Before you plan works, apply for a permit or send a crew out, you need to know a few things about the road: who manages it, what TMR calls it, exactly where on it you are, how fast traffic is going and how much of it there is. Most of that is public information, but it's spread across half a dozen government websites. This guide shows what you can look up for any Queensland road, where each answer comes from, and the quickest way to get them all at once.
What a road lookup can tell you
For a point on a Queensland road, these are the questions that come up again and again on the job:
| Question | Why it matters | Official source |
|---|---|---|
| Who manages the road? | Decides who issues road corridor and traffic control permits, and who you report a hazard to | TMR's state-controlled road network, or the local council |
| What is its road section? | TMR identifies every state-controlled road by number and section, such as 10A for the Bruce Highway from Brisbane to Gympie | TMR road location data |
| What is the chainage? | The exact position along the road section, used on traffic guidance schemes, permits and defect reports | TMR road location data |
| Which carriageway? | On a divided road, which side you're on | TMR carriageway codes |
| What is the speed limit? | Sets sign spacing, taper lengths and the speed zone for roadworks | The signs on the road; TMR's speed sign survey |
| How much traffic is there? | Queue lengths, work hours, sign duplication and traffic management plans | TMR's traffic census (AADT) |
| Can heavy vehicles use it? | Escort and route planning for plant and oversize loads | The NHVR National Network Map |
Step 1: is it a state-controlled road or a council road?
Queensland's roads are split between the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR), which manages the state-controlled network of motorways, highways and main roads, and the state's 77 local councils, which manage local streets and most rural roads. The two networks often meet at intersections, and a road can change hands along its length.
It matters because the road manager is who you deal with: TMR issues road corridor permits and traffic control permits on state-controlled roads, while councils have their own permit processes for their roads. Only state-controlled roads have TMR road sections and chainages.
You can check on the Queensland Government's Queensland Globe map, which has a state-controlled roads layer, or in TMR's open data. Our guide to telling a state-controlled road from a council road goes through the signs to look for and the edge cases, such as service roads and ramps.
Step 2: the road section, carriageway and chainage
Once you know it's a state-controlled road, TMR's location system gives every point on it an address in three parts:
- Road section: the road's number with a letter for long roads, such as 10A or 32D. Each section has its own start point and official (gazettal) direction.
- Carriageway: 1 for an undivided road; on a divided road, 2 runs in the gazettal direction and 3 against it, with other codes for ramps and service roads.
- Chainage: how far along the section you are, in kilometres to three decimal places, measured from the section's start in the gazettal direction.
Put together, "Bruce Highway, section 10A, carriageway 2, Ch 25.306 km" pins down a single spot. If any of those words are unfamiliar, start with what chainage means and how TMR measures it.
Step 3: the speed limit
The speed limit on the signs is always the one that counts. A limit applies from its sign until the next speed limit sign or the end of the road, and it can differ by direction near a zone change, where the signs for each direction aren't always side by side.
For planning, TMR published a survey of speed limit signs across Queensland, collected in 2019 and 2020, with each sign's street and the direction of traffic it faces. It's a point-in-time survey, so limits may have changed since, but it's a good first check before you visit the site. Our guide to checking the speed limit on a Queensland road covers the rules and the sources in detail.
Step 4: traffic volume and heavy vehicles
TMR counts traffic at more than 2,000 sites on the state-controlled network and publishes the results every year as AADT: annual average daily traffic, the number of vehicles a day averaged over the year. Each count site stands for a stretch of road, often many kilometres long, and the figures come with the share of heavy vehicles, a breakdown by vehicle type and, for most sites, the average traffic for every hour of the week.
Those numbers feed straight into traffic management: the queue length at a stop/slow site, the hours you can work, and whether signs must be duplicated on both sides of the road. See what AADT means and how to read TMR's counts.
For heavy-vehicle access, the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator's National Network Map shows which combinations (B-doubles, road trains, higher mass limits) are approved on each road and any restrictions.
Getting it all in one place
Looking each of these up separately means a map, a spreadsheet of open data and a couple of government websites. Chainage puts them together for any point on a Queensland state-controlled road:
- Tap the map, use your phone's GPS, or search by road name, section number, coordinates or a Google Maps link.
- The chainage card shows the road name, section, carriageway and chainage, how far you are from the road, the speed limit for each direction of travel from TMR's sign survey, the traffic volume and heavy-vehicle share from TMR's nearest count site, and, on request, live heavy-vehicle access from the NHVR.
- Tap the traffic figure to see the count site it came from, its counts by year and its traffic by hour; tap the speed sign to see the sign and the stretch its limit covers.
- Save the point to a project, or share it with a link or QR code so the crew turns up at the right spot.
Finding chainages and reading the road data is free and works in the browser on any phone. Council roads show the nearest state-controlled road instead, along with any council chainage data we have.
Check before you rely on it. Open data lags behind the road: new projects, realignments and new speed zones can take time to reach it. For anything critical, confirm on site and with the road manager.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find out who owns a road in Queensland?
Check whether it's on TMR's state-controlled road network, using the Queensland Globe map's state-controlled roads layer, TMR's open data or an app like Chainage. If it isn't, it's almost always the local council's road. Some private roads, such as those in estates, mines and farms, belong to neither.
Is there a free Queensland road lookup?
Yes. The Queensland Globe and TMR's open data are free, and Chainage's lookup (road, section, carriageway, chainage, speed and traffic data) is free in any browser without an account.
How do I find a road's section number?
TMR road section numbers come from its road location data. Tap or search the road in Chainage and the card shows the section, for example 10A, and the carriageway. You can also search by section number to find a road.
What is a state-controlled road?
A road declared under Queensland's Transport Infrastructure Act and managed by the Department of Transport and Main Roads: the state's motorways, highways and main roads, about 33,000 km in all.
Where can I check road conditions and roadworks?
QLDTraffic (qldtraffic.qld.gov.au, or 13 19 40) is the Queensland Government's service for current road conditions, incidents, closures and roadworks on state-controlled roads.
Sources
- Queensland Government Open Data Portal, Road location and traffic data.
- Queensland Government Open Data Portal, Traffic census for the Queensland state-declared road network.
- Queensland Government Open Data Portal, Speed limits for state and local roads (2019–20 survey).
- Queensland Government, Queensland Globe.
- Queensland Government, QLDTraffic.
- National Heavy Vehicle Regulator, National Network Map.