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

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

Statistics:

• Length: 500 km (Gundagai to Holbrook: 114 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: Gundagai, Tumblong Mundarlo and Tarcutta

Route Numbering:

• Former:
• Decommissioned: 2013
• Road Authority Internal Classification: HW2 1

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.

History:

• 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
• 1976: Completion of the 8 km Gundagai deviation and bridge over the Murrumbidgee River. 3
• 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.1

This page looks at construction work between Gundagai and Holbrook

Holbrook to Gundagai			Gundagai To Holbrook
Preview:	Description:		Preview:	Description:
	Tarcutta Deviation: Cutting on the then new deviation of the Hume Highway near Tarcutta, 1938. This has since been bypassed. Image © Department of Main Roads. Scanned from The Roadmakers, A History of Main Roads in New South Wales, ISBN 0 7240 0439 4			Dual Carriageway Ends: End of dual carriageway at Tarcutta, with earthworks for highway upgrade in the distance, November 2007. Image © Tim Cole
	Tumbalong-Tarcutta Deviation: A 'trail-builder' spreading filling on the Tumbalong-Tarcutta deviation of the Hume Hwy, 1939. Image © Department of Main Roads. Scanned from The Roadmakers, A History of Main Roads in New South Wales, ISBN 0 7240 0439 4			Undivided Section: Undisturbed undivided section of the highway at Tarcutta, November 2007. Image © Tim Cole
				Earthworks: Deviation and duplication works underway at Tarcutta, November 2007. Image © Tim Cole

1 Roads & Traffic Authority

Last updated: 28-Feb-2017 21:27

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.