Douglas Arterial Road

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The Douglas Arterial Road is a Two laned Motorway grade road located in Townsville, Queensland. The road is commonly known by locals as either the Ring Road (which is the name the project goes under) or the Douglas Motorway. The road is the first stage of the Townsville/Thuringowa Ring Road which is the future National Highway route through (actually bypass) Townsville.

The Douglas Arterial Road, opened in mid April 2005 and is currently two-laned. Queensland Main Roads Department Projections predict that the Traffic volumes on the road won't meet 4-lane standards until at least 2015, some local residents dispute that claim, saying that more than 30,000 cars and rising travel on the Douglas Arterial everyday, though however, Main Roads has not organised an official traffic count. At the time of opening, the Main Roads Department predicted that around 16,000 cars travel on the road each day.

The Road also cuts travelling times between the suburbs of Condon and Douglas (and subsequently the Townsville Hospital and James Cook University which are located in Douglas), by nearly 30 minutes. The old route to Douglas via Riverway Drive and Ross River Rd went through multiple sets of traffic lights, and was approximately a 35 minute drive from Condon, but with the Douglas Arterial open, the trip now only takes close to 4 minutes. However, poorly designed traffic lights at each end cause delays for most users.

[edit] Future

The Douglas Arterial is planned for duplication at an undisclosed date. The duplication of the road will only permit if traffic volumes on the road are adequate. Though however, by 2009 (which is the projected date for the completion of both stages 2 and 3), the road will be officially designated with A1 (National Highway 1) route signage, when duplication is finished it will be designated as the M1.

There has also been some debate about the addition of entry and exit to the Riverside Boulevard overpass. Residents are complaining of a 5km drive to the nearest entry/exit ramps (at Angus Smith Drive) and driving another 5km back the direction they came from (via Arterial Road). The Riverside Boulevard entry and exit ramps were added as part of the original concept design for the road, but in 2002, Queensland Main Roads Department decided to get rid of the ramps from the planned development. However, the land was resumed in case demand was legiable.

The Speed limit on the road is 100km/h

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