Peak Downs Highway

Peak Downs Highway
General information
Type	Highway
Length	264 km (164 mi)
Route number(s)	State Route 70
Major junctions
West end	Gregory Highway / Gregory Developmental Road, Clermont, Queensland
East end	Bruce Highway, Mackay, Queensland
Location(s)
Major settlements	Moranbah, Nebo, Eton

The Peak Downs Highway links the towns of Mackay and Clermont in the Australian state of Queensland. It represents the main link between Queensland's Whitsunday Coast and the Central West region of the state. The highway runs for a total length of 273 km, before becoming the Gregory Highway (Highway A7, formerly Highway 55) south to Emerald. Major settlements served by this route include Mackay, Walkerston, Nebo, Moranbah (10 km north of the highway, but the largest town along the route) and Clermont. The highway is notorious for the extremely dangerous conditions caused by its service as a primary access route for workers, fuel, machinery and other supplies to the coalmines of the Bowen Basin. The narrow two-lane highway is often congested with oversize loads (e.g. mining haul-trucks, dozers and excavators, tyres and buckets) and road trains, which presents a significant hazard and frustration to fatigued long-haul commuters (Drive-in, Drive-out mine workers) on the road.

A coal train runs alongside the Peak Downs Highway.

See also

Australian Roads portal

• Highways in Australia
• List of highways in Queensland

v t e Road infrastructure in Queensland Motorways Airport Link Bruce Highway Clem Jones Tunnel Centenary Motorway Gateway Motorway Inner City Bypass Ipswich Motorway Legacy Way Logan Motorway Pacific Motorway (Ewingsdale–Brisbane) Port of Brisbane Motorway Smith Street Motorway Sunshine Motorway Western Freeway National Highways Barkly Highway Bruce Highway Cunningham Highway Gore Highway Landsborough Highway Leichhardt Highway New England Highway Warrego Highway Highways Balonne Highway Barwon Highway Brisbane Valley Highway Burnett Highway Bunya Highway Capricorn Highway Captain Cook Highway Carnarvon Highway Castlereagh Highway D'Aguilar Highway Dawson Highway Donohue Highway Flinders Highway Gold Coast Highway Gregory Highway Isis Highway Kennedy Highway Leichhardt Highway Mary Valley Highway Mitchell Highway Moonie Highway Mount Lindesay Highway Mulligan Highway Outback Highway Palmerston Highway Peak Downs Highway Wide Bay Highway Developmental Roads / Outback Tracks Bamaga Road (Telegraph Road) Birdsville Track Burke Developmental Road Diamantina Development Road Gregory Developmental Road Gulf Developmental Road Kennedy Developmental Road Peninsula Developmental Road Savannah Way Proposals Bruce Highway Upgrade Toowoomba Second Range Crossing Townsville Ring Road Kenmore Bypass