Road Photos & Information: New South Wales: Great Western Highway, Mitchell Highway & Barrier Highway (National Route 32)

Road Photos & Information: New South Wales

Great Western Highway, Mitchell Highway & Barrier Highway (National Route 32) - Dubbo to Wellington (Decommissioned)

Statistics:

Length: 1146 km (Dubbo to Wellington: 51 km)
Western Terminus: NSW-SA Border at Cockburn
Eastern Terminus: Western Fwy (Metroad 4) and Governors Dr at Glenbrook
Miscellaneous: Continues as A32 (Barrier Hwy) in South Australia
Suburbs, Towns & Localities Along The Route: Wellington, Geurie, Wongarbon and Dubbo

Route Numbering:

Former:
Road Authority Internal Classification: HW7 (Bathurst to Nyngan) 1
Decommissioned: 2013

General Information:

National Route 32 is the main route linking the New South Wales state capital, Sydney, with the west of the state. The road varies from arterial road conditions, rural expressway and rural highway.

Mitchell Highway:

The Mitchell Highway links north-western NSW with Dubbo, Bathurst and eventually Sydney.

The highway starts at Bathurst as National Route 32 and heads west through the Great Dividing Range to Orange then continues north through Molong, Wellington and Dubbo. From Dubbo, the highway follows the Bourke railway line in a north-westerly direction to Nyngan. The highway's route number changes to NR71 (after the Barrier Highway junction at Nyngan), and then it continues north-west to Bourke and terminates at the QLD border, just north of Barringun.

The Mitchell Highway is named after Major Thomas Mitchell, who was Surveyor-General of New South Wales in the 1820s and explored much of inland New South Wales and Victoria.

History:

1896: Western Road extended to reach Warren, now located on Oxley Highway. 2
7 June 1926: A board meeting resolved to set aside funding from the Commonwealth's road funding scheme for road development to be used on some of NSW 'great trunk routes', which included the Great Western Road. 2
1939: 44% or 120 miles of Mitchell Hwy paved with bitumen surface. 2
6 November 1972: Completion of bitumous sealing along Mitchell Highway. 2
2003: Reconstruction and widening of the highway including sealing road shoulders and line marking at Narromine. 3

Wellington to Dubbo		Dubbo to Wellington
Preview:	Description:	Preview:	Description:
	Supplemental Advance Directional Sign: Supplemental AD sign at Wellington approaching Caves Rd, August 2011. Image © Paul Rands		Intersection Directional Sign: ID sign at the roundabout with Newell Hwy (NH39) at West Dubbo, November 2011. Image © Paul Rands
	Supplemental Advance Directional Sign: Supplemental AD sign at Wellington approaching Caves Rd, July 2006. Image © Paul Rands		Macquarie River: Looking southeast on the LH Ford Bridge over the Macquarie River in West Dubbo. It opened to traffic on the 29th September 1969, at the time it was the 4th longest road bridge in NSW. November 2011. Image © Paul Rands
	Advance Directional Sign: AD sign for Caves Rd at Wellington, July 2006. Image © Paul Rands		Advance Directional Sign: AD sign approaching Macquarie St, Dubbo, November 2011. Image © Paul Rands
	Caves Road: Corner of Mitchell Hwy (NR32) and Caves Rd at Wellington, August 2011. Image © Paul Rands		Macquarie Street: Mitchell Hwy (NR32) at Macquarie St, Dubbo, November 2011. Image © Paul Rands
	Tourism Sign: Looking north approaching Burrendong Way (TD5), August 2011. Image © Paul Rands		AD Sign: Advance directional sign on Darling Street (former Newell Hwy) approaching Mitchell Hwy, Dubbo. November 2011. Image © Paul Rands
	AD Sign: Advance directional sign approaching Burrendong Way (TD5) at Wellington, August 2011. Image © Paul Rands		ID Sign: intersection directional sign on the corner of Darling Street (former Newell Hwy) and Mitchell Hwy. November 2011. Image © Paul Rands
	Burrendong Way: Corner of Mitchell Hwy (NR32) and Burrendong Way (TD5) at Wellington, August 2011. Image © Paul Rands		ID Sign: intersection directional sign on the corner of Darling Street (former Newell Hwy) and Mitchell Hwy. November 2011. Image © Paul Rands
	Distance Sign: Reassurance directional sign, Wellington, August 2011. Image © Paul Rands		Distance Sign: Reassurance directional sign at Wongarbon, October 2004. Image © Jamie Scuglia
	Entering Town Area: Mitchell Hwy (NR32) as it enters the town of Wellington. July 2006. Image © Paul Rands		Supplemental Advance Directional Sign: Supplemental AD sign at Apsley approaching Burrendong Way, December 2012. Image © Paul Rands
	Advance Directional Sign: NR32 as it approaches Maughan St & Arthur St in Wellington, August 2011. Image © Paul Rands		Rest Area Distance Sign: Rest area reassurance directional sign at Larras Lee, December 2012. Image © Paul Rands
	ID Sign: Intersection directional sign at roundabout with Maughan St and Arthur St, Wellington, August 2011. Image © Paul Rands		Reassurance Directional Sign: Distance sign at Wellington, December 2002. Image © Michael Greenslade
	Old Meets New: Westbound on Mitchell Hwy (NR32) (Showground Rd) with this old black sign and brand new alphanumeric sign, July 2006. Click here for a photo of this location from December 2002 by Michael Greenslade Image © Paul Rands
	Wellington CBD: Passing through the Wellington shopping precinct, northbound, July 2006. Image © Paul Rands
	Intersection Directional Sign: ID sign on the roundabout with Warne St, Wellington, August 2011. Image © Paul Rands
	Macquarie River: Mitchell Hwy (NR32) crossing Macquarie River via Macquarie River Bridge at Wellington, August 2011. Image © Paul Rands
	Advance Directional Sign: AD sign at Montefiores approaching Goolma Road, August 2011. Image © Paul Rands
	Goolma Road: Corner of Mitchell Hwy (NR32) and Goolma Rd at Montefiores, August 2011. Image © Paul Rands
	RD Sign: Distance sign at Montefiores after the Goolma Road junction, July 2006. Image © Paul Rands
	AD Sign: Northbound AD sign approaching Cobbora Road at Montefiores, August 2011. Click here for a photo of this location by Paul Rands from July 2006. Image © Paul Rands
	Cobbora Road Intersection: Heading northwest at Montefiores, August 2011. Click here for a photo of this location by Paul Rands from July 2006. Image © Paul Rands
	RD Sign: Distance sign at Maryvale, August 2011. Image © Paul Rands
	Maryvale: Heading northwest as you enter Maryvale, July 2006. Image © Paul Rands
	Dunedoo Road Fingerboard: ID signage at Maryvale showing access to Dunedoo Road, July 2006. Image © Paul Rands
	Maryvale Town Centre: Looking northwest in the town of Geurie, July 2006. Image © Paul Rands
	Mitchell St Intersection : ID sign assembly on the corner of Mitchell Street in Geurie. July 2006. Image © Paul Rands
	AD Sign : Advance directional sign approaching Beni St in Wongabon, July 2006. Image © Paul Rands
	Typical Conditions : Looking northwest on one of the many long and straight sections of the highway, July 2006 at Wongabon. Image © Paul Rands
	AD Sign: Advance directional sign at Orana Heights (in Dubbo) approaching Wheeler Street, July 2006. This sign is somewhat recent (say in the last 5 or so years) and is badly peeling. Image © Paul Rands
	Entering Dubbo: The Mitchell Hwy gains divided roadway as it enters Dubbo. July 2006. Image © Paul Rands
	Milepost: Old mile post (repositioned), near Sterling St, Dubbo, April 2012.. Image © Paul Rands
	AD Sign: Westbound approaching Fitzroy Street in Dubbo, July 2006. Local name for Mitchell Hwy through town is Cobra St. Image © Paul Rands
	ID Sign: Westbound intersection directional sign on the roundabout with Fitzroy Street in Dubbo, April 2012. Image © Paul Rands
	Advance Directional Sign: AD sign at Dubbo, approaching Darling St (former Newell Hwy), August 2011. Image © Paul Rands
	Darling Street intersection: Mitchell Hwy (NR32) at the junction with Darling St (former NR39) at Dubbo. July 2006. Image © Paul Rands
	Macquarie River: Looking northwest approaching the 2013 feet long, 2 lane, 28 span, prestressed concrete bridge over the Macquarie River in Dubbo. It opened to traffic on the 29th September 1969, at the time it was the 4th longest road bridge in NSW. August 2011. Image © Paul Rands
	Advance Directional Sign: AD sign approaching Newell Hwy (NH39) at Dubbo, August 2011. Image © Paul Rands
	Reassurance Directional Sign: Distance sign at Dubbo, August 2011. Click here for a photo of this location by Michael Greenslade from January 2004. Image © Paul Rands
	Road Train Sign: Road train sign at Dubbo on the Mitchell Hwy, March 2007. Image © Mitchell Oliver
	Advance Directional Sign: AD sign approaching Pilons Dr and Coorena Rd at Dubbo, August 2011. Image © Paul Rands
	Cooreena Road & Pilons Drive: Corner of Mitchell Hwy (NR32), Cooreena Rd and Pilons Dr, Dubbo, August 2011. Image © Paul Rands
	Whylandra Crossing Road: Corner of Mitchell Hwy (NR32) and Whylandra Crossing Rd, Dubbo, August 2011. Image © Paul Rands
	The Falls Road: Corner of Mitchell Hwy (NR32) and The Falls Rd, Dubbo, August 2011. Image © Paul Rands
Click here for the continuation of NR32 between Wellington and Molong Click here for the continuation of NR32 between Nyngan and Dubbo

1 Roads and Traffic Authority, Schedule of Classified Roads (and unclassified Regional Roads), 25 February 2008
2 Department of Main Roads. The Roadmakers, A History of Main Roads in New South Wales, ISBN 0 7240 0439 4
3 Roads & Traffic Authority, Community update, Road activity update – Western NSW, February 2003.

Last updated: 19-Oct-2021 0:18

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