The Northern Territory Government has awarded a $37.4 million contract to infrastructure company Exact Contracting to seal 22.5 kilometres of Santa Teresa Road southeast of Alice Springs, with works due to start in October 2026 and wrap up by early 2028.
The contract, reported by Infrastructure Magazine, covers the stretch running from roughly the 40-kilometre mark through to about the 62-kilometre mark. The finished product is a two-lane sealed rural arterial eight metres wide, plus associated civil works, site establishment, and traffic management planning and implementation.
That $37.4 million sits inside the $415 million Northern Territory Strategic Roads Package, jointly funded by the Territory and Federal governments, which the NT Government says will support local businesses and around 60 jobs through the planning, design, construction and maintenance of these upgrades.
A road known for flooding and corrugation
For anyone who’s driven it, the pitch here isn’t speed. It’s being able to get through at all.
NT Minister for Logistics and Infrastructure and Member for Namatjira Bill Yan said the upgrades were long overdue and a great outcome for the Santa Teresa community, pastoralists and everyone who relies on the road.
“Santa Teresa Road has historically been prone to flooding and corrugation, and sealing another 22.5 kilometres will provide a safer and more reliable road for local residents and motorists,” Mr Yan said.
Corrugation is the unsealed-road tax: shake-apart trailers, cracked windscreens, and a speed you drop to because you have to, not because a sign tells you. A seal takes that variable out and keeps the route usable after rain, which is the difference between a delivery run that happens and one that doesn’t.
Sealed in stages, kilometre by kilometre
This contract builds on earlier work under the same package, which sealed seven kilometres of Santa Teresa Road between the 13-kilometre and 20-kilometre sections. Add the new award and the sealed run keeps creeping outward from Alice Springs in bites rather than one hit.
Federal Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Minister Catherine King said the Northern Territory Strategic Roads Package is delivering much-needed works that will improve the safety and reliability of remote and regional roads in the Northern Territory.
“With another milestone reached on Santa Teresa Road, we are a step closer to improving year-round connections to essential services, while also supporting industry, freight and tourism operations,” Ms King said.
The unsealed kilometres either side of this scope are the obvious tell for where the next contract goes, assuming the package keeps funding it.
What the October start means for crews
The important date for anyone chasing a slice of this isn’t 2028. It’s now.
A works start in October 2026 means the site establishment, plant bookings, subcontract packages and traffic management setup get locked in over the months before that, not after the first machine turns up. Traffic management is named in the contract scope as its own deliverable, which is a line item, not an afterthought, on a live public road carrying station traffic and community movements.
The program also runs long: from an October 2026 start to an early 2028 finish, the job spans two Central Australian wet seasons on a road the Minister describes as historically prone to flooding. That’s a scheduling reality remote civil crews already plan around, and it’s part of why 22.5 kilometres takes the best part of 16 months rather than a single dry run.
For a Territory contractor, a job of this length is the sort that justifies putting on and keeping on people, because the maintenance tail is inside the same package of work rather than a separate tender years down the track.
What to watch
The figure worth carrying: the NT Government has committed $37.4 million to seal 22.5 kilometres of Santa Teresa Road as part of its $415 million Strategic Roads Package, announced in September 2026.
Details of the remaining projects in that package sit with the Territory’s infrastructure department at nt.gov.au and the federal department at infrastructure.gov.au. If you run plant or crews out of Alice Springs, the package page is where the next 22.5 kilometres will show up before the contract notice does.
Frequently asked questions
When does work start on Santa Teresa Road?
Works are due to start in October 2026 and finish by early 2028, covering 22.5 kilometres of road southeast of Alice Springs.
Who won the Santa Teresa Road contract?
Infrastructure company Exact Contracting was awarded the $37.4 million contract.
How many jobs will the Santa Teresa Road project support?
The NT Government says the works will support around 60 jobs through planning, design, construction and maintenance.
Sourced from Infrastructure Magazine. Original article.
