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 (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

Click here for construction photos between Gundagai and Holbrook

Preview:	Description:
	Services Sign: Southbound services sign approaching Gocup Rd at South Gundagai. November 2010. Click here for a photo of this location, prior to duplication, from December 2007. Image © Rob Tilley
	Services Sign: Southbound services sign approaching Gocup Rd at South Gundagai. November 2010. Image © Rob Tilley
	Intersection Directional Sign: Southbound ID sign at Gocup Rd at South Gundagai. November 2010. Image © Rob Tilley
	Distance Sign: Southbound RD sign as you leave South Gundagai, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Advance Directional Sign: Southbound approaching Tumblong Rd at Tumblong. December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Distance Sign: RD sign as you head southbound at Tumblong, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Southbound at Tumblong: Large cutting just south of the Tumblong town area, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Advance Directional Sign: Southbound diagrammatic AD sign approaching the Snowy Mountains Hwy (NR18) at Tumblong. December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Advance Directional Sign: Southbound signage as you approach the exit to the Snowy Mtns Hwy at Tumblong, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Snowy Mountains Higway Interchange: Entering the NR18 interchange at Tumblong, southbound, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Snowy Mountains Higway Interchange: The NR18 interchange at Tumblong, southbound, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Snowy Mtns Hwy Overpass: Southbound carriageway of the Hume Highway as it passes under the Snowy Mtns Hwy overpass. The bridge is for traffic heading southwest only, onto the Snowy Mtns Hwy from the Hume Hwy. Traffic wishing to head north on the Hume Hwy from the Snowy Mtns Hwy must travel south of the interchange and make a U-turn at a specially provided bay, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Advance Directional Sign: AD sign for the U-turn bay for northbound Snowy Mountains Hwy traffic, December 2007 at Tumblong. Image © Paul Rands
	Dennis Creek: Crossing Dennis Creek between Tumblong and Tarcutta, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Distance Sign: RD sign between Dennis Creek and the Sturt Hwy interchange near Tarcutta. December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Advance Directional Sign: AD sign for the Sturt Hwy (NH20) interchange, north of Tarcutta. Southbound, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Advance Directional Sign: AD sign for the Sturt Hwy (NH20) interchange, north of Tarcutta. Southbound, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Approaching Sturt Highway Interchange: Approaching the NH20 exit near Tarcutta. Southbound, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Sturt Hwy Interchange: Looking southwest through the Sturt Hwy interchange near Tarcutta, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
Click here for the continuation of Hume Hwy (NH31) between Holbrook and the New South Wales / Victorian border Click here for the continuation of Hume Hwy (NH31) between Gundagai and Coolac

1 Roads & Traffic Authority

Last updated: 28-Feb-2017 21:13

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.