Fitzroy Developmental Road

The Fitzroy Developmental Road (The Beef Road) is a designated road in the Central Highlands Region of Queensland consisting of three separate sections. The general direction is from south to north.

Southern section
The southern section leaves the Leichhardt Highway at a point 17 km north of Taroom as State Route 7. This section meets the Dawson Highway in the locality of Rhydding, 19 km east of Bauhinia.

Middle section
The middle section, as State Route 7, runs from Bauhinia north until it meets the Capricorn Highway about 2 km west of Duaringa, and 29 km east of Dingo. It passes through the Dawson Range State Forest between Woorabinda and Duaringa.

Northern section
The northern section, as State Route 67, runs from Dingo to a point on the Peak Downs Highway in the locality of Strathfield, 21 km east of Coppabella. It crosses the Mackenzie River and passes the mining towns of Middlemount and Dysart.

Length details
The southern section is 115 km in length, and is mostly unsealed.

The middle section is 103 km in length and is partly sealed.

The northern section is 236 km in length and is fully sealed. The length of the three sections totals 454 km but with the addition of travel on the Dawson and Capricorn Highways, it is around 502 km.

Road details
All sections are state-controlled roads. The southern and middle sections (numbers 85A and 85B) are district roads rated as local roads of regional significance (LRRS). The northern section (number 85C) is a regional road.

Progressive sealing
A project to progressively seal sections of the road north of Bauhinia, at a cost of $6 million, was expected to complete by early 2022.

A project to progressively seal sections of the road north of Taroom, at a cost of $8 million, was expected to complete in mid-2022.