Home | Links | Search | Updates | FAQ | About | Contact Roads | Signals | Roadsigns | Towns & Cities | International | Publications | Sign Drawings

Statistics:

• Length: 513 km (Goulburn to Yass: 82 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 traves for 303 km to the Metropolitan Ring Road (M80)
• Suburbs, Towns & Localities Along Route: Breadalbane, Gunning and Yass

Route Numbering:

• Current: None
• Former:

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.

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 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.

History:

• 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
• 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
• 1960s: The route over the Mundoonen Range rebuilt in the 1960s - it was designed to be duplicated.
• 1972: Completion of the grade separated interchange between Hume Hwy and Federal Hwy at Wollogorang, south of Goulburn. Also computer based roadsign design trialled for the first time. The first signs designed using the system were for installation on the Hume Hwy at Yass. 2
• 1994: Most of the highway route between Breadalbane, west of Goulburn, and Derringullen Creek, west of Yass, was deviated. This included a bypassing of the Cullerin Range
• 2013: National Highway 31 replaced by M31.

Preview:	Description:
	Approaching Crago Street & Lead Street: Comur St (former Hume Hwy) at Yass approaching Crago St and Lead St in the town centre, January 2015. Image © Paul Rands
	Approaching Meehan Street: Comur St (former Hume Hwy) at Yass approaching Meehan St in the town centre, January 2015. Image © Paul Rands
	Hume Bridge: Hume Bridge over Yass River, Yass, January 2015. Image © Paul Rands
	Distance Sign: Modern reassurance directional sign at Yass, just after Hume Bridge, January 2015. Image © Paul Rands
	Black Intersection Directional Sign: Faded black ID directional sign at the junction with Pollux St in Yass, January 2015. Image © Paul Rands
	Yass Valley Way: Typical rural highway conditions between Yass town centre and the current Hume Hwy (M31) alignment, January 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

Last updated: 05-Jan-2019 13:11

This site © Paul Rands. All rights reserved. Some portions © (copyright) by their respective and credited owners. Permission must be obtained before using any images from this site. For details, please email by clicking here.