Old Hume Highway

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The Old Hume Highway may be described as any part of an earlier route of the Hume Highway, which traverses Victoria and New South Wales between the cities of Melbourne and Sydney in Australia. In some places, the highway has been deviated several times since the first rough track was made between Sydney and Melbourne in the 1840s.

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[edit] History

Since the 1840s the route of what is now the Hume Highway has been the main road link between the two biggest cities in Australia - Sydney and Melbourne. Since the 1960s a freeway standard of road has been developed along this route. Where the alignment of the original road is reasonably flat and straight it has been duplicated and retained for traffic in one direction. In some locations the original road has been replaced by a dual carriageway road beside the original road. In other locations the new road deviates from the original by many kilometres.

From Table Top (North of Albury), in New South Wales to the Western Ring Road in Melbourne (Near Craigiburn), in Victoria and to note: In Victoria, 100% of the entire length of the Hume Highway has been upgraded to freeway-grade stardard and is called the Hume Freeway. In New South Wales, some 90% of the highway has been upgraded to freeway-grade stardard, with the 460km section from Sydney to 22 km south of Tarcutta being freeway-grade stardard - Except for a length of 11 km at Coolac where a dual carriageway deviation is under construction, the Sheahan Bridge (1.2km across) the Murrumbidgee River at Gundagai, duplication of the bridge, also is under construction, and a length of 8km from the Sturt Highway interchange to 3km south of Tarcutta.

Between North Coolac and Table Top (North of Albury) are lengths of single carriageways. It is proposed that the remaining single carriageway lengths will be duplicated by 2009 (Except for 20km encompacing Tarcutta, Holbrook, Woomargama which will be bypassed and duplicated by 2012).

The section of the Hume Highway from Sydney heading towards the Southern Highlands (and the connection to Canberra) is of exceptionally high standard, as it follows a new route built between 1973 and 1998 to full freeway-grade standard.

Many of the superseded sections of the Hume Highway are of historical interest as they provide insights into the small historical towns which have since been bypassed. In the past when the highway passed through these towns, many were thriving centres. One section of the Old Hume Highway travels through Yass in southern New South Wales. This section of road is now known as the Yass Valley Way.

Source: [1]

[edit] Major Deviations

The section of the Hume Highway between the Cross Roads, at Prestons on Sydney's southwestern fringe, and the Medway Rivulet near Berrima, was completely superseded in the period 1973-1992 by a new route built as a freeway.

Most of the highway route between Breadalbane, west of Goulburn, and Derringullen Creek, west of Yass, was replaced during the early 1990s. This included a bypassing of the Cullerin Range. The previous route of the highway over the Cullerin Range was in itself a deviation built in the 1920s, using sections of railway formation abandoned several years earlier when the Main Southern Railway was deviated at the time it was duplicated. The deviations were an attempt to ease the gradients against heavily-laden Sydney-bound steam trains.

The Breadalbane-Derringullen Creek deviation is in most places quite close to the previous highway, most of which remains for local use. This section also included the abandoning of the route over the Mundoonen Range which, when it was rebuilt in the 1960s, was designed to be duplicated.

Between Conroys Gap and Coolac, most of the earlier alignment was replaced in the 1980s and 1990s by realignment associated with dual carriageway construction, although sections such as that that south of Connors Creek were rebuilt in the 1970s with the earthworks being done for a second carriageway, which was subsequently built in the mid 1990s.

The current route of the highway between Tumblong and Tarcutta is the third route of the highway in this location. The original route led west from Tumblong along the Murrumbidgee River, before turning south over difficult country, crossing what is now the Sturt Highway and rejoining the current route of the highway as Lower Tarcutta Road. This was replaced in December 1938 by the first Tumblong deviation, to the east of the current route. The main features of this section of the highway were a deep, narrow cutting and the reinforced concrete bowstring arch bridge over Hillas Creek. This has been preserved, and is visble on the western side of the highway close to the interchange with the Snowy Mountains Highway.

North of Albury, a major deviation of the highway was constructed in the 1930s due to the inundation of the original route caused by the raising of the wall of the Hume Dam on the Murray River. The deviation commences at Bowna and terminates at Guinea St Albury (the first part of the Riverina Highway east from Albury as far as what is now Old Sydney Road was until then the Hume Highway). At either end of the original route is the strange sight of the road disappearing into the waters of Lake Hume.

[edit] Major sections

[edit] New South Wales

  • Camden Valley Way, 28 km stretch between the Cross Roads, south of Liverpool and Camden (part of state route 89)
  • Remembrance Driveway, 30 km stretch between Camden and Yanderra (part of state route 89)
  • Old Hume Highway, 40 km stretch between Yanderra and Aylmerton (part of state route 89)and between Aylmerton and the Medway Rivulet, near Berrima
  • Old Hume Highway, 10 km stretch through Goulburn
  • Old Hume Highway, 23 km stretch between Breadalbane and the foot of the Mundoonen Range, including the Gunning bypass
  • Yass Valley Way, 17 km stretch bypass of Yass
  • Tumblong deviation, between Tumblong and Hillas Creeks

[edit] Victoria

  • Wangaratta Road (State Route C314), Old Hume Highway, Winton - Glenrowan Road, Benalla - Winton Road (State Route C313) & Baddaginnie - Benalla Road
    60 km stretch between Bowser and Baddaginne. This stretch runs through Wangaratta, Glenrowan & Benalla
  • Euroa Main Road (State Route C312)
    6 km stretch through Euroa

[edit] See also

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