[3] To reduce the environment impact the road was designed with few switchbacks and bends on the climbs resulting in patches of steep gradients over the ranges.

Many local authorities recommend that the journey should be undertaken in a four-wheel-drive vehicle, however recent upgrades have been undertaken (including the construction of bridges at the Bloomfield River and Woobooda Creek crossings in 2014/15, as well as paving works on the Cowie and Donovan Ranges) that make the road more suitable for some two-wheel-drive vehicles, provided that they are driven with care in dry weather only.

Douglas Shire Council and the Government of Queensland supported the road's development.

[5] Environmentalists opposed the road on the basis that it would bring unwanted development to an area of high environmental significance.

[5] The campaign to protect the Daintree Rainforest through which the road passed eventually resulted in the area being declared a World Heritage Site.