Bucketts Way

Bucketts Way New South Wales
The Bucketts Range from Bucketts Way.
General information
Type	Road
Length	149 km (93 mi)
Route number(s)	Bucketts Way
Major junctions
North end	Pacific Highway, Taree, New South Wales
	Thunderbolts Way
South end	Pacific Highway, 17km north of Raymond Terrace, New South Wales
Location(s)
Major suburbs	Tinonee, Gloucester, Stroud

Bucketts Way is a country road linking Gloucester to Taree and Raymond Terrace, in New South Wales, Australia.^[1] It was named after the Bucketts, a prominent range near Gloucester. At the length of about 149 kilometres (93 mi), it was the former alignment of the Pacific Highway between Raymond Terrace and Taree from 1928 until 1952.

In the south, the Bucketts Way branches off to the west of the Pacific Highway 14 km (9 mi) north of the Raymond Terrace bypass. Heading north, it crosses the Karuah River about 8.5 km (5.3 mi) south of Stroud and then roughly follows the course of the Karuah River upstream in a west-north-westerly direction for approximately 25 km (16 mi). It then turns north-north-east and then north for 32 km (20 mi) until it reaches Gloucester, crossing the Wards and Avon rivers on the way. The North Coast Railway line runs parallel with it from just north-east of Stroud Road to Gloucester. At Gloucester, taking Thunderbolts Way leads to the Northern Tablelands and various other national parks and riverside camping reserves along the way. The Bucketts Way continues eastwards to Krambach and then to Taree where it rejoins the Pacific Highway.^[2]

It provides access to the Barrington Tops National Park, and is used by tourists as a very scenic alternative to the Pacific Highway. The Bucketts Way travels through four council areas: Port Stephens, Great Lakes, Gloucester and Greater Taree. Some Gloucester Shire councillors have proposed renaming the section of Bucketts Way south of Gloucester to Thunderbolts Way,^[3] as is shown on some tourist maps. This would result in one continuously named road stretching from the Pacific Highway near Raymond Terrace to the New England Highway at Uralla and beyond. However, there is significant community opposition to a name change.

See also

Australian Roads portal

• Highways in Australia
• List of highways in New South Wales

References

Road infrastructure in regional New South Wales Motorways Hume Motorway Hunter Expressway Pacific Motorway (Brisbane – Brunswick Heads) Pacific Motorway (Sydney–Newcastle) Princes Motorway National highways Barton Highway Federal Highway Hume Highway New England Highway Newell Highway Sturt Highway Highways Barrier Highway Bruxner Highway Carnarvon Highway Castlereagh Highway Cobb Highway Great Western Highway Gwydir Highway Illawarra Highway Kamilaroi Highway Kings Highway Mid-Western Highway Mitchell Highway Monaro Highway Murray Valley Highway Olympic Highway Oxley Highway Pacific Highway Princes Highway Riverina Highway Silver City Highway Snowy Mountains Highway Local highways Alpine Way Appin Road Barry Way Bathurst-Ilford Road Bells Line of Road Bucketts Way Burley Griffin Way Bylong Valley Way Camden Valley Way Castlereagh Highway Central Coast Highway Escort Way Fossickers Way Golden Highway Goldfields Way Goulburn-Oberon Road Henry Lawson Way Irrigation Way Kidman Way Lachlan Valley Way Memorial Drive Newcastle Inner City Bypass Newcastle Link Road O'Connell Road Old Hume Highway Picton Road Princes Highway Putty Road Remembrance Drive Summerland Way Thunderbolts Way Waterfall Way Wombeyan Caves Road Yass Valley Way Bridges Denison Bridge Grafton Bridge Harwood Bridge Hampden Bridge Macleay River Bridge Martin Bridge Mooney Mooney Bridge Nowra Bridge Sea Cliff Bridge Tea Gardens-Hawks Nest Bridge Tunnels Cudgen Road Tunnel St Helena Tunnel Proposals Sydney Bypass