The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) will be undertaking works in the new year to make further improvements to the popular Forts Walk track.
The Forts Walk Circuit Upgrade will rebuild the circuit section of track around the WWII heritage structures at the top of the walk, providing safer and easier access to these iconic sites while also enhancing protection of their environmental and cultural values.
With around 100,000 visitors walking to the Forts each year, upgrades to the track will be a valuable addition to the Magnetic Island walking track network.
Construction will be completed by Dirtscapes – the company who built the new Forts to Florence Bay track – and works are expected to begin in late January (weather dependant) and continue through till June.
There will be some access restrictions to the sites during this period however a staged approach will allow the Forts Walk to remain open as much as possible during the construction period. Some full closures of the walk may be required at times however will be kept to a minimum.
The Magnetic Island community, tourism and businesses will be kept informed and updated throughout the construction.
Valued at $1.1million, project funding has been provided under the Australian Government’s COVID-19 World and National Heritage projects and the joint Australian-Queensland Government Reef Joint Field Management Program.
This project forms part of the government’s $5 million strategic investment government’s investment into Magnetic Island National Park’s visitor infrastructure upgrades, now in its third year of implementation
The Reef Joint Field Management Program is run in partnership by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and Queensland Government’s Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.