Editing Connie Sue Highway

{{Short description|Track in Western Australia}}
{{Use Australian English|date=March 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox Australian road
| type        = track
| road_name   = Connie Sue Highway
| state       = wa
| image       = Connie Sue Highway 0216.svg
| caption     = Connie Sue Highway (blue and white)
| length      = 650
| direction_a = NNE
| direction_b = SSW
| end_a       = [[Warburton, Western Australia|Warburton]]
| end_b       = [[Rawlinna, Western Australia|Rawlinna]]
| region      = Goldfields–Esperance
| permit      = 1 required for Warburton
| fuel        = [[Warburton, Western Australia|Warburton]]
| facilities  = [[Warburton, Western Australia|Warburton]]
| location    =
}}
The '''Connie Sue Highway''' is an [[Australian outback|outback]] unsealed track that runs between the [[Australian Aborigine|Aboriginal]] community of [[Warburton, Western Australia|Warburton]] on the [[Great Central Road]] and [[Rawlinna, Western Australia|Rawlinna]] on the [[Trans-Australian Railway]]. It lies entirely in the state of [[Western Australia]], crosses the [[Great Victoria Desert]] and [[Nullarbor Plain]], and is approximately {{convert|650|km|mi|abbr=on}} long.

==History==
The Warburton-Rawlinna road was pioneered as part of a network of roads for the Weapons Research Establishment at [[Woomera, South Australia]]. Surveying began in July 1962, when [[Len Beadell]], with wife Anne and baby Connie Sue, left [[Adelaide]] and travelled via the [[Stuart Highway]] and the [[Gunbarrel Highway]] to Warburton.  From there they {{wikt-lang|en|bushbash|bushbashed|i=-}} roughly {{Convert|300|km|abbr=on}} south in his [[Land Rover]], until reaching the approximate latitude of the [[Anne Beadell Highway]], which was under construction from the east.  Turning east, they drove another {{Convert|150|km|abbr=on}} through the Great Victoria desert to a point west of [[Serpentine Lakes]] to join up with his [[Gunbarrel Road Construction Party]] (GRCP).  They ran out of fuel and water about {{Convert|10|km|abbr=on}} short of their destination, but with the aid of radio and flares, were joined by their team.<ref name=Bayly09>{{cite book |title=Len Beadell's Legacy |last=Bayly |first=Ian |year=2009 |publisher=Bas Publishing |location=Seaford Vic |isbn=9781921496028 |page=94   }}</ref>

Beadell and family then began a reconnaissance west towards [[Neale Junction]], followed by the GRCP.  After two weeks of intense activity during August, the Anne Beadell Highway reached Neale Junction.  From there, Beadell and party then commenced building a new road north towards Warburton.  Just north of Neale Junction, Beadell's infant daughter Connie Sue was observed standing up for the first time in her [[tea-chest]] bassinet.  It was decided there and then that the Warburton-Rawlinna road would be known as the Connie Sue Highway.<ref>{{cite book | author=Beadell, Len | title= Bush Bashers | publisher= New Holland Publishers (Australia) | year=1971 | isbn=1864367342 }}</ref>
The 320 kilometre section of new road reached Warburton on 15 September.<ref name=ms1998>{{cite book |title=A Lifetime in the Bush:The biography of Len Beadell |last=Shephard |first=Mark |year=1998 |publisher=Corkwood Press |location=Adelaide |isbn=1876247053 }}</ref> After obtaining supplies, the construction team turned south and by early October were back at Neale Junction.  Beadell then began surveying south towards Rawlinna to make the southern half of the new Connie Sue Highway.  The GRCP with bulldozer and grader followed Beadell's tracks, constructing the road as they went.  By the end of October the road was completed, and the Beadell family returned to Adelaide via the [[Eyre Highway]].<ref name=Bayly09/>

==Additional details==
Approximately halfway along the route is Neale Junction, {{convert|172|km|mi|abbr=on}} west of Ilkurlka, where the highway intersects with another outback road, the [[Anne Beadell Highway]].

The road, like many Len Beadell built, is a "highway" in name only. It is remote and does not carry regular traffic. There is no available ground water and it is one of the longest stretches in Australia between fuel pumps. The only place on the highway that sells fuel is Warburton. There is no fuel for sale at Rawlinna. The closest available is more than {{convert|100|km|mi|abbr=on}} to the south, at [[Caiguna, Western Australia|Caiguna]] or [[Cocklebiddy, Western Australia|Cocklebiddy]], on the Eyre Highway.

The track is not considered suitable for unprepared travellers. A free permit is required to travel on track in the Ngaanyatjarrak determination area and to enter Warburton.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.ngaanyatjarra.org.au/content/permits | title = Permits | publisher = [[Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku]] | access-date = 27 January 2019 | archive-date = 28 January 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190128135852/https://www.ngaanyatjarra.org.au/content/permits | url-status = dead }}</ref> Obtaining a permit for the track requires a minimum of five working days turnaround.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.ngaanyatjarra.org.au/sites/default/files/permit_pack_may_2018.1_0.pdf | title = Permit Application | publisher = [[Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku]] | access-date = 27 January 2019 | archive-date = 20 March 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230320001728/https://www.ngaanyatjarra.org.au/sites/default/files/permit_pack_may_2018.1_0.pdf | url-status = dead }}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="240px" heights="180px">
File:Connie Sue Hwy.jpg|Connie Sue Highway after heavy rain
File:Connie Sue Highway 2007.jpg|View of the Connie Sue Highway in 2007
</gallery>

==See also==
{{portal-inline|Australian roads}}
* [[Highways in Australia]]
* [[List of highways in Western Australia]]

==Notes==
* Hema Maps ''Australia's great desert track''s. Eight Mile Plains, Qld. : Hema Maps, 2005. 3rd ed. Scale 1:1,250 000 ; Lambert conformal conic proj. (E 119°00'--E 129°20'/S 024°35'--S 032°30')  {{ISBN|1-86500-161-9}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.exploroz.com/treks/Connie-Sue-Hwy Connie Sue Highway on ExplorOz]
{{Road infrastructure in Western Australia}}

[[Category:Tracks in remote areas of Western Australia]]
[[Category:Goldfields–Esperance]]
[[Category:Roads built by Len Beadell]]
[[Category:Great Victoria Desert]]