Road Photos & Information: New South Wales: Hume Highway (National Highway 31)

Road Photos & Information: New South Wales

Hume Highway (National Highway 31) - Coolac To Gundagai (Decommissioned)

Statistics:

Length: 500 km (Coolac to Gundagai: 22 km)
Northern Terminus: Narellan Road (Metroad 9) interchange at Mt Annan, near Campbelltown on the outskirts of southwestern Sydney.
Southern Terminus: NSW-Vic border at Albury
Miscellaneous: Continues as Hume Freeway (NH-M31) at the Victorian border and travels for 303 km to the Metropolitan Ring Road (M80).
Suburbs, Towns & Localities along route: Cambelltown, Wilton, Tahmoor, Bargo, Mittagong, Berrima, Sutton Forest, Marulan, Goulburn, Gunning, Yass, Jugiong, Coolac, Gundagai, Tarcutta, Holbrook and Albury.

Route Numbering:

Former:
Decommissioned: 2013
Road Authority Internal Classification: State Highway 2

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. The National Highway section of the Hume Highway consists of almost 100% dual carriageway road, either rural expressway or motorway standard. Works to duplicate small sections of highway that are not dual carriageway are well underway.

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.

NH31 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 many 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.

The route around the Mittagong area averages around 16,000 vehicles every day, in other sections the number drops off a little or closer to Sydney increases.1

The route forms the Remembrance Driveway which honours war veterans, click here for the Remembrance Driveway web site.

Here are some interesting statistics on the Hume Highway: 2

The Jugiong Bypass, features 13 km of dual carriageways.

History (Covers Entire Hume Hwy Length in NSW):

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. Also during the 1930s the Marulan section of Hume Hwy was concreted from Mt. Otway to Marulan South.
1931: Lorry checking station built at Marulan.4
December 1938: Tumbalong-Tarcutta deviation construction, a major roadworks project which was partly funded under the significant Unemployment Relief Works Programme. 2
1940: Hume Highway is (mostly) paved.
1942: Construction of Ten Mile Creek Bridge at Holbrook 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, 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. 2
1951: Upgrade of old timber Cabramatta Creek Bridge, also known as Ireland's Bridge, at Cabramatta, to then modern standards. Also planning for the F5 Freeway (South Western Fwy) 2
1957: An additional carriageway for the highway was completed at Lansvale 2
1958 Truck weighstation built further out of Marulan along the highway, replacing the one built in 1931.4
1959: an experiment using advisory speed signs on curves on the Hume Highway between Camden and Berrima was successful and was extended to other roads. 2
1960s: The route over the Mundoonen Range rebuilt in the 1960s - it was designed to be duplicated.
December 1962: A major project on traffic management was the completion of a set of overhead traffic signs and signals at Villawood where Woodville Road, Henry Lawson Drive and the Hume Highway met. Due to large traffic volumes at this intersection, it was selected as a suitable location to install the system. The site has become known over the years, as the "Meccano set". 2
1970s: Construction of high standard 4 lane freeway between Campbelltown and Prestons, DMR also built another high standard 4 lane road between Bargo and Alpine (near Mittagong)
1970: Dual carriageway and new bridges built, bypassing the old bridge from 1930s at Boxers Creek, north of Goulburn 2
1974: South Western Freeway extended to Narellan Road near Campbelltown.
26 October 1973: A six mile (9.7 km) section of the South Western Freeway (formerly F5, now Hume Hwy (Metroad 5) from Cross Roads to Raby Road opened. 2
May 1977: South Western Freeway between Yanderra and Alpine opens to traffic
1979: The area south of Connors Creek was rebuilt with the earthworks being done for a second carriageway, which was built in 1994.
December 1980: Opening of freeway between Campbelltown and Yanderra north of Mittagong. This section of the Hume Hwy features the highest bridge ever built in NSW was the Pheasants Nest Bridge across the Nepean River, which is 76 metres above water level. 2 When this section was built, it formed part of the longest freeway in Australia at the time and won the DMR world wide design and engineering awards.
1983: The highway between Conroys Gap and Coolac, had most of the earlier alignment replaced, also a new Tarcutta deviation completed - 11.5 kilometres in length. This bypassed the bowstring arch across Hillas Creek from the 1930s. The new section of road featured a dual carriageway.2
1986: Marulan Bypass opens, with new truck weighstations (those were built in 1985 4
March 1989: Berrima was bypassed by the South Western Freeway 3
1992: Mittagong and Goulburn Bypasses open
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
2002: Replacement of bridges over Nattai River and Gibbergunyah Creek near Mittagong 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. 2

Click here for photos of the construction of the Coolac Bypass.
Click here for photos of the former alignment between Coolac and Gundagai.

Coolac To Gundagai		Gundagai To Coolac
Preview:	Description:	Preview:	Description:
	Advance Directional Sign: AD sign approaching Muttama Rd (which links with the former Hume Hwy) at Coolac, November 2010 Image © Rob Tilley		Warning Sign: Custom warning sign indicating high speed vehicles along the Hume Highway. This sign faces motorists leaving the Dog On The Tuckerbox monument, November 2010. Image © Rob Tilley
	Muttama Road: Hume Hwy (NH31) at Muttama Rd in Coolac, November 2010 Image © Rob Tilley		Advance Directional Sign: AD sign facing traffic from the service centre and Dog On The Tuckerbox, 8 km north of Gundagai, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Distance Sign: Reassurance directional sign at Coolac, November 2010 Image © Rob Tilley		Intersection Directional Sign: ID sign for the northbound carriageway facing traffic from the service centre and Dog On The Tuckerbox, 8 km north of Gundagai, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Advance Directional Sign: AD sign approaching Gobarralong Rd at Coolac, November 2010 Image © Rob Tilley
	Dog On The Tuckerbox Turn Off: Approaching the intersection to the old Hume Highway alignment, which is alongside the current alignment, that features the fabled Dog On The Tuckerbox at Gundagai. November 2010. Click here for a photo of this location from December 2007. Image © Rob Tilley
	ID Sign: Intersection directional sign at the junction for the Dog On The Tuckerbox, 8 km north of Gundagai, November 2010. Click here for a photo of this location from December 2007. For more information on the monument, click here. Image © Rob Tilley
	Intersection Directional Sign: ID sign for the southbound carriageway facing traffic from the service centre and Dog On The Tuckerbox, 8 km north of Gundagai, November 2010. Click here for a photo of this location from December 2007. Image © Rob Tilley
	Supplemental AD Sign: Supplemental advance directional sign for Gundagai exits, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Advance Directional Sign: Diagrammatic AD sign for Sheahan Drive at Gundagai, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Tourist Drive Sign: Sign indicating tourist towns available from the Sheridan Dr (TD6) interchange at Gundagai, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Services Sign: Sign indicating available services in the town of Gundagai, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Advance Directional Sign: Diagrammatic AD sign for Sheahan Drive at Gundagai, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Advance Directional Sign: AD sign approaching the Sheahan Drive interchange at Gundagai, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Bypassed Town Sign: Diagrammatic sign showing the bypassed town of Gundagai, November 2010. Image © Rob Tilley
	Sheahan Drive Interchange: Approaching the Sheahan Drive interchange at Gundagai, December 2007. Sheahan Drive was once the Hume Highway. Image © Paul Rands
	Sheahan Drive Interchange: Driving through the Sheahan Drive interchange at Gundagai, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Distance Sign: RD sign located south of the Sheahan Drive interchange, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Advance Directional Sign: AD sign for the Sheridan Street exit, Gundagai, November 2010. Image © Rob Tilley
	Advance Directional Sign: AD sign for Sheridan Street (TD6) exit at Gundagai, November 2010. Image © Rob Tilley
	Approaching Sheridan St Exit: Approaching the Sheridan Street interchange at Gundagai, November 2010. Image © Rob Tilley
	Sheridan Street Interchange: Looking southbound through the Sheridan St interchange at Gundagai, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Advance Directional Sign: Diagrammatic AD sign for Gocup Rd at Gundagai, November 2010. Image © Rob Tilley
Click here for the continuation of Hume Hwy (NH31) between Gundagai and Holbrook Click here for the continuation of Hume Hwy (NH31) between Coolac and Yass

1 Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government
2 Roads and Traffic Authority
3 Berrima Business Houses
4 Argyle County web site

Last updated: 27-Feb-2017 22:18

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