Road detour signs might out in force across far north and north western Queensland but they didn't hold up federal Assistant Minister for Road Safety and Freight Transport Scott Buchholz, who covered almost 2900 kilometres to inspect 18 projects last week.
The road and bridge building and heavy vehicle infrastructure projects represent over $200m in federal government funding and were spread across nine shires.
Mr Buchholz gave his hi-vis vest a workout for the majority of the week-long visit, accompanied by local mayors sharing their views on what else needs to be done to unlock the potential of the north.
"Sadly, I was book-ended by parliamentary sitting weeks, so I was restricted to only a week," Mr Buchholz said, adding that he would be back in Far North Queensland in the near future to see the progression of that part of the Morrison government's $110 billion nation-wide Infrastructure Investment Program.
"These were just the projects I drove past - there are many more," he said. "We know there is more to do. Building relationships with local mayors and stakeholders will vastly help in understanding future priorities of Far North Queensland."
When he returns later in November it will be for the next round of consultations with local and state stakeholders for Roads of Strategic Importance funding priorities.
Last week's inspections began at the Aramac-Torrens Creek Road and the Prairie Creek bridge, which have $16m and $8m of federal funding in the pipeline respectively.
Flinders Shire mayor Jane McNamara then travelled with them up to the Kennedy Developmental Road north of Hughenden to see graders shifting gravel on the second $40m tranche of federal funding for the road.
"On Wednesday we arrived in Richmond to meet mayor John Wharton and inspect the site where the new Richmond Heavy Vehicle Rest Area will be constructed, opposite the new roadhouse," Mr Buchholz said.
"The Richmond Roadhouse was a place of refuge for transport workers during the recent floods, and this rest area upgrade has been much-needed for a long time.
"The federal government is committing $139,405 on a 50:50 basis with the Richmond Shire Council to get this built."
The $10.4m progressive seal underway on the Richmond-Winton Road was also inspected on the day, before Mr Buchholz and his team continued on to Cloncurry.
Mayor Greg Campbell showed them the site of the planned $443,783 upgrade to Cloncurry's Clean Yards and also the $2m Coppermine Creek Bridge replacement in town.
Both projects have been funded on a 50:50 basis with Cloncurry Shire.
The former, which will cost $885,566 in total and will be funded under round seven of the government's Heavy Vehicle Program, will upgrade the access road for the western yards, including pavement, sealing and drainage works.
On Wednesday afternoon the Cloncurry-Dajarra Road, which has received $16m to seal near Phosphate Hill, was inspected.
"Thursday morning was an early start to meet Carpentaria Shire mayor Jack Bawden at the Burke and Wills Roadhouse, then we travelled up the McAllister Mail Run to Normanton and Kurumba to inspect the Burke Development Road corridor," Mr Buchholz said.
That road has $50m allocated under the Roads of Strategic Importance program.
"At this point we turned east and headed into Croydon to see the $4.1m sealing works on the Croydon-Richmond Road and also some of the small works underway by the council under the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program," Mr Buchholz said.
"We finished the day in Georgetown after inspecting the $487,000 strengthening works on the Little River Bridge, funded under the Heavy Vehicle Safety Productivity Program.
"Our final day began with a bridge inspection at Routh Creek Bridge, east of Georgetown. We are investing $600,000 in this project to strengthen the bridge on this essential freight route."
The Buchholz barnstorm then travelled up the Ootan Road with Mareeba Shire mayor Angela Toppin to inspect some completed sealing works.
"After this experience on the Ootan, I have a firsthand understanding of the further work required on this local council road by all levels of government," Mr Buchholz said.
"I then stopped in at some recently completed Beef Roads projects on the Burke Development Road to Chillagoe, where I met with local landholders and also visited Tom Prior's world famous Ford Museum complete with an impressive collection of Ford motor cars and prime movers.
"I finished the trip in Mareeba, where I joined the mayor and all councillors to reopen the John Doyle Bridge, which received $539,000 under the Bridges Renewal Program.
"It is incredible to see the graders moving the gravel and the local council workers in their hi-vis with shovels in the ground, building these life changing roads and bridges.
"Our tagline is 'Building our Future', and these transformational projects are doing just that.
"We are standing with the north, unlocking the enormous potential of these regions."