Road Photos & Information: New South Wales
Pacific Motorway, Pacific Highway, New England Highway, John Renshaw Drive, Gore Hill Freeway, Warringah Freeway, Sydney Harbour Tunnel, Eastern Distributor, Southern Cross Drive, General Holmes Drive, The Grand Parade, President Avenue, Princes Highway and Princes Motorway (M1 / A1)
Yallah to Oak Flats
Former Alignment
Statistics:
- Length:
- 1333 km (Yallah to Oak Flats: 5 km)
- Termini:
- Northern: Northern: Pacific Mwy (M1), Tweed Heads, at the NSW / QLD Border
- Southern: Southern: Princes Hwy (A1), Timbillica, at the NSW / VIC Border
- Suburbs, Towns & Localities Along Route:
- Yallah, Albion Park Rail and Oak Flats
Route Numbering:
- Current: None
- Former: M1 A1 1
General Information:
M1 / A1 is the principal coastal route through New South Wales, and forms part of the circumferential route around Australia.
The route varies greatly along its length and includes sections of rural highway, urban arterial road, divided rural highway and also motorway. The route also features several tunnels, located in the inner east, inner south and lower northern suburbs of Sydney and at Yelgun and Tweed Heads, at the northern end of the route in NSW. The route passes through forest, rural, residential, commercial and industrial areas.
The Princes Motorway started life as the Southern Expressway (later Freeway) and also Mount Ousley Road, and runs between Waterfall, bypassing Wollongong and ending at Kiama, in the Illawarra's southern suburbs. It is the main route between Sydney and Wollongong, and crosses the Illawarra Escarpment to the narrow coastal strip on which most of the Illawarra suburbs are built.
The Princes Highway was formed from a string of roads linking Sydney to the Illawarra, and then forming a coastal route to Melbourne and into South Australia. The section covered by A1 is in 2 pieces - between Kogarah and Waterfall in Sydney, and then Kiama near Wollongong through to the Victorian Border. The route is a mix of urban arterial road, dual carriageway and also rural highway.
History:
- Princes Motorway:
- 4 February 2019: Work starts on Albion Park Rail Bypass. The project included 13 bridges and about a million cubic metres of earthworks. 2
- 26 May 2021: One carriageway of the Albion Park Rail Bypass opened to traffic, with traffic travelling via one lane in each direction. 3
- 14 August 2021: Northbound lanes of Albion Park Rail Bypass opened to traffic. 4
- 03 November 2021: Final works completed on Albion Park Rail bypass. 5
- Princes Highway:
- 1858: First bridge over Macquarie Rivulet at Albion Park Rail.
- 7 June 1926: The Princes Highway comes under a federal and state government £ for £ funding scheme, thus recognising the importance of the highway as major route.
- August 1920: Official opening of Princes Highway performed at Warragul in Victoria. The formation of the Princes Highway is from existing roads being renamed, after the visit to Australia in 1920 of the Prince of Wales (later to become King Edward VIII, and after abdicating, the Duke of Windsor).
- 1 July 1928: Princes Highway became a state highway. 6
- 1931: Highway moved from route through Oak Flats and Shellharbour to Albion Park to Dunmore route.
- 1939: By the middle of the year, 300 miles (or 50% of the then highway) had been paved with bituminous surface.
This page concentrates on the former alignment between Yallah and Oak Flats.
Yallah to Oak Flats
Advance Directional Sign:
AD sign at Haywards Bay for the Illawarra Hwy (A48) junction, December 2013.
Image © Michael Greenslade
Advance Directional Sign:
AD sign on the off ramp to Haywards Bay Dr at Haywards Bay, December 2013.
Image © Paul Rands
Advance Directional Sign:
AD sign on Haywards Bay Dr approaching the interchange with Princes Mwy (M1) at Haywards Bay, December 2013.
Image © Paul Rands
Advance Directional Sign:
AD sign at Haywards Bay for the Illawarra Hwy (A48) junction, December 2013.
Image © Michael Greenslade
Intersection Directional Sign:
ID sign at Albion Park Rail at the signalised roundabout with Illawarra Hwy (A48), December 2013. M1 ended at this intersection and became A1.
Image © Paul Rands
Reassurance Directional Sign:
RD sign after the Illawarra Hwy (A48) junction at Albion Park Rail, August 2013.
Image © Paul Rands
Intersection Directional Sign:
ID sign facing Airport Rd at Albion Park Rail, October 2010.
Image © Paul Rands
Advance Directional Sign:
AD sign at Albion Park Rail approaching Tongarra Rd (TD8), December 2013.
Image © Paul Rands
Intersection Directional Sign:
ID sign at the corner of Princes Hwy (A1) and Tongarra Rd (TD8) at Albion Park Rail, December 2013.
Image © Paul Rands
2 Illawarra Mercury, Shovels hit the dirt in long-awaited Albion Park Rail Bypass.
3 Research Data Australia, Albion Park Bypass - New Section Opened.
4 Roads & Infrastructure Australia, Civil Works, Latest News, On the Road, Northbound lanes of Albion Park Rail bypass open to traffic. 09 August 2021.
5 The Bugle, Final works completed on Albion Park Bypass, 3 November 2021
6 Main Roads Board, Annual Report, Volume 1, Number 1, September 1929.