Gillies Highway
Gillies Highway | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Gillies Range Road (black and green) | |
General information | |
Type | Highway |
Length | 56 km (35 mi) |
Route number(s) | ![]() |
Major junctions | |
NE end | ![]() |
| |
SW end | ![]() |
Location(s) | |
Major settlements | Yungaburra |
Highway system | |
The Gillies Highway is a road that runs from Gordonvale in the Cairns Region through the Gillies Range (part of the Great Dividing Range) to Atherton in the Tablelands Region, both in Queensland, Australia.[1] It is also known as the Gillies Range Road and was originally known as the Cairns Range Road.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/Queensland_State_Archives_1258_View_from_Heales_Lookout_2000_ft_Gillies_Highway_NQ_c_1935.png/220px-Queensland_State_Archives_1258_View_from_Heales_Lookout_2000_ft_Gillies_Highway_NQ_c_1935.png)
The highway is known for its 263 corners, and 800 m elevation change in only 19 km of road.[1] It is a popular tourist drive and has a number of lookouts.[2]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c4/Gillies_Highway%2C_Queensland.jpg/220px-Gillies_Highway%2C_Queensland.jpg)
Route Description
Commencing from the Bruce Highway in Gordonvale the road runs south-west, following the Mulgrave River, to the foot of the Gillies Range. It climbs the range by a winding route, generally westward, and then proceeds south through the Little Musgrave National Park before turning west to descend to the Atherton Tableland. It then passes north of Lake Barrine and south of Tinaroo Dam before reaching Yungaburra. From here it proceeds west to Atherton, which it enters from the north.[3]
It also provides the only road access to the locality of Goldsborough.[3]
History
In September 1922, the Shire of Eacham decided to use £10,000 of funding provided under Australian and Queensland Government unemployment schemes to construct the Cairns Range Road to provide a short route from the Atherton Tableland to the Cairns hinterland.[4] There were immediate objections to the proposed route from Gordonvale to Atherton on account of the difficult terrain with a counter-proposal to build a road from Smithfield in Cairns to Mareeba via Kuranda,[5][6] but this route would be more beneficial to the Shire of Mareeba rather than to the Shire of Eacham, so the original plan proceeded (although the Kuranda Range Road would later be built in 1940).
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/Top_gate_entering_Gillies_Highway_North_Queensland_outside_Cairns_circa_1935.jpg/220px-Top_gate_entering_Gillies_Highway_North_Queensland_outside_Cairns_circa_1935.jpg)
By March 1925, 150 men were employed building the road.[7] It was officially opened on Saturday 10 July 1926 allowing travel between Cairns to the Tableland in 2½ hours.[8] However, as the road was only wide enough for one-way traffic, it would flow in different directions at various times of day according to a timetable with vehicles wishing to travel in the other directions being held at Top Gate or Bottom Gate.[9]
The Gillies Highway was named after William Gillies, a former Premier of Queensland and the local Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Eacham.[10] It was proposed to name the Cairns Range Road (as it was then known) after him following his sudden death in February 1928 but it was not made official until March 1934.[11][12][13][14]
On 4 February 1987, a bus carrying Year 12 school students and teachers from the Cairns State High School came off the highway and fell down 20 metres into rainforest, killing 8 students.[15] An inquiry established the brakes of the bus were faulty.[16]
Major intersections
LGA | Location | km | mi | Destinations | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cairns | Gordonvale | 0 | 0.0 | ![]() | North-eastern end of Gillies Highway (State Route 52) |
Tablelands | Yungaburra | 40.1 | 24.9 | Lake Barrine Road - south - Malanda | |
Atherton | 53.6 | 33.3 | Tinaroo Falls Dam Road - north-east - Tinaroo | ||
56 | 35 | ![]() - east, then south - Evelyn | South-western end of Gillies Highway. State Route 52 continues south-west as Atherton Herberton Road. | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi |
References
- ^ a b "Atherton Tableland". cairns.com.au. News Limited. Archived from the original on 23 August 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ "Atherton Tablelands: From Cairns". Tropical Tablelands Tourism. Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
{{cite web}}
:|archive-date=
/|archive-url=
timestamp mismatch; 18 March 2018 suggested (help); Unknown parameter|dead-url=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ a b "Queensland Globe". State of Queensland. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
- ^ "CAIRNS RANGE ROAD". Cairns Post. Vol. XXXV, , no. 4384. Queensland, Australia. 30 September 1922. p. 5. Retrieved 19 March 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ^ "Cairns Range Road—A Mareeba Offer". Cairns Post. Vol. XXXV, , no. 4388. Queensland, Australia. 5 October 1922. p. 3. Retrieved 19 March 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ^ "Cairns Range Road". Cairns Post. Vol. XXXV, , no. 4389. Queensland, Australia. 6 October 1922. p. 4. Retrieved 19 March 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ^ "MAIN ROADS WORK". Cairns Post. Vol. XXXV, , no. 5141. Queensland, Australia. 23 March 1925. p. 6. Retrieved 19 March 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ^ "The Cairns Post". Cairns Post. Vol. 64, , no. 7639. Queensland, Australia. 12 July 1926. p. 4. Retrieved 19 March 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ^ "The Gillies Range Road". 10 November 2015. Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
{{cite web}}
:|archive-date=
/|archive-url=
timestamp mismatch; 18 March 2018 suggested (help); Unknown parameter|dead-url=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ "Places and Drives - The Central Coast - Goldsborough Valley". Wet Tropics Management Authority. Archived from the original on 20 July 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ "THE LATE W. N. GILLIES A FEW MEMORIES". Cairns Post. Vol. 8135. Queensland, Australia. 17 February 1928. p. 7. Retrieved 19 March 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "WHAT TO DO FOR NERVOUS INDIGESTION". Cairns Post. Vol. 8135. Queensland, Australia. 17 February 1928. p. 7. Retrieved 19 March 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "COOK HIGHWAY". The Telegraph. Queensland, Australia. 18 December 1933. p. 2 (LATE CITY). Retrieved 19 March 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
{{cite news}}
: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=
(help) - ^ "GILLIES HIGHWAY". Queensland Times. Vol. LXXIV, , no. 14, 774. Queensland, Australia. 20 March 1934. p. 6 (DAILY.). Retrieved 19 March 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ^ "Cairns High School Bus Crash". Monument Australia. Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
{{cite web}}
:|archive-date=
/|archive-url=
timestamp mismatch; 18 March 2018 suggested (help); Unknown parameter|dead-url=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ Geiger, Dominic (7 February 2016). "Former SES volunteer remembers horror of deadly Cairns bus crash". Cairns Post. Archived from the original on 8 February 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
{{cite news}}
: Unknown parameter|dead-url=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help)
Further reading
- Tranter, Henry; Tranter, Elaine (1999), A bend too many : the story of the Gillies Highway, Eacham Historical Society
External links
Media related to Gillies Highway, Queensland at Wikimedia Commons