If you’ve been traveling to Cairns and noticed something different about the Captain Cook Highway roundabouts, you would have noticed correctly.

A new type of highly skid-resistant road surface is being trialed for two years on the MacGregor Road and Caravonica roundabouts, aiming to cut the number of accidents caused when drivers traveling too fast around the roundabouts lose control of their vehicles.

Queensland Main Roads Minister, Craig Wallace, said the road surface, called Calcined Bauxite treatment, was being used a treated aggregate material, which kept its rough edges and gave drivers extra grip.

"This treatment project has been highly successful in improving safety on road surfaces in other areas of Queensland, and I'm sure it will be welcomed by over 35,000 motorists using the highway every day," Mr Wallace said.

"Motorists using these two roundabouts will no doubt have already noticed the change in colour of the road surface since the treatment was completed last month.”

Mr Wallace said the $350,000 project, which was funded through the Federal Government's Black Spot program, was part of the Queensland Government's ongoing commitment to provide motorists traveling on the Captain Cook Highway with the safest possible road environment.

"In August, the finishing touches will be applied to a $2.5 million project which has seen more than two kilometres of new guardrail installed at 18 priority locations on this important link between Cairns and Port Douglas,” he said.

Mr Wallace said federal and state governments had already jointly-funded $1.8 million in works on nine Captain Cook Highway roundabouts, which included construction of wider road shoulders, improved signage, better cyclist access and speed limit reduction.

Earlier this month, Federal Minister Assisting the Attorney-General on Queensland Floods Recovery, Senator Joe Ludwig, and Mr Wallace announced more than $460 million would be invested in repairing disaster-damaged roads in Far North Queensland under 'Operation Queenslander'.

Twenty sites between Cairns and Mossman were then earmarked for reconstruction works and included placement of rock-fill and drape netting over the slopes above the highway between Buchan’s Point and Yule Point and the replacement of damaged bitumen between Barron River Bridge and Mowbray River Bridge.

Meanwhile, public support for the construction of a roundabout at the highway’s intersection with Port Douglas Road is gathering momentum, following a serious traffic accident last week.

Port Douglas Police say the Traffic Accident Investigation Squad was looking into last Tuesday's accident, which resulted in a 22-year-old French tourist being airlifted to Cairns Base Hospital after the van she was travelling in was hit head-on at the Port Douglas entrance. 

218 people had “liked” a dedicated facebook page created by local woman, Michaela Flood, until late Wednesday, prompting debate and offering suggestions on the issue.