Kuranda Range Road
As the first section of the Kennedy Highway, the 11.5-kilometre Kuranda Range Road traverses the Macalister Range, connecting Smithfield, northwest of Cairns, with Kuranda on the Atherton Tableland's eastern rim.
At an altitude of 430 metres near the road's highest point, Henry Ross Lookout is named after the foreman in charge of building the road.
Construction of the road as an alternative to the Gillies Highway began in 1940 due to public demand for improved access to the Atherton Tablelands and wartime considerations.
The new road traversed the same area as the previous Smithfield Track, which took pack animals relatively straight up the spur but took a more circuitous route, zigzagging through dense tropical rainforest, to achieve an easier gradient.
After survey work by the Queensland Main Roads Commission in 1939 found a suitable route, Henry Ross was appointed to supervise the construction work.
Around one hundred men, based in quarters where the Smithfield Shopping Centre now stands, worked on the project, using dynamite, jackhammers and bulldozers to shape the roadbed.
It took about twelve months to reach the top of the range, where a second campsite accommodated the workers as they took the road across the Barron River into Kuranda over an existing low-level bridge built to allow access to rainforest timbers on the river's eastern side.
When the gravel road opened to military traffic in June 1942, most sections were had dual carriageway with one-way sections where the terrain was particularly rough. Heavy wartime use indicated a need for the road to be widened and sealed, and the initial reconditioning work was completed in 1944.
Since then, the road has frequently been improved, widened and re-surfaced. However, traffic remains mostly one lane each way, with overtaking lanes at various points.
Links to add:
Barron River
Henry Ross
Henry Ross Lookout
Macalister Range
Smithfield Shopping Centre
Smithfield Track
