[6] In the 1980s, the second stage of the Ross River Dam necessitated a deviation of the Flinders Highway and Mount Isa railway line (which previously ran straight north-south) to be further east.

The project for pavement strengthening and rehabilitation between Townsville and Torrens Creek was expected to finish in late 2021 at a total cost of $22.2 million.

[11] The project for replacement of culverts between Charters Towers and Richmond was completed in late 2018 at a total cost of $15.1 million.

A lead project to upgrade the Queensland section of the Tennant Creek to Townsville corridor, including sections of the Barkly and Flinders Highways, the Kennedy Developmental Road and surrounding state and council roads, at an estimated cost of $250 million, was in the planning stage in 2020.

[13] A project to construct overtaking lanes between Townsville and Charters Towers at a cost of $33.4 million is planned to be completed by mid-2023.

[15] A project to deliver wide centre lines on a section of road between Townsville and Charters Towers at a cost of $9.7 million was due for completion in early 2022.

Much of the elegant gold rush architecture of the nineteenth century remains in place and is a tourist attraction.

[19] Located 243 km further on, Hughenden, the administrative centre of Flinders shire is in the heart of sheep and cattle country.