More work to seal one of the nation's most feared outbback roads

A 60km stretch of the Tanami Road (also known as the Tanami Track) which leads across some of the harshest country on the continent is about to be sealed.

Famous among four-wheel-drive adventurers but loathed by regular users, this road stretches from Alice Springs into Western Australia - from the Alice to Halls Creek.

The corrugations of the 1000km Tanami Road are so pronounced travel speeds are often reduced to less than half normal speeds.

Bull dust holes also cause a lot of damage to vehicles.

Although the road is navigable by two-wheel drive vehicles most of the year 4WD vehicles are recommended and caravans are not.

A $73 million contract has been awarded to Exact Contracting to seal 150km of the road from chainage 271.81km to 421km.

First job is to seal the initial 60km section which is expected to start next month and finish by September in 2023.

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Then plans are to be made sealing the rest which is expected to begin in October 2023.

The Tanami is one of the toughest parts of this bold plan to build a sealed road across the centre of Australia.

This expensive work to tame the wilderness and seal a track from west to east has been progressing for a decade, funded by various governments.

Already about half the 2720 kilometres of the Outback Way has been sealed and upgraded.

The Tanami Road is the most direct route from Alice Springs to the Kimberley which follows an old stock droving route and passes through the largely unpopulated Tanami Desert.

The midway point is the former Rabbit Flat Roadhouse, holder of the record for the longest continuous run of days over 39 degrees. In 2019 it recorded 115 days in a row over 39 to beat Marble Bar.

Despite its challenges, the Tanami Road is a key freight route for the mining and pastoral industries, services a number of Indigenous communities, and is an important access road for tourists.

Almost 12km of Tanami Road was sealed by Exact Contracting late last year.

The newly installed federal Transport Minister Catherine King said the government was partnering with the NT government to deliver the upgrade.

NT Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics Minister Eva Lawler said the unsealed road "is difficult to maintain and is often in a poor state".

"Sealing Territory roads makes for easy journeys meaning less wear and tear on vehicles, reduced freight costs, improved reliability and makes sure business keeps moving in a safe and productive way."

Many say the construction of an all-weather road east-west across the centre of Australia is as important as the transcontinental railway line built more than a century ago.

Successive governments have already poured more than $330 million over the past decade into effort to link Laverton in outback WA to Winton in Queensland.