Townsville Ring Road

Townsville Ring Road

North Townsville Road
Townsville Ring Road; North Townsville Road
Highway system
	Highways in Australia; National Highway • Freeways in Australia; Highways in Queensland; ; ;

The Townsville Ring Road is a motorway in

Shaw Road in Thuringowa.^[3]

There is no toll for the use of this motorway.

History

The Townsville Ring Road was built in 5 stages:

Stage 1

Stage 1 was the Douglas Arterial Road, which opened April 2005.[1] It was in initially a two-lane single carriageway, prior to 2012.^[4]

Stage 2 & 3

The next stages, the Condon Bypass and Shaw Road extension opened in 2009. Surveying commenced on 24 October 2006 for the

Hervey Range Road Interchange. Construction of the interchange began April 2007. Upon completion, the road was designated as part of Highway 1, with the route number A1, with plans to eventually be numbered M1 following duplication of the entire project (including construction of the Bohle plains Extension).^[5]

Stage 3 included duplication of the Douglas Arterial Road between University Road and Vickers Bridge, completed in 2012.

Stage 4

Stage 4 was the Bohle Plains Extension, which opened December 2016.

Stage 5

Stage 5 included duplication between Vickers Bridge and Shaw Road in Thuringowa, as well as a new grade-separated interchange at Beck Drive. Construction commenced in July 2021 and was completed in October 2023 at a cost of $280 million.[6] The principal contractor for the project is Georgiou Group.^[7]

Route description

The Douglas Arterial Road is also known as the Ring Road, as part of the broader ring road project, or the Douglas Motorway. The 5.6 kilometres (3.5 mi) section is a dual carriageway separated by concrete barriers built in 2012. It also features a six-lane, 250 metre bridge across the Ross River and Riverway Drive which was constructed upstream of the existing Vickers Bridge (named after the famous Vickers family), along with a two-lane bridge over Discovery Drive and University Creek. There are also grade-separated interchanges at University Road and Angus Smith Drive.

As with the existing Douglas section, the arterial comprises two 3.5 metre-wide lanes with two 2 metre-wide shoulders (a total of 11 metres wide). It is built as a motorway with a speed limit of 100 km/h and the usual restrictions (no mopeds, animals, farm vehicles, cyclists or pedestrians) will apply. New exits and entry ramps were constructed on the Riverside Boulevard overpass connecting the suburb to the Arterial.

With the completion of the dual-carriageway Bohle Plains Extension in 2017 (Stage 4), and the completion of the Vickers Bridge to Shaw Road duplication in October 2023 (Stage 5), the Townsville Ring Road route is now a motorway-grade dual-carriageway throughout the entirety of its 19 km length.^[8]

Major intersections

LGA	Location	km^[9]
Douglas–Garbutt Road (University Road) – north–west – Garbutt	Junction of M1 and former Bruce Highway. (Southern end of Townsville Ring Road) No southbound exit to or entry from University Road.
	Hervey Range Road (State Route 72) – west – Hervey Range / east – Thuringowa Central
	North Townsville Road (former Bruce Highway) – east – Townsville	Junction of M1 and former Bruce Highway. (Northern end of Townsville Ring Road)
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Incomplete access

References

^ ^a ^b Mainroads info page 1
^ "Townsville Ring Road (Stage 5) | Department of Transport and Main Roads". Archived from the original on 2 November 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
^ "Townsville Ring Road Stage 5 project". Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
^ Department of Main Roads. "The Ring Road Section 1 (Douglas Section)". Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 31 August 2007.
^ Mainroads info page 2
^ "Townsville Ring Road Stage 5". Department of Main Roads. Department of Main Roads. 1 December 2021. Archived from the original on 9 July 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
^ "TOWNSVILLE RING ROAD AWARDED TO GEORGIOU". Georgiou. Georgiou Group. Archived from the original on 4 June 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
^ "Townsville Ring Road (Stage 5) (Department of Transport and Main Roads)". sc-tmrwcmgr-cd.azurewebsites.net. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
^ Google (27 April 2020). "Townsville Ring Road" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 27 April 2020.

External links

[dar-1] Mainroads info page 1

[2] "Townsville Ring Road (Stage 5) | Department of Transport and Main Roads". Archived from the original on 2 November 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.

[3] "Townsville Ring Road Stage 5 project". Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.

[4] Department of Main Roads. "The Ring Road Section 1 (Douglas Section)". Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 31 August 2007.

[5] Mainroads info page 2

[6] "Townsville Ring Road Stage 5". Department of Main Roads. Department of Main Roads. 1 December 2021. Archived from the original on 9 July 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2022.

[7] "TOWNSVILLE RING ROAD AWARDED TO GEORGIOU". Georgiou. Georgiou Group. Archived from the original on 4 June 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.

[8] "Townsville Ring Road (Stage 5) (Department of Transport and Main Roads)". sc-tmrwcmgr-cd.azurewebsites.net. Retrieved 28 October 2023.

[9] Google (27 April 2020). "Townsville Ring Road" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 27 April 2020.

[3]

[4]

[5]

[7]

[8]

[9]