Road rehabilitation program for north of the Daintree River

Douglas Shire Council completed its road rehabilitation program north of the Daintree River, repairing damage sustained in early 2014.

The successful delivery of the program benefited communities in the north of the Shire.

The Daintree Ferry carried approximately 4500 truckloads of gravel for road works between 1 July 2015 and the end of October 2015.”

There’s was also a significant boost to the local economy with around $4 million spent with local businesses..

As part of the project, Council also identified opportunities to complete non NDRRA work while plant and equipment were in the region. At the time, Douglas Shire Mayor Julia Leu said Council sealed 1.5 kilometres of Rykers Road and undertook some silt reduction work in Turpentine Road to reduce run off into Coopers Creek.

“We were able to complete this at significantly reduced costs due to plant and equipment being on the ground for disaster recovery work,” Cr Leu said.

Tourism is the lynchpin of the economy for the Douglas region. With an 80 per cent economic reliance on tourism, Douglas Shire ranks as the most tourism dependent region in Australia.

“We needed to balance the need for Council to deliver a significant capital works program in a World Heritage Listed area which covered value for money, whilst maintaining a functioning road network and reducing the impact on road users” Cr Leu said.

Douglas Shire Council split its reconstruction program into two seconds, one for north of the Daintree and one for south of the Daintree.  The work to repair damage north of the Daintree was completed in November 2015 the remaining work for south of the Daintree was be completed in early 2016.