Tender awarded for Central Arnhem Road upgrades

The Northern Territory Government’s vision for a two-lane sealed connection for the entire Central Arnhem Road is coming to fruition with a $36.8 million construction contract awarded to local Territory business Allan King & Sons Construction. 

The Central Arnhem Road corridor is 645 km long and connects the regional centre of Nhulunbuy to the Stuart Highway. It services a large number of Aboriginal communities and is a key tourism drive and freight route for the mining and pastoral industries.

Allan King & Sons Construction will upgrade an 18 km section of the Central Arnhem Road, from the Mountain Valley Station turnoff to the Mainoru homestead turnoff.

Works are anticipated to commence in September 2024 and be completed by December 2026, with the project supporting 60 employees including 12 Indigenous workers and 5 apprentices.

Minister for Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics Joel Bowden celebrated the announcement.

“The Government is making real inroads in sealing Territory roads and this latest package of works for the Central Arnhem Road will improve connectivity, travel time, flood immunity and importantly road safety,” he said.

“The Central Arnhem Road Corridor project provides significant opportunities for economic development in the region as well as Aboriginal employment opportunities over a number of years.

“The rollout of upgrades on this key corridor are prioritised to make the most immediate difference with survey works and consultation already underway to progress the future packages.”

With more than 85 per cent of Central Arnhem Road unsealed, road users experience frequent restrictions or closures throughout the wet season.

The works are part of the $355 million Central Arnhem Road Upgrades project, jointly funded by the Northern Territory and Australian Governments, to deliver sealing, reconstructing, widening and flood immunity improvements to the road.

Three sections of the Central Arnhem Road, totalling more than 24 km near Beswick, the Goyder approaches and Bulman Airfield have already been completed as part of the Central Arnhem Road Upgrades project.

Planning is also underway for a further five packages to the Central Arnhem Road project, representing a solid pipeline of projects for industry along this key regional corridor.

To learn more about this project head to the website.