It has been described as the missing link.
The Goldfields Highway, one of the nation's last unsealed highways, winds deep into the heart of Western Australia's red dirt outback.
It is a vital connection between communities and resource-rich mining regions and locals believe that if the highway was sealed, it would unlock the outback to the rest of the world.
But with a ballooning debt, the newly-elected Labor Government looks poised to axe $60 million of funding to fix the state's last unsealed highway.
High social cost of isolation linked to dirt road
Pastoralists Jim Quadrio, lives on a station near Wiluna, is one of those who stands to be affected.
He argues there is a high social cost of isolating remote communities.
"It's extremely frustrating because that road will open up, basically, inland WA," Mr Quadrio said.
More than 100 dusty kilometres of the highway, between the frontier towns of Wiluna and Meekatharra, is not sealed.
That significantly increases travel time and costs mining and freight companies thousands of dollars in fuel and wear and tear.
It also cuts off communities during heavy rain, which forces the road to close.
Mr Quadrio is also president of the Shire of Wiluna, which sits near the centre of the state.
He said the region had waited more than 60 years for government commitments to be fulfilled.
"It started back when they closed the railway line back in 1957," he said.
"My father was there the day that the last train rolled in and out of Wiluna.
"An announcement was made then that Wiluna-Meekatharra would be promised what they called then an 'all weather' road, linking the two towns.
"It has been ongoing, obviously for quite a long while."
That funding, in the late 1950s, did not come through.
The state government again committed to fix the road in 1998 but that money was pulled.
Reconsidering Royalties for Regions project
Finally, in June 2016, the $60 million to seal 124 kilometres of the highway was passed through cabinet.
That funding is now that is being reconsidered — along with a dozens of other Royalties for Regions projects — as the new Labor Government searches for savings.
WA's Minister for Regional Development Alannah MacTiernan said the government would focus on projects "that are going to be growing the economy in the most direct way".
"I wouldn't want to give people false hope," Ms MacTiernan said.
"It is one of the projects that clearly is under review. There are a range of road projects that we did commit to in the election.
"It was never going to be possible for us to deliver our $1 billion worth of election commitments in the regions and deliver all of the things that the Liberals and also the Nats [National Party] were independently committing to."
Can't put a price on productivity or safety says truckie
When the unsealed section of Goldfields Highway is closed or in poor condition, haulage companies, residents and tourists spend hours travelling down alternative routes to avoid the stretch.
Former truck driver Anthony Bakranich, known to everyone as "Bucko", has travelled down the Goldfields Highway countless times.
"Some places you just scratch your head and you don't want to go on it but you have to," he said.
Bucko said you could not put a price on productivity or safety.
"You don't half ass do a job and expect people to accept it and go somewhere else, when the route has already been designated, the money's been put aside for that road.
"It should be finished, end of story."
Region says it feels forgotten
Mr Quadrio said it feels like the region is being forgotten.
"Quite frankly, I think it's just sheer numbers and politics. There's not enough votes out here that really matter," he said.
"Wiluna is probably producing $100 million-plus in royalties a year to the government of the day, just out of the Wiluna Shire alone.
"I'm sure if we can't get $60 million back over the number of years that it's been contributing, then there's something wrong and inequitable."
Despite more than half a century of broken promises, Mr Quadrio is hopeful the road will eventually be sealed.
"I just hope I am not like my dad and I can live long enough to see it happen," he said.
