Road Photos & Information: New South Wales Hume Highway (National Highway 31) Former Alignment: Albury (Decommissioned)

Road Photos & Information: New South Wales

Hume Highway (National Highway 31) Former Alignment: Albury (Decommissioned)

Statistics:

Length: 23 km
Northern Terminus: Hume Highway (NH31) interchange at Ettamogah.
Southern Terminus: NSW-Vic border / Murray River (Lincoln Causeway) at South Albury / Wodonga.

Route Numbering:

Current: Hume Street to Guinea Street B58
Former:

General Information:

For decades there has been plans for the bypassing of Albury. The Hume Highway followed a maze of streets through the town, bringing large amounts of heavy vehicles with it. Eventually the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority chose to build a bypass through town as opposed to around it. The old route consists mostly of 4 lane urban arterial road, littered with traffic signals with businesses and homes directly accessing the route.

The Albury-Wodonga Freeway (the Albury Bypass) links the Hume Freeway at Wodonga with the present Hume Highway at Ettamogah, north of Albury. The freeway was officially opened by the Prime Minister John Howard at a community event on 4 March 2007. The freeway opened to traffic on 6 March 2007.

Main features of the freeway project include:

Full diamond interchanges at Thurgoona Drive, Borella Road, Bridge Street and High Street (allowing entry exit from both directions).
Half diamond interchanges at Billy Hughes Bridge, Corrys Hill and Bandiana Link (allowing exit and from only one direction).
Bridges at both Fallon and North Streets over Sydney-Melbourne Railway line and the freeway.
Bridges over the Murray River, Flanagans Creek, Wodonga Creek, Oddies Creek and the railway line.
Pedestrian bridges at Dean Street, Albury Railway Station and Amatex Street and shared pedestrian/cycle paths along much of the route.
Extensive urban design features and landscaping along the freeway, including new parks in East Albury and South Albury.

The old alignment was duplexed by the Riverina Highway (NR58) from Guinea Street through to Hume Street, this section of Hume Highway is now known solely as the Riverina Highway.

History (Albury alignment Only):

1914: Sydney-Melbourne road (Great South Road) is declared a main road
1920: Cullerin Range route built on abandoned sections of the old Main Southern Railway
1928: Sections of Great South Road renamed to Hume Highway
1930s: Raising of the wall of the Hume Dam on the Murray River forced the highway to be realigned north of Albury.
1940: Hume Highway is (mostly) paved.
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, JJ 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
March 2007: Albury Bypass opens. The freeway was officially opened by the Prime Minister John Howard at a community event on 4 March 2007. The freeway opened to traffic on 6 March 2007. 1

The photos below were taken before the opening of the Albury Bypass, and may not reflect current signage throughout the bypassed route.

Southbound:		Northbound:
Preview:	Description:	Preview:	Description:
	ID Sign: Directional sign facing eastbound traffic on in Urana Road Lavington. July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley		New South Wales - Victoria Border: Looking northeast from the Lincoln Causeway at Wodonga over the Murray River into New South Wales, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley
	ID Sign: Intersection directional sign facing traffic from Urana Road at Lavington, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley		Safe-T-Cam Sign: Sign outside Oddies Creek Park, Albury, indicating the use of the Safe-T-Cam system for monitoring heavy vehicle movements within NSW, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley
	Distance Sign: Southbound sign indicating distances. July 2006 at Lavington. Image © Rob Tilley		Load Limit Restriction Sign: Sign outside Oddies Creek Park in Albury indicating the permitted heavy vehicles on the Hume Highway. July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley
	Advance Directional Sign: AD Sign indicating through traffic to the Albury CBD and onto Melbourne, southbound at North Albury near Mate and North Streets, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley		Black Directional Signage: 1970s AD sign approaching Ebden Street at Albury, outside Australia Park. Northbound, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley
	ID Sign: Directional signage on the intersection with Mate Street, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley		Northbound AD Sign: Directional sign on Wodonga Place, near Hovell Street, approaching the right turn continuation of the former Hume Highway and the junction with the Riverina Highway at Albury, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley
	Westbound on North Street: Looking west between Mate and Young Streets. July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley		Northbound AD Sign: Directional sign on Wodonga Place approaching the junction with the Riverina Highway at Albury, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley
	AD Sign: Westbound on North Street at North Albury as you approach the hard left with Young Street, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley		Sign Assembly: Signs on the corner of Wodonga Place and Hume Street in Albury, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley
	Young Street Intersection: Looking west as the highway turns from North Street onto Young Street, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley		Advance Directional Sign: Northbound AD sign as you approach the Riverina Highway turn off. Young Street, Albury, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley
	Distance Sign: Southbound sign indicating distances. July 2006 at North Albury. Image © Rob Tilley		Sign Goof: Advance directional sign looking like its from the 1960s when in reailty it's probably less than 20 years old, westbound on the Riverina Hwy (Guinea St) approaching Young Street, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley
	Directional Sign: Eastbound facing ID sign on the corner of Young & Dean Streets, Albury, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley		Directional Sign: ID sign located on the junction Young St & Guinea St, Albury, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley
	Advance Directional Sign: Westbound sign gantry located on Hume Street Albury, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley		Sign Goof: ID sign facing Riverina Hwy traffic, in all capital letters, instead of mixed case, on the corner of Young St & Guinea St, Albury, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley
	ID Signage: Sign assembly located on the corner of Hume Street & Wodonga Place (NR58) at Albury, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley		Intersection Directional Sign: Northbound ID assembly on the corner of Guinea and Young Streets in Albury, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley
	Advance Directional Sign: Sign on the Riverina Highway (Wodonga Place) as you approach Hume Street, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley		AD Sign: Northbound on Young Street at Albury as you approach the right turn with North Street, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley
	Intersection Directional Sign: ID sign facing eastbound traffic from Hume Street Albury, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley		Black ID Sign: Black directional sign from the 70s or 80s on the corner of North & Young Streets, Albury, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley
	New South Wales - Victoria Border: Looking southwest from Wodonga Place at South Albury over the Murray River into Victoria, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley		Looking East at North Albury: Eastbound on North Street towards the bridge over main Sydney-Melbourne railway, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley
			AD Sign: Eastbound advance directional sign as you approach the North & Mate Streets intersection at North Albury, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley
			ID Sign: Directional signage on the intersection with Mate Street, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley
			Distance Sign: Northbound RD sign after the Mate Street intersection in North Albury, July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley
			Northbound at Lavington: Hume Highway as you approach both Union Road and Urana Road. July 2006. Image © Rob Tilley

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Last updated: 17-Dec-2019 0:55

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