| Pacific Highway | |
| see other route designations below Under conversion to [1] |
|
| Length | 960 km (597 mi) |
| Direction | North-South |
| From | North Quay Brisbane |
| via | Ballina, Grafton, Coffs Harbour, Kempsey, Taree, Newcastle, Gosford, Wahroonga |
| To | Warringah Freeway, North Sydney, Sydney |
| Allocation | Tweed Heads-Hexham: Hexham-Doyalson: Doyalson-Wahroonga: Wahroonga-Artarmon: Artarmon-Crows Nest: (No Shield) |
| Major junctions | Gold Coast Highway Bruxner Highway Summerland Way Gwydir Highway Waterfall Way Oxley Highway Bucketts Way New England Highway Sydney-Newcastle Freeway Central Coast Highway Motorway Link Sydney-Newcastle Freeway Cumberland Highway Mona Vale / Ryde Roads Boundary Road Fullers Road Mowbray Road Gore Hill Freeway Hills Motorway Falcon Street Miller Street |
The Pacific Highway is a major transport route along part of the east coast of Australia and is part of Australia's national route 1.
It is 960 km long and links Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, to Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, along the coast, via Gosford, Newcastle, Taree, Port Macquarie, Kempsey, Coffs Harbour, Grafton, Ballina and the Gold Coast.
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Initially, the primary mode of transport of the coastal areas between Sydney and Brisbane was by boat. From the roads radiating out from the port towns, the intervening hills were eventually crossed to create a continuous route along the coast, but this did not occur until the first decade of the 20th century. By contrast a continuous inland route from Newcastle to Brisbane via the tabelelands had been in existence since the 1840s. A direct coastal route between Sydney and Newcastle was not completed until 1930, and completion of the sealing of the Pacific Highway did not occur until 1958 (at Koorainghat, south of Taree). The last of the many ferries across the coastal rivers was not superseded by a bridge until 1966 (the Harwood Bridge across the south channel of the Clarence River - the north channel had been bridged in 1931).
In 1928 the road from Sydney to Newcastle (still under construction) was proclaimed as part of the Great Northern Highway, and the road from Hexham to Tweed Heads as the North Coast Highway. In 1931 the full length from Sydney to Brisbane was proclaimed as the Pacific Highway.
Until the 1990s most road freight between Sydney and Brisbane passed along the New England Highway instead, due to the easier topography of the Northern Tablelands it traverses. Between 1950 and 1967, traffic on the Pacific Highway quadrupled due to the attraction of coastal towns between Sydney and Brisbane for retirement living and tourism.
Two major coach accidents on the Pacific Highway in 1989 near Grafton (in which 20 people died) and at Clybucca near Kempsey (in which 35 people died) resulted in a public outcry over the poor quality of the road and its high fatality rate.[2] The Pacific Highway was never part of the Federally funded system of National Highways. This appears to be because when the Commonwealth funding of the 'national highway' system began in 1974, the longer New England Highway was chosen rather than the Pacific Highway as the Sydney-Brisbane link due to its easier topography and consequent lower upgrade costs.
Yet the highway was undeniably heavily used by interstate traffic and its upgrade was beyond the resources of the New South Wales Government alone. The NSW Government and the Commonwealth Government argued for years about how the responsibility for funding the highway's upgrade should be divided between themselves, only coming up with a mutually acceptable upgrade package just after the 1996/1997 financial year. The Highway is now part of the AusLink National Network and new projects are funded 50/50 by the Federal and State governments.
Single carriageway sections from Tweed Heads to Newcastle are progressively being converted to freeway or dual carriageway standards. Numerous sections of single carriageway road have been upgraded by the addition of sections of overtaking lane and pavement widening. Many towns have been bypassed by freeway-standard stretches, though the highway still snakes through several large towns such as Coffs Harbour and Kempsey. Overall the highway has become safer and travelling times have been substantially reduced particularly during holiday periods. However, about 50% (333 km) of the Pacific Hwy is still only one lane in each direction with some form of overtaking opportunity occasionally (or three lanes undivided on occasions), 50% (333 km) is dual carriageway and a further 15% (150 km) of dual carriageway is under construction.[3] From time to time, there are proposals in the media for the private sector to build a fully controlled-access high-speed tollway between Newcastle and the Queensland border, possibly using the BOT system of infrastructure provision. Nothing has eventuated from these proposals.[4]
The Pacific Highway was replaced by the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway as the national route between Sydney and Black Hill in sections between 1965 and 1993. Dual carriageway extends from the New England Highway at Beresfield near the end of the freeway north to a point 3 kilometres south of Bulahdelah, with the section immediately south of Bulahdelah having been completed in October 2009.[5] That section will join with the dual carriageway Bulahdelah bypass currently under construction and due for completion in late 2012.[6] North of Buladelah the Pacific Highway is dual carriageway for 163 km (101 mi) from to the Oxley Highway interchange.[7]
North of the Oxley Highway there are dual carriageway sections from Eungai-Warrell Creek, North Urunga to Coffs Harbour, the Coffs Harbour urban area (not freeway standard - but still 4 lanes) and a short section at Halfway Creek. From the Ewingsdale interchange (the Byron Bay exit) the Pacific Highway is dual carriageway for the remainder of its length to Brisbane.[8][9][10][11][12] This section of the highway has just one traffic signal, at Banora Point (or Sextons Hill) which will be bypassed following the completion of the Banora Point Upgrade currently under construction and due for completion in late 2012. [13] Projects currently under construction are the Kempsey Bypass (due for completion in mid 2013)[14], Sapphire- Woolgoolga Upgrade (due for completion in 2014)[15], Glenugie Upgrade (nearing completion)[16], Ballina Bypass (nearing completion)[17] and the Tintenbar- Ewingsdale Upgrade[18]. Construction of the 17 kilometre Tintenbar- Ewingsdale commenced in late 2011. The upgrade includes a new alignment between Tintenbar and Ewingsdale and a twin-tube road tunnel under St Helena Hill is expected to be completed in 2014.[19]
Environmental impact assessments have been completed for the following future projects: Warrell Creek to Urunga upgrade,[20] Oxley Highway to Kempsey.[21]
Preferred routes have been selected for the following future projects: Woodburn to Ballina Upgrade,[22] Wells Crossing to Iluka Road,[23] Woolgoolga to Wells Crossing[24] F3 Freeway to Raymond Terrace Upgrade.[25]
The Coffs Harbour bypass is currently in planning[26] and a traffic master plan for the Tweed includes:[27]
These projects form part of a 2009-2016 program jointly funded on a 50-50 basis by the Commonwealth and NSW governments to upgrade the Hexham-Gold Coast stretch of the Pacific Highway to dual-carriageway standard.
The five major objectives for the Pacific Highway upgrade are:
In 2007 mounting pressure was place on the Federal Government to provide additional funding for the highway. On 10 October 2007 the Federal Minister for Transport and Regional Services pledged $2.4 billion in funding for the highway, subject to dollar for dollar funding by the NSW state government. However, the NSW state government refused to match funding. In the lead up to the 2007 Federal election, then opposition leader Kevin Rudd pledged $1.5 billion in funding.[36] As part of Auslink 2 (Nation Building Program), the Federal Govt announced in its 2009 Federal budget that $3.1 billion would be spent on the highway up until 2014[37] at which time just 63% of the highway would be duplicated.[38] The NSW Government will spend just $500 million over that same period, with $300 million cut as a result of the 2008 mini budget.[3][39]
The Pacific Highway is one of the most dangerous and deadly stretches of road in Australia. Between 1995 and 2009, over 400 people died on the highway. In 1989, two separate bus crashes, the Grafton bus crash (in which 20 people died) and the Kempsey bus crash (in which 35 died), led to the deaths of 55 people on the highway, two of the worst road accidents in Australia's history. In 2009 thus far, 20 people have died on the Pacific Highway. It is estimated that perhaps over 10,000 people have been injured on the highway throughout its history.
Much of the danger of the Pacific Highway lies in the fact that it contains long stretches of undivided road along which all types of vehicles, including private automobiles, buses, vans and trucks, simultaneously travel at speeds approaching and in excess of 100 km/h. Being undivided, there is a very high risk of head-on collisions. In more recent years, state and federal governments have begun to fund an upgrade to a fully divided highway along its entire length.
Map of Pacific Highway route from Sydney to Brisbane.
KEY
From Sydney the Pacific Highway starts as the continuation of the Bradfield Highway at the northern end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, immediately north of the Sydney Central Business District and is the main route as far as the suburb of Wahroonga. From the Harbour Bridge to the Gore Hill Freeway at Artarmon it has no route number and from the Gore Hill Freeway to Wahroonga it is designated as Metroad 1. From Wahroonga to Hexham near Newcastle the Pacific Highway has been superseded by the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway, known formerly and still colloquially as the F3. The present designation of this road is National Highway 1. The freeway ends at John Renshaw Drive at Beresfield, from which a connector road leads to the New England Highway (national highway 15) between Hexham and Maitland. Northbound traffic turns right onto a short section John Renshaw Drive then connect via an overpass to the New England Highway towards Newcastle, to rejoin the Pacific Highway at Hexham interchange.
Back at Wahroonga, the Pacific Highway itself is located mostly parallel to the freeway until Kariong (at which point it diverts into the Central Coast through Gosford and Wyong). It continues along this route (designated state route 83) until Doyalson. The section of the highway from Cowan to Kariong follows a scenic winding route. This section was damaged quite severely during severe weather in June 2007. Five people died when a bridge over Piles Creek collapsed and the entire section was closed due to subsidence two kilometres further south. The road was reopened in 2009 when the Holt-Bragg Bridge was opened, named after the family that had perished. The section of what was formerly the Pacific Highway from the Wiseman's Ferry Road junction at Somersby, through to the Pacific Hwy exit at Gosford (adjacent to Brian McGowan Bridge), has been rebadged as the Central Coast Highway, still carrying State Route 83.
Between 1925 and 1930 the then-Main Roads Board reconstructed a route between Hornsby and Calga that had been abandoned some forty years earlier, in order to provide a direct road link between Sydney and Newcastle. In addition a replacement route, from Calga into the gorge of Mooney Mooney Creek and up to the ridge at Kariong above Gosford, was also required. This new Sydney-Newcastle route via Calga and Gosford was some 80 km shorter than the previous route via Parramatta, McGraths Hill, Maroota, Wisemans Ferry, Wollombi and Cessnock. At first Peats Ferry was reinstituted to cross the Hawkesbury River, with construction of the bridge not beginning until 1938, due to the Great Depression. Due to the onset of World War II, the Peats Ferry Bridge was not completed until May 1945.
The highway recommences as state route 83 in Gosford and continues north through the Central Coast suburbs of Ourimbah and Wyong as a regional route before meeting with a spur of the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway near Doyalson numbered as state route 111. At this point the Pacific Highway becomes state route 111, and is a four-lane regional highway passing Lake Macquarie and on through the suburbs of Newcastle before rejoining national route 1 at Hexham.
From Bennetts Green to Sandgate it is supplemented by the Newcastle Inner City Bypass, through New Lambton and Jesmond. Two lengths of this route (Bennetts Green-Kotara Heights and Jesmond-Shortland) have been replaced by freeway.
From Hexham, the Pacific Highway (now national route 1 again) passes along the NSW North Coast and across the state border into Queensland at Tweed Heads, on the southern fringe of the Gold Coast, Queensland. From here, the Highway is a divided four-lane urban arterial to Billinga, where it becomes the Pacific Motorway. The former route of the Pacific Highway through Burleigh Heads, Surfers Paradise and Southport was renamed the Gold Coast Highway.
Interchanges on motorway standard sections, from north to south.
| Pacific Highway Tweed Heads to Ewingsdale | ||
| Northbound exits | Distance from Sydney (km) |
Southbound exits |
| End Pacific Highway continues on as Pacific Motorway to Brisbane |
829 Brisbane 102 km |
Burleigh Heads, Surfers Paradise Gold Coast Airport Gold Coast Highway |
| Tweed Heads, Coolangatta, Gold Coast Airport Gold Coast Highway, Kennedy Drive |
Start Pacific Highway End Start |
|
| Tweed Heads, Coolangatta Kennedy Drive |
||
| Tweed Heads, Coolangatta Minjungbal Drive |
960 | Tweed Heads, Coolangatta Minjungbal Drive |
| Banora Point Darlington Drive |
Banora Point Darlington Drive |
|
| Sexton Hill Traffic Lights Sydney 824 km Banora Point, Terranora Terranora Road |
||
| Barneys Point Old Pacific Highway |
823 | Barneys Point Old Pacific Highway |
| Tweed River - Barneys Point Bridge | ||
| Chinderah, Kingscliff, Fingal Head Waugh Street |
822 | Chinderah, Kingscliff, Fingal Head Tweed Coast Way |
| Chinderah, Kingscliff Tweed Coast Way |
820 | Chinderah, Cudgen, Casuarina, BP Service Centre Tweed Coast Way |
| Cudgen, Condong, Murwillumbah Tweed Valley Way |
817 | Condong, Murwillumbah Tweed Valley Way |
| Cabarita Beach, Bogangar Clothiers Creek Road |
808 | Cabarita Beach, Bogangar Clothiers Creek Road |
| Hastings Point, Potsville Cudgera Creek Road |
801 | Hastings Point, Potsville Cudgera Creek Road |
| Sleepy Hollow rest area | 798 | Sleepy Hollow rest area |
| Murwillumbah, Mooball, Burringbar Tweed Valley Way |
789 | Billinudgel, Ocean Shores, Mooball Tweed Valley Way |
| Billinudgel Wilfred Street |
786 | no exit |
| Brunswick River | ||
| Brunswick Heads, Ocean Shores Brunswick Valley Way |
783 | Brunswick Heads Brunswick Valley Way |
| Brunswick Heads, Mullumbimby Brunswick Valley Way, Gulgan Road |
780 | Mullumbimby Brunswick Valley Way, Gulgan Road |
| Mullumbimby Gulgan Road |
777 | Mullumbimby Gulgan Road |
| Ewingsdale, Byron Bay Ewingsdale Road |
771 Brisbane 162 km |
Ewingsdale, Byron Bay Ewingsdale Road |
| Start Motorway End Start |
End Motorway continues on as to Ballina and Sydney |
|
Hexham to Port Macquarie
Port Macquarie to Coffs Harbour
Coffs Harbour to Ballina
Ballina to Brisbane
The Pacific Highway passes through some of Australia's fastest growing regions, the NSW's Central Coast and North Coast and also the Brisbane-Gold Coast corridor, with tourism and leisure being the primary economic activity. Hence the traffic is heavy, particularly during holiday seasons, resulting in major congestion. For direct Sydney-Brisbane travel, the New England Highway is preferred as it passes through fewer major towns and carries less local traffic. Another alternate route is via the scenic Bucketts Way and Thunderbolts Way to the Northern Tablelands at Walcha before rejoining the New England Highway at Uralla. This route reduces the distance of the Sydney to Brisbane trip by about 70 km.
Major cities and towns along the Pacific Highway include: Gosford, Wyong, Newcastle, Taree, Port Macquarie, Kempsey, Coffs Harbour, Grafton, Ballina and Byron Bay, all in New South Wales; and Gold Coast in Queensland.
Gosford is the commercial centre of the Central Coast, Australia's ninth largest urban area at the 2001 census. Gosford is located on Brisbane Water which is an inlet off Broken Bay. The Central Coast has a moderate climate, good beaches and pretty bushland areas. It includes popular holiday resorts such as Terrigal, The Entrance and Ettalong Beach. A 50km section of road between the Sydney Newcastle Freeway at Kariong, and the Pacific Highway at Doyalson was renamed the Central Coast Highway from 9 August 2006.[40]
Newcastle is the second largest city in New South Wales and is the commercial, administrative and industrial hub of the Hunter Valley, a region with a population of approximately 590,000. Once a major industrial city, it is now an elegant destination full of historic buildings, beaches, interesting sights and cultural activities.
The preferred method of reaching Newcastle from the freeway is to take the Newcastle Link Road (the Newcastle/Wallsend exit) from the Newcastle Freeway. Alternatively, Newcastle may be reached by taking the Doyalson exit from the Freeway and following the Pacific Highway (route 111), or by continuing to the end of the freeway and turning right onto John Renshaw Drive and then the New England Highway, travelling through Hexham.
Bulahdelah is about 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Newcastle with a population just over 1,000 and Bulahdelah is the last town that is yet to be bypassed (between Hexham and Port Maquarie). "Joint planning and funding approval" for the 8.5 kilometre bypass of the township of Bulahdelah was given on 9 July 2007.[41][42][43]
Taree is a major North Coast town. It is a major service centre and stopover point rather than a tourist destination. Among the attractions apart from forests and waterways is the 'Big Oyster'. The Highway now passes to the east of the town, following the opening of a bypass in 2000.
Port Macquarie is the major resort on the Mid North Coast. It is located slightly off the Pacific Highway via the Oxley Highway. It was first settled in 1821 and has historic buildings, a museum, nature reserves, surfing beaches, fishing locations and a variety of accommodation.
Kempsey is a large town located on the Macleay River halfway between Sydney and the Gold Coast, making it a popular stopping point for people making the journey along the Pacific Highway. Akubra Hats are made in Kempsey and it was the home town of Slim Dusty.
Coffs Harbour is the commercial and administrative centre of the Mid North Coast and is the major resort of the NSW North Coast. With a subtropical climate, Coffs Harbour is popular with retirees and tourists. This is evident from its suburban development, more akin to big cities than North Coast towns. It is also famous for its banana plantations, celebrated by 'The Big Banana' tourist destination. Apart from banana growing fishing is important here. The Jetty area of the city includes a marina, a large harbour with an accessible jetty, shops, restaurants and cafes, as well as the Muttonbird Island reserve, famous for its muttonbird population. South is Sawtell, which is a fast-developing coastal resort with attractive beaches and its famous main street with cafes, clubs and shops. To the north of Coffs Harbour is Woolgoolga, which has similar attractions, and a large local Sikh population.
Grafton is a regional city with wide streets, ornamental parks and Victorian buildings, located on the banks of the Clarence River. The city holds a Jacaranda Festival in November when the jacarandas which line almost every street are in full bloom.
Ballina is a major centre on the Far North Coast, attracting large numbers of retirees. It is located among sugarcane plantations at the mouth of the Richmond River. It is also holiday destination. A famous piece of kitsch, 'The Big Prawn' advertises Ballina as a desirable fishing spot. Ballina is one of the fastest growing areas in Australia.
The 12.4 km long Ballina Bypass is expected to be fully completed and open to traffic by 2012. The northern section of the bypass (Cumbalum Interchange to Ross Lane Interchange) opened in March 2011 while the central section (Teven Road Interchange to Cumbalum Iterchange) is expected to open by the end of 2011.[17]
Tweed Heads is the major commercial centre of the southern part of the Gold Coast, which extends as far south as Chinderah in NSW. It was known as a 'twin town' along with Coolangatta, Queensland before they coalesced with other towns to form the suburbia of the Gold Coast.
Coolangatta to Beenleigh is within the city of Gold Coast. The city has a population of 500,000 and is Australia's sixth-largest city. The oceanside parts of the Gold Coast are characterised by high-rises, residential canal developments, a casino, theme parks, amusement parks and numerous tourist attractions, whilst its inland suburbs are leafy and well kept, looking much like the newer suburbia of other large Australian cities. The Gold Coast attracts tourists from around the world and is one of Australia's leading tourist destinations. Most of the city is bypassed by the Pacific Motorway (M1 Motorway) which continues to Logan City in Brisbane, where its designation becomes Metroad 3. From there, this section of the Pacific Motorway (known before 2003 as the South East Freeway) continues directly into Brisbane city centre. The Gold Coast Highway was very congested until the Tugun Bypass opened in June 2008 bypassing a badly traffic snarled section near the busy Gold Coast International Airport.
The former route of the Pacific Highway through the Gold Coast has been renamed as the Gold Coast Highway, and the former route of the highway from Logan to Woolloongabba in Brisbane is now Logan Road, which was the name it had prior to becoming part of the Pacific Highway in 1931.
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