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Metroads were the primary road routes serving the Sydney and Brisbane metropolitan areas from the 1990s to the early 2010s. The Metroads formed a network of radial and circumferential routes throughout the cities, simplifying navigation. Metroads have been progressively phased out in both Sydney and Brisbane, replaced by alphanumeric route numbers. Brisbane is the only city currently retaining the Metroad system.
Historically, National Routes passed through city centres and formed some of the main thoroughfares within Australia's largest cities. However urban growth led to massive congestion in the inner city areas. To bypass these centres, new roads were either constructed or main suburban roads were linked together to form ring roads linking one National Route to the other. The earliest scheme was adopted in Sydney in 1964, the Ring Road scheme. They had special markers for identification.
Growth of urban sprawl made intra-urban navigation difficult. Many States introduced State Route systems in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s and many roads within metropolitan areas were included. This scheme was adopted by most major cities. In Sydney the State Routes superseded the Ring Road scheme. Urban freeways in Sydney and Brisbane had their own route marking scheme.
However, it was later realised that the multiplicity of urban route marking schemes led to confusion. In the 1990s, these were streamlined in the new Metroad scheme. This scheme ensures that main priority routes are clearly identified and marked. As far as possible, urban freeways are absorbed into the system. It was adopted in Sydney in 1993 and Brisbane in 1996. Metroads usually completely replaced the State Routes and National Routes along their routes; however, State Routes not on designated Metroads were usually left untampered.
Metroad routes in both Sydney and Brisbane are being replaced by alphanumeric routes. Brisbane Metroads began to be phased out around 2010, with Sydney Metroads completely phased out at the end of 2013.
As of 2015, the Department of Main Roads in Queensland have no plans to convert/decommission the remaining Metroad sections within Brisbane.
The Metroad navigation system was introduced to Sydney in 1992, with six routes (Metroads 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7). The scheme was extended in 1998-1999 with the signposting of Metroads 6, 9 and 10 (there was never a Metroad 8). [1] All Metroads in Sydney were completely replaced in 2013 with equivalent alphanumeric road markers.
Metroad 1 – Wahroonga to Waterfall via the M1 Eastern Distributor and the city of Sydney – Replaced by M1 and A1 
Metroad 2 – Artarmon to Windsor via the Lane Cove Tunnel and M2 – Replaced by M2 and A2
Metroad 3 – Blakehurst to Mona Vale via Hurstville, Olympic Park, Ryde, Macquarie Park and St Ives – Replaced by the A3 
Metroad 4 – Sydney to Lapstone via Parramatta Road and the M4 – Replaced by the M4 and A4 
Metroad 5 – Sydney Airport to Campbelltown via the M5 – Replaced by the M5 and M31 Hume Motorway 
Metroad 6 – Heathcote to Carlingford via Bankstown, Lidcombe and Silverwater – Replaced by the A6 
Metroad 7 – Casula to Wahroonga via the Cumberland Highway – Replaced by A28 and M7 
Metroad 9 – Campbelltown to Windsor – Replaced by the A9 
Metroad 10 – North Sydney to Mona Vale via Mosman and Dee Why. – Replaced by A8 Sections of Metroads 1, 2, 5, and 7 formed the Sydney Orbital Network circumnavigating the Sydney metropolitan area.
Brisbane's Metroad system employed odd numbers for north-to-south alignments and even numbers for east-to-west alignments. Most Metroads have since been completely or partially replaced with equivalent alphanumeric road markers. Brisbane is the only city currently retaining the Metroad system.
Metroad 2 – Rocklea to Mackenzie via Granard Road, Riawena Road, Kessels Road, and Mt Gravatt–Capalaba Road Metroad 5 – Toowong to Kedron via Mount Coot–Tha Road, Frederick Street, Rouen Road, Boundary Road, Macgregor Terrace, Jubilee Terrace, Elimatta Drive, Stewart Road, Wardell Street, South Pine Road, and Stafford Road Metroad 1 – M1 - End of Pacific Motorway (Tugun) to Cooroy Metroad 2 – Cunningham Highway (National Highway 15)/Warrego Highway (National Highway A2) Junction to Gateway Motorway (Metroad 1) Metroad 3 – Pacific/Gateway Motorway Junction (Metroad 1) to Gympie Arterial Road/Gateway Motorway Junction (Metroad 1) Metroad 4 – Ipswich/Logan Motorway Junction (Metroad 2) to Pacific/Gateway Motorway Junction (Metroad 1) Metroad 5 – Ipswich Motorway (Metroad 2) to Gympie Road (Metroad 3) Metroad 6 – Logan/Gateway Motorway Junction (Metroad 4) to Pacific Motorway (Metroad 1)
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.
Australia's Highway 1 is a network of highways that circumnavigate the country, joining all mainland capital cities except the national capital of Canberra. At a total length of approximately 14,500 km (9,000 mi) it is the longest national highway in the world, surpassing the Trans-Siberian Highway and the Trans-Canada Highway. Over a million people traverse some part of the highway network every day.
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 it 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, approximately paralleling the Tasman Sea and the Coral Sea of the South Pacific Ocean coast, via regional cities and towns like Gosford, Newcastle, Taree, Port Macquarie, Kempsey, Coffs Harbour, Grafton, Ballina, Byron Bay, Tweed Heads and the Gold Coast, which is part of Queensland. Additionally, between Brunswick Heads and Port Macquarie, the road is also signed as Pacific Motorway, but has not been legally gazetted as such.
The M2 is a route in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, that links Sydney suburbs from Artarmon in the south-east to Bella Vista in the north-west. The route consists of two separately named motorways, the M2 Hills Motorway and the Lane Cove Tunnel.
Cumberland Highway is a 34-kilometre (21 mi) long urban highway located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The highway links Pacific Highway and Pacific Motorway (M1) at Pearces Corner, Wahroonga in the northeast with Hume Highway at Liverpool in the southwest. 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: Pennant Hills Road, James Ruse Drive, Briens Road, Old Windsor Road, Hart Drive, Freame Street, Emert Street, Jersey Road, Betts Road, Warren Road, Smithfield Road, Palmerston Road, (New) Cambridge Street, Joseph Street and Orange Grove Road. The entire length of Cumberland Highway is designated part of route A28.
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.
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.
Gore Hill Freeway is a 4-kilometre (2.5 mi) divided freeway located in Sydney, New South Wales that is part of the Sydney Orbital Network and Highway 1. The primary function of the freeway is to provide an alternative high-grade route from Lane Cove to Naremburn and to reduce traffic demands on Pacific Highway throughout Sydney's lower north shore, bypassing St Leonards and Gore Hill.
The Gateway Motorway is a major tolled motorway in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia which includes the Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges. The motorway is operated by toll road operator Transurban.
Pennant Hills Road is a 16.1-kilometre-long (10.0 mi) arterial road located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The road links the suburb of Wahroonga in the northeast, to the major central business district of Parramatta in the southwest. Apart from a small section at its southwestern end, it is a constituent part of Cumberland Highway, and is designated part of route A28.
The M1 in Queensland, Australia, is a major urban road corridor. It connects the Sunshine Coast hinterland to Tugun, near the New South Wales and Queensland border, via the following corridors:
General Holmes Drive is a 5-kilometre (3.1 mi) major divided road located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The road forms part of the M1, the A1, the Sydney Orbital Network, and the Australian Highway 1 network. Initially built in 1919 as a two-lane road and duplicated in 1951, the road partially circumnavigates Sydney Airport with its north-eastern terminus in Mascot, heading west and then south and then south-west, with its south-western terminus with The Grand Parade in Brighton-Le-Sands.
The road transport in Brisbane, Australia, consists of a network of highways, freeways and motorways. Some motorways have tolls applied.
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.
In New South Wales, Highway 1 is a 1,351-kilometre (839 mi) long route that crosses the state, from the Queensland/New South Wales border near Tweed Heads to the Victorian border near Timbillica. It provides the main coastal route between Brisbane and Melbourne via Sydney. Highway 1 continues around the rest of Australia, joining all mainland state capitals, and connecting major centres in Tasmania.
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Road infrastructure in Brisbane | |
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