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Statistics:

• Length: 513 km (Yass to Gundagai: 93 km)
• Northern Terminus: Westlink (M7) and South Western Mwy (M5) at Prestons
• Southern Terminus: NSW-Vic border at Albury
• Miscellaneous: Continues as Hume Freeway (M31) at the Victorian border and travels for 303 km to the Metropolitan Ring Road (M80).
• Suburbs, Towns & Localities Along Route: Gundagai, Tumblong, Tarcutta, Kyeamba, Little Billabong and Holbrook

Route Numbering:

• Current: None
• Former:
• Road Authority Internal Classification: HW2 1

General Information:

The Hume Highway is one of Australia's most vital highway links. Providing access between Sydney and Melbourne, Australia's 2 largest cities. The National Highway section of the Hume Highway consists of 100% dual carriageway road, either rural expressway or motorway standard.

In NSW, the highway in one form or another started life as the Great South Road, linking Sydney with the southern highlands and eventually beyond. The highway was named in 1928 after Hamilton Hume (1797-1873), a famous explorer in the early 19th century who, in 1824, in conjunction with William Hovell first found an overland route between Sydney and the infant colonial outpost of Port Phillip, the original name of Melbourne.

M31 is the main freight and commuter route between Sydney and Melbourne and has gone through a massive amount of transformation over the past 30 or so years, with many towns being bypassed along its route as well and gradual upgrades to motorway standards. Since the 1960s, the road has either been duplicated, where alignments allow for it, and also large deviations have also been part of the upgrade process.

The route around the Mittagong area averages around 16,000 vehicles every day, in other sections the number drops off a little or closer to Sydney increases.2

The route forms the Remembrance Driveway which honours war veterans, click here for the Remembrance Driveway web site.

Here are some interesting statistics on the Hume Highway: 1

• The Mittagong Bypass is 15 km long.
• The Goulburn Bypass is 13 km of concrete dual carriageway.
• The Cullerin Range Deviation consists of 34 km of dual carriageway.
• 17 km of dual carriageways between the Cullerin Range Deviation and the Yass Bypass.
• The Yass Bypass, has 15 bridges and 18 km of dual carriageways.
• The Jugiong Bypass, features 13 km of dual carriageways.

History (Covers current alignment and previous alignments, which may be now under another route number):

• 1914: Sydney-Melbourne road (Great South Road) is declared a main road
• 1928: Sections of Great South Road renamed to Hume Highway
• 1939: 95% (557 km) of the Hume Highway paved with a bitumous surface. 2
• 1950s: In 1952, a group of citizens met and formed a committee under Lt-General Sir Frank Berryman to create a national memorial to servicemen by using trees and shrubs as living memorials. The NSW Premier, J J Cahill, officially launched the scheme on 9 December 1953. The Remembrance Driveway project as it was called started on 5 February 1954, when trees were planted at either end of the Driveway at the War Memorial, Canberra, and in Macquarie Place, Sydney, by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. By June 1959, 10,000 trees had been planted. Since then, planting of trees in avenues or groves has continued. When the M5 Motorway replaced the Hume Highway (and also Camden Valley Way) south of Liverpool, it became the focus for planting trees and shrubs in remembrance. 1
• 1976: Completion of the 8 km Gundagai deviation and bridge over the Murrumbidgee River. 2
• March 1977: The 1.1 kilometre Sheahan Bridge over the Murrumbidgee River at Gundagai opened to traffic. 3
• 1983: The highway between Conroys Gap and Coolac, had most of the earlier alignment replaced.1
• May 2009: The duplicated Sheahan Bridge at Gundagai was officially opened by the Federal Minister for Transport. 3
• 2013: National Highway 31 replaced by M31.

This page looks at the former alignment between Yass and Gundagai.

Yass to Gundagai			Gundagai to Yass
Preview:	Description:		Preview:	Description:
	Annie Pyers Drive: Former of Hume Hwy now named Annie Pyers Dr at Gundagai. The route is now access to the Dog On The Tucker Box statue and service centre, March 2015. Image © Paul Rands			Old Hazard Sign: Old hazard sign on the former Hume Hwy now named Annie Pyers Dr at Gundagai. The route is now access to the Dog On The Tucker Box statue and service centre, March 2015. Image © Paul Rands
				Advance Directional Sign: Custom AD sign on the former Hume Hwy now named Annie Pyers Dr at Gundagai. The route is now access to the Dog On The Tucker Box statue and service centre, March 2015. Image © Paul Rands

1 Roads and Maritime Services
2 Department of Main Roads. The Roadmakers, A History of Main Roads in New South Wales, ISBN 0 7240 0439 4
3 Roads and Maritime Services, RMS achievements in transport infrastructure projects

Last updated: 28-Nov-2019 12:18

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