The National Highway is a system of roads connecting all mainland states and territories of Australia, and is the major network of highways and motorways connecting Australia's capital cities and major regional centres.
Highways in Australia are generally high capacity roads managed by state and territory government agencies, though Australia's federal government contributes funding for important links between capital cities and major regional centres. Prior to European settlement, the earliest needs for trade and travel were met by narrow bush tracks, used by tribes of Indigenous Australians. The formal construction of roads began in 1788, after the founding of the colony of New South Wales, and a network of three major roads across the colony emerged by the 1820s. Similar road networks were established in the other colonies of Australia. Road construction programs in the early 19th century were generally underfunded, as they were dependent on government budgets, loans, and tolls; while there was a huge increase in road usage, due to the Australian gold rushes. Local government authorities, often known as Road Boards, were therefore established to be primarily responsible for funding and undertaking road construction and maintenance. The early 1900s saw both the increasingly widespread use of motorised transportation, and the creation of state road authorities in each state, between 1913 and 1926. These authorities managed each state's road network, with the main arterial roads controlled and maintained by the state, and other roads remaining the responsibility of local governments. The federal government became involved in road funding in the 1920s, distributing funding to the states. The depression of the 1930s slowed the funding and development of the major road network until the onset on World War II. Supply roads leading to the north of the country were considered vital, resulting in the construction of Barkly, Stuart, and Eyre Highways.
Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney via Melbourne to Adelaide through the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. It has a length of 1,941 kilometres (1,206 mi) or 1,898 kilometres (1,179 mi) via the former alignments of the highway, although these routes are slower and connections to the bypassed sections of the original route are poor in many cases.
Pacific Highway is a 790-kilometre-long (491 mi) national highway and major transport route along the central east coast of Australia, with the majority of the highway being part of Australia's Highway 1. The highway and its adjoining Pacific Motorway between Brisbane and Brunswick Heads and Pacific Motorway between Sydney and Newcastle links the state capitals of Sydney in New South Wales with Brisbane in Queensland. It approximately parallels the Tasman Sea and the Coral Sea of the South Pacific Ocean coast. Additionally, between Brunswick Heads and Port Macquarie, the road is also signed as Pacific Motorway, but has not been legally gazetted as such.
The present highway network in New South Wales, Australia was established in August 1928 when the Main Roads Board superseded the 1924 main road classifications and established the basis of the existing New South Wales main road system.. The number of a road for administrative purposes is not the same as the route number it carries e.g. the Great Western Highway is Highway 5 for administrative purposes but is signposted as part of route A32.)
A routenumber, designation or abbreviation is an identifying numeric designation assigned by a highway authority to a particular stretch of roadway to distinguish it from other routes and, in many cases, also to indicate its classification, general geographical location and/or orientation. The numbers chosen may be used solely for internal administrative purposes; however, in most cases they are also displayed on roadside signage and indicated on maps.
The Pacific Motorway is a motorway in Australia between Brisbane, Queensland, and Brunswick Heads, New South Wales, through the New South Wales–Queensland border at Tweed Heads.
M1 Pacific Motorway is a 127-kilometre motorway linking Sydney to Newcastle via the Central Coast and Hunter regions of New South Wales. Formerly known but still commonly referred to by both the public and the government as the F3 Freeway, Sydney–Newcastle Freeway, and Sydney–Newcastle Expressway, it is part of the AusLink road corridor between Sydney and Brisbane.
Bells Line of Road is a 59-kilometre (37 mi) major road located in New South Wales, Australia, providing an alternative crossing of the Blue Mountains to the Great Western Highway. The eastern terminus of the road is in Richmond, 51 km northwest of Sydney, where the road continues eastward as Kurrajong Road, which intersects the A9. The western terminus of the road is in Bell, in the Blue Mountains, where the road continues as the Chifley Road.
Bradfield Highway is a 2.1-kilometre (1.3 mi) highway that crosses the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Sydney, New South Wales and is one of the shortest highways in Australia. It opened along with the bridge itself on 19 March 1932 and was named in honour of John Bradfield, the engineer who designed and helped construct it.
Picton Road is a 37-kilometre (23 mi) rural road that links Picton and Wollongong through the Macarthur region of New South Wales. It provides an important link between the Hume and Princes Motorways.
Cahill Expressway is an urban freeway in Sydney and was the first freeway constructed in Australia, with the first section, from the Bradfield Highway to Conservatorium Place being opened to traffic in March 1958. It links the southern end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, via an elevated roadway, a tunnel and cuttings between the Royal Botanic Garden and The Domain, to Woolloomooloo in Sydney's inner-eastern suburbs.
The M4 Motorway is a 55-kilometre (34 mi) series of partially tolled dual carriageway motorways in Sydney designated as route M4. The M4 designation is part of the wider A4 and M4 route designation, the M4 runs parallel and/or below ground to Great Western Highway, Parramatta Road and City West Link, which are part of route A44.
Southern Cross Drive is a 4.8 km (3 mi) dual carriage untolled motorway in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Part of the M1 and Sydney Orbital Network, the road, a freeway that opened in 1969, links South Dowling Street at Kensington in the north to General Holmes Drive at Sydney Airport in the south.
Western Distributor is a 4.3-kilometre-long (2.7 mi) grade-separated motorway that is primarily elevated for the majority of its route on the western fringe of the Sydney central business district. It links the southern end of Bradfield Highway at the Sydney Harbour Bridge to Victoria Road in Rozelle, at its western terminus near White Bay. It is a constituent part of the A4 route.
The A8 is a route designation of a major metropolitan arterial route through suburban north-eastern Sydney. This name covers a few consecutive roads and is widely known to most drivers, but the entire allocation is also known – and signposted – by the names of its constituent parts: Pittwater Road, Condamine Street, Burnt Bridge Creek Deviation, Manly Road, Spit Road and Military Road.
Camden Valley Way is a 23-kilometre (14 mi) arterial road between the southwestern fringes of suburban Sydney and the historic town of Camden. It is a former alignment of Hume Highway.
Memorial Drive is a highway in Wollongong, New South Wales. Originally built as a bypass of Wollongong, it has since been extended further north to act as a primary arterial route through the city's northern suburbs.
Newcastle Link Road is a limited-access road in New South Wales linking the interchange of Pacific Motorway and Hunter Expressway at Cameron Park, to Wallsend in western Newcastle. It is designated part of route A15.
