Road Photos & Information: Queensland
Mulligan Highway and Peninsula Development Road (State Route 81)
Statistics:
- Length:
- 748 km
- Termini:
- Northern: Kerr Point Rd (unnumbered) and Napranum Rd, Napranum 1
- Southern: Kennedy Highway (NR1), Mareeba
- Miscellaneous:
- Department of Transport and Main Roads maintenance ends 44 km east of the Weipa town centre at the boundary. 2
- Suburbs, Towns & Localities Along Route:
- Mareeba, Biboohra, Mt Molloy, Mt Carbine, Lakeland, Laura, Kalinga, Artemis, Musgrave, Bamboo, Coen, Wolverton and Weipa
Route Numbering:
- Current: 81
- Multiplexed with:
- Road Authority Internal Classification: 2
- 34A (Mareeba to Mt Molloy)
- 34B (Mt Molloy to Lakeland)
- 90B (Lakeland to Laura)
- 90C (Laura to Coen)
- 90D (Coen to Weipa)
- 664 (Mareeba)
General Information:
State Route 81 is a vital route in Queensland's cape territory.
The route passes though rural, residential and commercial areas, as well as mining interests and bushland. The route is a mix of sealed and unsealed road.
The Mulligan Highway section of the route is named after bushman James Venture Mulligan.
Multiplexes along the route include:
- Great Tropical Drive, for 187 km, between Mareeba and Lakeland.
History:
- 1950: The route of Mulligan Highway declared as a state controlled road. 3
- 1963: Mulligan Highway renamed Peninsula Developmental Road. 3
- 2000: Completion of bridge over Famechon Creek, on the Byerstown Range, 12 km south of Lakeland. The bridge is 35 m above the creek, and the second highest bridge in Queensland, after the Gateway Bridge. 4
- 2001: The Byerstown Range crossing was realigned and sealed at a cost of $17 million. 3
- January 2006: Completion of Mulligan Highway with the sealing of a 11.25 kilometre section between Sackley's Hill and East Normanby River. 3
- 2007: Reinstatement of the name Mulligan Highway, between Mareeba and Cooktown. 3
- 2010: Famechon Creek bridge renamed Rollo Gallop Bridge. Rollo Gallop was an engineer known for his work for improving access to Cape York communities. He was District Engineer from 1946 until 1961 when he was appointed as Forward Planning Engineer for Far North Queensland Beef Roads until his retirement in 1965. During his career, Mr Gallop played a key role in the development of a number of roads in Far North Queensland including the Peninsula Developmental Road and the Cooktown Developmental Road in the Cook Shire. He was involved in the construction of the Gillies Highway and the Palmerston Highway was also Cook Shire Administrator during the 1960s. 4
Mareeba to Weipa
Distance Sign:
Reassurance directional sign at Mt Molloy, June 2012.
Image © Terry Siva
Advance Directional Sign:
AD sign at Lakeland approaching Cooktown Development Rd (SR40), June 2012.
Image © Terry Siva
Intersection Directional Sign:
ID sign at the junction with Cooktown Development Rd (SR40) at Lakeland, June 2012.
Image © Terry Siva
1 Hema Maps Cloud Global Map.
2 QLD Government, Department of Transport and Main Roads, Queensland state-controlled roads and region maps, Far North Region, November 2022.
3 QLD Government, Ministerial Media Statements, Highway commemorates far northern pioneer, 7 March 2009.
4 QLD Government, Ministerial Media Statements, Cape York bridge named after roads pioneer Rollo Gallop, 14 October 2010.
2 QLD Government, Department of Transport and Main Roads, Queensland state-controlled roads and region maps, Far North Region, November 2022.
3 QLD Government, Ministerial Media Statements, Highway commemorates far northern pioneer, 7 March 2009.
4 QLD Government, Ministerial Media Statements, Cape York bridge named after roads pioneer Rollo Gallop, 14 October 2010.