield / Kynuna midpoint. This intersection is about north-west of Winton. Land use along this road is mainly stock grazing on native vegetation. There are no major intersections on this road.

Road condition

Much of the road remains unsealed, but approximately was sealed in 2018–19 under an $4.7 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. ...

. In July 2021 the Minister for Transport and Main Roads announced the following projects, funded by various other arrangements, for the road: * Culvert replacement: $2.7 million to replace two culverts - completed December 2020. * Progressive sealing: $3.3 million to seal over - completion expected July 2021. * Widen and seal: $13 million to seal - completion expected mid 2022. * Pave and seal: $5.39 million to seal - completion expected July 2021. As at April 2022 the road has approximately single lane sealed, split into sections, and approximately single lane unsealed.

Upgrade

A project to pave and seal two sections of road, at a cost of $10.27 million, was completed in June 2022. It is unclear if this is part of the projects announced in July 2021.

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. Other pastoral runs were established in the area, and the town soon became the administrative centre for the district. After a short attempt at settlement in 1866 the first European settler came to what is now Winton in about 1875 to set up a shop and

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

. Winton began as a town about 1878 when a group of businessmen decided that a town site proposed by the government further west was unsuitable. The proposed site became a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

and Winton became the administrative centre for the district.Corfield's book ''Reminiscences of Queensland 1862–1899'', 1921
Pastoral runs were established in the area, including Corfield Downs, about to the north. Early roads were cut from both Richmond and Winton 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.

References

Roads in Queensland {{DEFAULTSORT:Richmond-Winton Road