Warrego Highway

Warrego Highway
Queensland
Highway at Haigslea, 2014
General information
Type Highway
Length 721 km (448 mi)
Route number(s) Alt A2
(Mitchell Highway - Landsborough Highway)
National Highway A2
(Landsborough Highway - Pine Mountain Road, Brassall)
M2
(Pine Mountain Road, Brassall - Ipswich Motorway)
Major junctions
NW end Mitchell Highway, Charleville, Queensland
  Landsborough Highway
Carnarvon Highway
Leichhardt Highway
Moonie Highway
Bunya Highway
Gore Highway
New England Highway
Brisbane Valley Highway
SE end Ipswich Motorway /
Cunningham Highway, Ipswich, Queensland
Location(s)
Major settlements Morven, Mitchell, Roma, Miles, Dalby, Toowoomba
Highway system
Highways in Australia
National Highway • Freeways in Australia
Highways in Queensland

The Warrego Highway is located in southern Queensland, Australia. It connects coastal centres to the south western areas of the state, and is approximately 750 km in length. It takes its name from the Warrego River, which is the endpoint of the highway. The entire highway is part of the National Highway system linking Darwin and Brisbane: formerly National Highway 54, Queensland began to convert to the alphanumeric system much of Australia had adopted in the early-2000s and is now designated as National Highway A2.

Route description

The highway commences at the end of the M2 Ipswich Motorway, near Ipswich, and climbs the Great Dividing Range to Toowoomba. The first section of highway between Ipswich and Toowoomba is motorway grade, a four lane divided highway with motorway-style on-ramps and off-ramps. In the Lockyer Valley the highway is experiencing strip development with a growth in petrol stations and commercial properties.[1]

Approximate road distances (in kilometres) of towns from Brisbane along the highway

From Toowoomba, it then crosses the Darling Downs and continues to Charleville where the road is two lanes with many passing lanes along the route.

Terrain

The Warrego Highway's lowest point along its length is 3.69 m where it crosses the Bremer River near Ipswich, and its highest elevation is 665 m where it crosses the Great Dividing Range as it enters Toowoomba.[2]

Speed zones

Stretch of Highway between Ipswich and Toowoomba

Towns along the route

A signpost
View from Picnic Point, 2014

From east to west, the highway passes through or close to the cities and major towns of:

Future developments

Toowoomba Second Range Crossing

The Toowoomba Second Range Crossing is a major road proposal aimed at bypassing the urban area of Toowoomba and providing a better crossing of the Great Dividing Range. The bypass will link the Warrego Highway at Helidon (in the east) with the highway at Charlton (in the west). The bypass will continue to the Gore Highway and will be 41 km in length.

Other items of interest

Darren Lockyer Way

On 28 September 2011 the Queensland Main Roads Minister, Craig Wallace, announced that an 85 km stretch of the Warrego Highway will be renamed Darren Lockyer Way, in honour of the retired Brisbane Broncos, Queensland and Australian rugby league captain. The section of road to be renamed is from Riverview to the bottom of the Toowoomba Range at Withcott. Special signage including "Welcome to Darren Lockyer Way" has been erected.[3]

The "Toll Bar"

The section of the Warrego Highway from Withcott to the top of the Toowoomba Range was first opened in January, 1855 as a toll road, named Toll Bar Road.[4] The toll collection point was marked by a bar across the road and a fence on either side. The upper section of Toll Bar Road was initially unsealed and very steep, with grades up to 14%. This road remained in use until December, 1939, when work on a new, less steep, upper section was completed. Part of the upper section is now a suburban street named Old Toll Bar Road.[5] The term "The Toll Bar" is sometimes used by locals to describe the current road, and it is also used in the mapping software distributed with Navman GPS systems.

See also


References

  1. ↑ Terry Ryder (5 February 2009). "Lockyer food bowl banks on diversification". The Australian. News Limited. Retrieved 11 January 2010.
  2. ↑ "Map of Warrego Highway in Queensland". Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia. Retrieved 22 September 2009.
  3. ↑ Robyn Ironside (28 September 2011). "Stretch of Warrego Highway named after Darren Lockyer". The Courier Mail.
  4. ↑ Paul Rands. "Road Photos & Information: Queensland". Gateway Motorway, Logan Motorway, Ipswich Motorway, Warrego Highway, Landsborough Highway and Barkly Highway (M2/A2) - Toowoomba to Chinchilla. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  5. ↑ "The Old Toll Bar". Geocaching Australia. Retrieved 30 December 2011.

External links

Media related to Warrego Highway at Wikimedia Commons