Road Photos & Information: New South Wales: Pacific Highway, New England Highway, John Renshaw Drive, Southern Freeway, Mount Ousley Road & Princes Highway (National Route 1) (Decommissioned)

Road Photos & Information: New South Wales

Pacific Highway, New England Highway, John Renshaw Drive, Southern Freeway, Mount Ousley Road & Princes Highway (National Route 1) (Decommissioned) - Maclean to South Grafton

Statistics:

Length: 1149 km (Maclean to South Grafton: 41 km)
- Northern section: 668 km
- Southern section: 481 km
Northern Terminus:
- Northern section: Gold Coast Highway (SR2) and Tugun Bypass (M1) at Tweed Heads West
- Southern section: Princes Highway (Metroad 1) at Waterfall
Southern Terminus:
- Northern section: John Renshaw Drive (NH1) and New England Highway (NH15) at Beresfield
- Southern section: Princes Highway (A1) at New South Wales / Victoria border
Miscellaneous: Continues as Princes Highway (A1) in Victoria
Suburbs, Towns & Localities Along The Route:
- Northern section: Tyndale, Cowper, Ulmarra and South Grafton

Route Numbering:

Former:
Road Authority Internal Classification: SH10 (Tweed Heads West to Hexham) 1
Decommissioned: 2013

General Information:

National Route 1 forms part of the main coastal route between Victoria and Queensland. The route features a mix of rural highway, arterial and freeway design standards. The route forms part of what is collectively known as Highway 1. It is Australia's coastal highway joining all mainland's state capitals and coastal towns circumnavigating the entire Australian continent. It is also the longest numbered highway in the world, covering more than 14 500 km.

In New South Wales, National Route 1 was truncated by National Highway 1 between Beresfield and Wahroonga, by Metroad 1 between Wahroonga and Waterfall and by M1 at Tweed Heads West.

Northern Section:

The northern section of National Route 1 took in a small section of New England Highway and the rest was made up by the Pacific Highway. The route varies from dual carriageway arterial and highway standard, to motorway standard and the rest is generally undivided rural highway conditions. The Pacific Highway is very well trafficked, and as a result notorious for a large amount of road trauma within the state. These crashes have resulted in more than 50% of the route being divided since the late 1980s.

Pacific Highway:

The Pacific Highway section of NR1 runs between Brunswick Heads and Hexham, and also between Wahroonga and the Gore Hill Freeway at Artarmon. The northern section between Brunswick Heads and Hexham is a mix of dual carriageway, rural highway and urban arterial roadway. The southern section between Wahroonga and Artarmon is urban arterial standard and passes through one of Sydney's more affluent areas.

The highway traces its origins back to an early settler, George Peat, who owned the land between the Hawkesbury River and Mooney Mooney Creek. To provide access to his property, Peat began a ferry service across the Hawkesbury River in 1844 and surveyed, then constructed a road between Hornsby and Kariong in 1854. After his death in 1870, the ferry service was abandoned and the road fell into disrepair, finally closing to all traffic in 1899, following the completion of the Sydney-Newcastle railway.

Demand for a route between Sydney and Newcastle dates back to the early 20th century. When the only access was via the sea or via a long route through the town of Wiseman's Ferry. In the 1920s, the then Main Roads Board undertook a series of surveys to form an easier and more reliable route north from Sydney. In 1928 construction began on upgrading the old road and converting it to a modern standard, plus creating a new route north, utilising some of the abandoned Peat's Ferry Rd, while improving the horizontal and vertical alignments. In May 1930 the ferry service across the Hawkesbury River was re-established to service the new road until such times that a bridge became necessary. June 1930 marked the completion of the concrete surfacing.

During the time of the Hornsby to Gosford contruction, improvements were made to roads between Gosford to Newcastle as part of the link. On May 17 in 1929, the route was named as the Great Northern Highway. The work from Hornsby to Gosford cost almost £1 million, however it was money well spent, reducing the trip from Sydney to Newcastle from 9 hours to 4 ½ hours.

History:

Pacific Highway:

1930s: Paving of North Coast Highway (Pacific Highway) between South Grafton and Ulmarra in concrete. 2
1931: Great Northern Highway and the North Coast Highway were grouped together and renamed the Pacific Highway. 3
1934: The start of construction of a timber beam bridge, 300 feet long, over Swan Creek, southwest of Ulmarra. 4
1935: Construction of a bow-string arch bridge on the Pacific Highway at Shark Creek near Maclean completed. It was the first in Australia (now bypassed by the main road but still retained). 5 The total length of the bridge is 151 feet, comprising two short approach spans and a bow-string girder span of 113 feet. 6
1939: By this time, two thirds of the Pacific Highway was bitumen paved. 5
1951: Construction of reinforced concrete bridge over Bom Bom Creek and culvert in one approach at South Grafton. Total length 150 feet. Construction of concrete bridge over Glenugie Creek near South Grafton. 7
1956: A deviation a half-mile long constructed on the northern approach to Shark Creek Bridge south of Maclean to improve poor alignment. 543 miles out of 574 miles of Pacific now with a bitumen surface. 8
1968: Construction and bituminous surfacing of the approaches to the new bridge over the Coldstream River, Ulmarra completed during the year. 9
1969: Work started on the 2 bridges over Swan Creek, north of Grafton, to replace decking and improve the riding quality of the decks. These timber beam bridges were 303 feet and 93 feet long. 10
1974: Widening of the concrete pavement and resurfacing with asphaltic concrete at Ulmarra was completed. 11
1977: Sections of Pacific Highway converted to Priority Road: Parkway Road Swansea to Stewart Avenue at Newcastle, New England Highway at Hexham to to Wang Wauk River (116 km), Pacific Highway from Nambucca Heads to Queensland Border (366 km) and Pacific Highway from Wang Wauk River to Nambucca Heads (236 km). 12
February 1999: Work commences on the Tyndale Realignment. 13
June 2000: Tyndale realignment is opened to traffic. The upgrade included realignment of the existing highway over a length of 900m to provide two 3.5m wide lanes with minimum 2m wide sealed shoulders, an intersection with both right and left turn lanes and a short entrance road into Tyndale village, a roundabout on the existing highway to accommodate traffic movements into, from and within the village, a service road to two industrial properties at the southern end of the work and adjustments to the existing service road at the northern end of the work and extensive landscaping works including provision of picnic facilities. 13

Click here for historic photos between Maclean and South Grafton
Click here for photos of the former alignments between Maclean and South Grafton

Maclean to South Grafton		South Grafton to Maclean
Preview:	Description:	Preview:	Description:
	Byons Lane: Corner of Pacific Hwy (NR1) and Byrons Ln at Tyndale, November 2010. Image © Rob Tilley		Entering South Grafton: Pacific Hwy (NR1) as it enters the town of South Grafton, June 2005. Image © Paul Rands
	Services SIgn: Services sign at Tyndale, November 2010. Image © Rob Tilley		Supplemental Advance Directional Sign: Supplemental AD sign at South Grafton approaching Summerland Way (NR38 / SR91 / TD22), June 2005. Image © Paul Rands
	Advance Directional Sign: AD sign at Tyndale approaching Sheehys Ln, November 2010. Image © Rob Tilley		Advance Directional Sign: AD sign at South Grafton approaching Summerland Way (NR38 / SR91 / TD22), June 2005. Image © Paul Rands
	Sheehys Lane: Corner of Pacific Hwy (NR1) and Sheehys Ln, Tyndale, November 2010. Image © Rob Tilley		Advance Directional Sign: AD sign on Summerland Way (NR38 / SR91 / TD22) at South Grafton, approaching Pacific Hwy (NR1), June 2005. Image © Paul Rands
	Upper Coldstream Road: Corner of Pacific Hwy (NR1) and Upper Coldstream Rd, Tyndale, November 2010. Image © Rob Tilley		Reassurance Directional Sign: Distance sign at South Grafton, July 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Sherrys Lane: Incorrectly coloured ID sign at the corner of Pacific Hwy (NR1) and Sherrys Ln, Cowper, November 2010. Image © Rob Tilley		Next 24 Hour Fuel: Sign showing distance to next 24 hour service station, Grafton, July 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Services Sign: Services sign approaching Grafton St at Cowper, November 2010. Image © Rob Tilley		Swan Creek: Pacific Hwy (NR1) as it crosses Swan Ck, Grafton, July 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Advance Directional Sign: AD sign at Cowper, approaching Grafton St, November 2010. Image © Rob Tilley		Divided Road Ahead: Pacific Hwy (NR1) near Centenary Dr at Grafton, approaching the divided section, July 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Grafton Street: Corner of Pacific Hwy (NR1) and Grafton St in Cowper, November 2010. Image © Rob Tilley		Divided Road: Divided section of highway at Swan Creek, July 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Grafton Street: Corner of Pacific Hwy (NR1) and Grafton St in Cowper, November 2010. Image © Rob Tilley		Services SIgn: Services sign at Ulmarra, July 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Services Sign: Services sign at Ulmarra, November 2010. Image © Rob Tilley		Advance Directional Sign: AD sign at Ulmarra approaching Coldstream St, July 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Advance Directional Sign: AD sign at Ulmarra approaching Coldstream St, November 2010. Click here for a photo by Rob Tilley of this location from May 2005. Image © Rob Tilley		Entering Ulmarra: Pacific Hwy (NR1) as it enters the town of Ulmarra, July 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Advance Directional Sign: AD sign at Ulmarra approaching Coldstream St, May 2005. Image © Rob Tilley		Advance Directional Sign: AD sign at Ulmarra approaching Coldstream St, July 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Coldstream Street: Corner of Pacific Hwy (NR1) and Coldstream St, Ulmarra, November 2010. Image © Rob Tilley		Coldstream Street: Corner of Pacific Hwy (NR1) and Coldstream St, Ulmarra, July 2007. Click here for a photo by Paul Rands of this location from June 2005. Image © Paul Rands
	Black Intersection Sign: Black ID sign at the corner of Pacific Hwy and Hennessy Dr, South Grafton, November 2010. Image © Rob Tilley		Intersection Directional Sign: ID sign at the junction with the Southgate Ferry access road, June 2005. Image © Paul Rands
	Supplemental Advance Directional Sign: Supplemental AD sign at South Grafton approaching Summerland Way (NR38 / SR91 / TD22), November 2010. Image © Rob Tilley		Services Sign: Services sign approaching Grafton St at Cowper, July 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Entering South Grafton: Pacific Hwy (NR1) as it enters the town of South Grafton, November 2010. Image © Rob Tilley		Divided Road: Divided section of Pacific Hwy at Cowper, July 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Advance Directional Sign: AD sign at South Grafton approaching Summerland Way (NR38 / SR91 / TD22), May 2005. Image © Rob Tilley		Advance Directional Sign: AD sign approaching Grafton St, Cowper, July 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Summerland Way: Pacific Hwy (NR1) at the junction with Summerland Way (NR38 / SR91 / TD22) at South Grafton, November 2010. Image © Rob Tilley		Services Sign: Services sign at Tyndale, July 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Summerland Way: Pacific Hwy (NR1) at the junction with Summerland Way (NR38 / SR91 / TD22) at South Grafton, November 2010. Image © Rob Tilley		Coldstream River: Pacific Hwy (NR1) as it crosses Coldstream River at Tyndale, July 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Reassurance Directional Sign: Distance sign at South Grafton, November 2010. Click here for a photo by Rob Tilley of this location from July 2007. Image © Rob Tilley		Entering Tyndale: Pacific Hwy (NR1) as it enters the town of Tyndale, July 2007. Image © Paul Rands
			Advance Directional Sign: AD sign approaching Sheehys Ln, Tyndale, July 2007. Image © Paul Rands
			Sheehys Lane: Corner of Pacific Hwy (NR1) and Sheehys Ln, Tyndale, July 2007. Click here for a photo by Paul Rands of this location from June 2005. Image © Paul Rands
			Tyndale: Pacific Hwy (NR1) as it passes through Tyndale, near Fitzgerald Ln, July 2007. Image © Paul Rands
			Rough Surface Signs: Custom permanent rough surface signs at Tyndale, July 2007. Image © Paul Rands
			Shark Creek: Concrete bowstring arch bridge over Shark Creek, at Shark Creek, July 2007. Image © Paul Rands
Click here for the continuation of National Route 1 between South Grafton and Urunga Click here for the for the continuation of National Route 1 between Ballina and Maclean

1 Roads and Traffic Authority, Schedule of Classified Roads and State & Regional Roads, 31 January 2011
2 Main Roads Board, Annual Report, 1929-30
3 Main Roads Board, Annual Report, 1930-31
4 Department of Main Roads, Annual Report, 1933-34
5 RTA Thematic History, 2nd Edition, 2006
6 Department of Main Roads, Annual Report, 1934-35
7 Department of Main Roads, Annual Report, 1951-52
8 Department of Main Roads, Annual Report, 1955-56
9 Department of Main Roads, Annual Report, 1967-68
10 Department of Main Roads, Annual Report, 1968-69
11 Department of Main Roads, Annual Report, 1973-74
12 Department of Main Roads, Annual Report, 1977-78
13 Roads and Maritime Services, Projects, Pacific Highway Upgrade, Coffs Harbour to Ballina, Completed Projects, Tyndale Realignment

Last updated: 18-Dec-2019 12:08

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