Castlereagh Highway

The Castlereagh Highway is a 790-kilometre (490 mi)[1] state highway located in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia. The highway's northern terminus is at a junction with the Carnarvon Highway, south of St George, Queensland. Its southern terminus is at a junction with the Great Western Highway at Marrangaroo, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north of Lithgow. From north to south the highway traverses South West Queensland and the North West Slopes, Orana, and Central West regions of New South Wales.

Castlereagh Highway Queensland –New South Wales
Dick O'Brien Bridge (1991) carrying Castlereagh Highway over Barwon River, Walgett, NSW.
General information
Type	Highway
Length	790 km (491 mi)[1]
Route number(s)	A55 (St George-NSW/Qld Border) B55 (NSW/Qld Border-Marrangaroo)
Former route number	National Route 55 (unknown) (St George-NSW/Qld Border) National Route 55 (unknown-2013) (NSW/Qld Border-Gilgandra) State Route 86 (unknown-2013) (Gilgandra-Marrangaroo)
Major junctions
North end	Carnarvon Highway (Qld State Route 46 / Qld State Highway A55), St George, Queensland
	Gwydir Highway (NSW State Highway B76) Kamilaroi Highway Newell Highway (National Highway A39) Golden Highway (NSW State Highway B84) for full list see major intersections
South end	Great Western Highway (NSW State Highway A32), Marrangaroo, New South Wales
Location(s)
Major settlements	Dirranbandi, Hebel, Walgett, Gilgandra, Dunedoo, Mudgee, Cullen Bullen
Highway system
Highways in Australia National Highway • Freeways in Australia Highways in Queensland Highways in New South Wales

The highway is part of the 'Great Inland Way' linking Sydney and Cairns, and provides all-weather access to rugged black opal country of Lightning Ridge.[2]

The Castlereagh Highway was named in 1954 after the Castlereagh River – which it parallels for most of its journey north from Gilgandra[3] – with the river named in honour of Lord Castlereagh.[4]

Route

The highway was extended past Gilgandra to include state route 86 in October 1997. As such the Castlereagh Highway starts just outside Lithgow at a junction with the Great Western Highway and runs in a north-westerly direction through Ilford and the junctions of Bathurst-Ilford Road and Bylong Valley Way, through the regional centre of Mudgee and Gulgong. From there the Castlereagh Highway is concurrent with the Golden Highway through Dunedoo, then branches off in Dunedoo, continuing past Gilgandra until it reaches the Queensland border via Walgett at Hebel. From there it continues to the outskirts of St George where it terminates with the Carnarvon Highway.[5]

The highway was signed National Route 55 in 1974 north of Gilgandra, and State Route 86 south of Gilgandra. Queensland however signed the Carnarvon Highway as National Route 55 rather than the Castlereagh Highway, causing a major discrepancy for many years in that National Route 55 met the border at Hebel but abruptly begun again over 100 kilometres (62 mi) east along the border at Mungindi. The Queensland Road Department changed this and signed National Route 55 over the border north to Charters Towers in later years. This route was soon replaced with the A7 and A55 designations throughout Queensland in 2005, and the B55 designation in NSW during 2013 to Gilgandra and then south to Lithgow, replacing both State Route 86 and National Route 55.[3][6]

Major junctions

State	LGA / LGA	Location	km[1]	mi	Destinations	Notes
Queensland	Balonne	St George	0	0.0	Carnarvon Highway (A55) – St George, Surat, Roma Carnarvon Highway (46) – Goondiwindi, Mungindi and to Moree	T intersection northern terminus; north (A55) and southeast (46) as the Carnarvon Highway. Castlereagh Highway continues south as A55.
		Dirranbandi	68	42	Noondoo-Mungindi Road - south-east  – Mungindi	T intersection; Castlereagh Highway continues west
			88	55	Railway Street - west - Dirranbandi	T intersection; Castlereagh Highway continues south
			90	56	Bollon Dirranbandi Road - west  – Bollon	T intersection; Castlereagh Highway continues south
		Hebel	154	96	William Street - west  – Goodooga	T intersection; Castlereagh Highway continues south
Queensland – New South Wales state border			158	98	Queensland – New South Wales state border	north as A55; south as B55
New South Wales	Walgett	Walgett	274	170	Gwydir Highway (B76) - north-east  – Collarenebri	T intersection; Gwydir Highway south-western terminus; Castlereagh Highway continues south
	Barwon River		281	175	Dick O'Brien Bridge
	Walgett	Walgett	284	176	Kamilaroi Highway (no shield) - east  – Narrabri	T intersection; Castlereagh Highway continues south; Kamilaroi Highway continues east
	Namoi River		288	179	Bridge over the river (no known name)
	Walgett	Walgett	289	180	Kamilaroi Highway (B76) - west  – Narrabri	Castlereagh Highway continues south; Kamilaroi Highway continues west; concurrency terminus
	Castlereagh River		404	251	Bridge over the river at Coonamble (no known name)
	Castlereagh River		462	287	Bridge over the river at Armatree (12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south of Gulargambone) (no known name)
	Gilgandra	Gilgandra	501	311	Oxley Highway - west  – Warren, Nevertire	T intersection; Oxley Highway continues west; Castlereagh Highway continues south
			501	311	Newell Highway - south-west  – Dubbo	T intersection; Newell Highway continues south and east: Castlereagh Highway continues east
	Castlereagh River		501	311	Bridge over the river at Gilgandra (no known name)
	Gilgandra	Gilgandra	502	312	Newell Highway - north-east  – Coonabarabran, Moree to Oxley Highway – Gunnedah, Tamworth, Port Macquarie	T intersection; Newell Highway continues north; Castlereagh Highway continues southeast; concurrency terminus
	Castlereagh River		541	336	Bridge over the river 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) west of Mendooran (no known name)
	Warrumbungle	Mendooran	553	344	Mendoran Road - north-east  – Binnaway, Coonabarabran	T intersection; Castlereagh Highway continues east
		Dunedoo	591	367	Golden Highway - west  – Dubbo	Y intersection; Golden Highway continues west
	Talbragar River		596	370	Bridge over the river (no known name)
	Warrumbungle	Dunedoo	601	373	Golden Highway - east  – Merriwa to Singleton, Newcastle	T intersection; Castlereagh Highway continues south; Golden Highway continues east; concurrency terminus
	Wialdra Creek		638	396	Bridge over the river (no known name)
	Cudgegong River		657	408	Holyoake Bridge (1km North of Mudgee)
	Mid-Western	Ilford	725	450	Bylong Valley Way - east  – Kandos, Rylstone, Bylong, Sandy Hollow	T intersection; Castlereagh Highway continues south; Bylong Valley Way western terminus
			727	452	Bathurst-Ilford Road - west  – Sofala, Bathurst	Castlereagh Highway continues south
	Lithgow	Marrangaroo	790	490	Great Western Highway (A32) – Bathurst, Lithgow, Sydney	Directional T interchange; southern terminus; east and west as the Great Western Highway
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Route transition

See also

• Highways in Australia
• List of highways in New South Wales
• List of highways in Queensland

References

1. Google (15 November 2017). "Castlereagh Highway" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
2. "Welcome to Castlereagh Highway". Lonely Planet. 2016. Archived from the original on 30 October 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
3. "Castlereagh Highway (NSW)". Ozroads. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
4. "Castlereagh River". Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
5. "Map of Castlereagh Highway". Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia. Digital Atlas Pty Limited. 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
6. "Castlereagh Highway (NSW)". Australian Towns, Cities and Highways. Brisbane, Australia: MG. June 2006. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2016.