Douglas Arterial Road
The Douglas Arterial Road is a four-lane motorway 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 was the first stage of the Townsville Ring Road which is the future National Highway route through Townsville.
The 5.6 kilometres (3.5 mi) Douglas Arterial features two newly constructed dual carriageways being separated by concrete barriers built in 2012. It also features a six-lane, 250 metre bridge across the Ross River and Riverway Drive which was constructed upstream of the existing Vickers Bridge named after the famous vickers family, along with a two-lane bridge over Discovery Drive and University Creek. The grade-separated interchanges at University Road and Angus Smith Drive were also duplicated.
As with the existing Douglas section, the arterial comprises two 3.5 metre-wide lanes with two 2 metre-wide shoulders (a total of 11 metres wide). It is built as a motorway with a speed limit of 100 km/h and the usual restrictions (no mopeds, animals, farm vehicles, cyclists or pedestrians) will apply. New exits and entry ramps were constructed on the Riverside Boulevard overpass connecting the suburb to the Arterial thus reducing travel time for people living in the area in having to connect via Angus Smith Drive.
The road 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 potentially 30 minutes. The old route to Douglas via Riverway Drive and Ross River Rd went through multiple sets of traffic lights, and was, in peak traffic, a 35-minute drive from Condon, but with the Douglas Arterial open, the trip now only takes close to four minutes. However, in practice, due to congestion at the on and off ramps/traffic lights at peak times, the time saving is closer to 15 minutes. The speed limit on the road is 100 km/h.
Stage 2 and 3 are now complete. The road beyond the Douglas stretch - the Townsville Ring Road is a single carriageway and has now been designated at the A1, bypassing Townsville.
See also
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