EXPRESS The
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Locally owned and proudly independent
Vital link gets funding An aerial view of repair work which is undertaken each year at the Mitchell River crossing at an average annual cost to taxpayers of $170,000
By Ryan Groube
A My farm rules! Mareeba banana grower Mark Oberthur will appear in a series of short segments on hit television show My Kitchen Rules from February 25. FULL STORY ON PAGE 9.
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critical transport link in the remote western reaches of the Mareeba Shire Council (MSC) will soon undergo a $2.267 million upgrade. On February 13, Community Recovery and Resilience Minister David Crisafulli announced funding for a 280-metre concrete causeway to be built at the Mitchell River crossing at Strathleven Road, Gamboola. The existing crossing is a 200-metre gravel sand and rock causeway that is regularly washed away during the wet season and is unpassable for up to eight months a year. From 2004 to 2012, the cost of rebuilding the causeway has averaged $170,000 each year at a total cost to the taxpayer of almost $1.4 million. In 2013, the causeways suffered such extensive damage the road was closed for four months, with a further two months of Proposed
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traffic interruptions while a $291,278 repair effort was completed. The crossing provides access to the Burke Developmental Road to large cattle stations as well as about 2500 residents at Kowanyama, Normanton, Coen and Laura. When the crossing is unpassable an alternate access route through Laura adds an extra 170 kilometres to the trip to Mareeba. Gamboola Station, a one million acre cattle station which runs about 30,000 head on a property bordering Wrotham Park, is intersected by the Mitchell River. Station caretaker Peter White said about three-quarters of the property was on the northern side of the Mitchell River and relied heavily on the crossing at Strathleven Road. Mr White said the upgrade of the crossing would be invaluable, not only in terms of transporting livestock but also in the everyday operation of the station. “That crossing usually gets washed out in the first run of the river,� he said. cont. P7
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