List of road routes in New South Wales

Road routes in New South Wales assist drivers navigating roads in urban, rural, and scenic areas of the state. Today, all numbered routes in the state are allocated a letter (M, A or B) in addition to a one- or -two digit number, with 'M' routes denoting motorways, 'A' routes denoting routes of national significance, and 'B' routes denoting routes of state significance. The route system includes the officially designated highways, urban and intercity motorways and arterial roads, and important cross-state roads that have not been declared highways.

New South Wales

Road routes in New South Wales (before 2013)

History

Route numbers have been allocated to NSW roads since 1955. National Route 1 ('Highway 1') was one of the best known numbered national routes, likely because of its fame for circumnavigating the continent. The insignia of national routes was a five-sided black and white shield, chosen as it is the shape of the Australian national coat of arms.

To supplement the national route number system, three ring roads were introduced to Sydney in 1964.[1] These were numbered 1, 3 and 5, with relatively (but not proportionately) increasing radii. While they were officially decommissioned in 1974, some old ring road 3 signs remained posted into the 1980s, and ring road 1 signs into the 1990s.

In 1973, a system of freeway numbering was introduced to the state to complement the national routes and ring roads. The shields were replicas of the red, white and blue U.S. Interstate Highway shields, and were numbered F1 to F8:

• F1: Warringah Freeway, and its never-built extensions
• F2: reserved for the Castlereagh Freeway, a corridor similar to today's M2 Hills Motorway
• F3: Sydney–Newcastle Freeway (now Pacific Motorway), and the never-built Lane Cove Valley Expressway and North Western Expressway
• F4: Western part of today's M4 Western Motorway (formerly Western Freeway)
• F5: the freeway section of National Highway 31 (now Hume Motorway)
• F6: Southern Freeway (now Princes Motorway), and its never-built extensions to the Sydney CBD
• F7: reserved for a corridor along the alignment of the Cahill Expressway, Eastern Distributor and Bondi Junction Bypass
• F8: a section of Wollongong's Northern Distributor (now Memorial Drive)[2]

Most of these routes were replaced with other numbers over the decades, and by the 1990s, only the F1, F3 and F6 were still marked as such, with simpler, green-on-white shields. None of these shields remain, but the F3 and F6 are still usually called by those names.

In 1974, the National Highway network was defined, which in New South Wales included the Hume Highway, Federal Highway, Barton Highway, Sydney-Newcastle Freeway (now Pacific Motorway) and New England Highway.[3] National highways were marked with the same shield as the national routes, except for their green and gold colour and the word 'national' added across the top.

Also in 1974, the three ring roads, 1, 3 and 5, were decommissioned and replaced by new State Routes, which had the same shields as the new freeways but without the red crest. Scores of other State Routes were also designated across New South Wales, marking out urban arterial routes and secondary rural highways. They were allocated as follows:

• 11, 33 and 55: Respectively replaced ring roads 1, 3 and 5. In 1988, state route 77 was commissioned as an additional primary circumferential route.
• 12-76: Greater Sydney. Even numbers were radial while odd numbers were circumferential, roughly increasing in value anticlockwise around the City. Exceptions were State Route 31 (which replaced Metroad 5 when the South Western Motorway was extended easterly; Metroad 5 was a replacement of the metropolitan part of National Highway 31) and state route 60 (which is in Wollongong). Routes 36, 40, 56, 68 and 69 extended beyond the bounds of Greater Sydney. While most State Routes still appear on maps and in street directories, they were haphazardly removed and covered up in Sydney in 1998 and 2004, leaving only routes 29, 31, 40, 44, 54, 56, 60 and 69.
• 78-99: Rural Areas. There was no discernible pattern with these routes. State route 83 was commissioned in 1979 and state route 89 was commissioned in 1980.
• 111, 121-124, 128, 131-133, 135: Greater Newcastle. 111 was added in 1988 following National Highway 1's relocation to the F3 Freeway.
• 151, 153, 155 and 157: Greater Wollongong, in addition to state routes 60, 68, 69 and 88.
• 2: In 2008, Queensland's state route 2 from the Gold Coast was extended a short distance into far northern NSW.

In 1993, Sydney's Metroad system was introduced, with its prominent, blue-on-white hexagonal shields. There were initially six metroads: Metroad 1 replaced National Route 1 within the metropolitan area, Metroad 2 replaced parts of State Routes 28 and 30 (and was subsequently absorbed by the M2 Hills Motorway), Metroad 3 replaced State Route 33 (once Ring Road 3), Metroad 4 replaced the F4 Freeway and the metropolitan part of National Route 32, Metroad 5 replaced part of the metropolitan part of National Highway 31 and Metroad 7 replaced State Route 77. Later, Metroad 6 replaced State Route 45, Metroad 9 replaced the metropolitan part of State Route 69 and Metroad 10 replaced State Route 14 south of Mona Vale. There was never a Metroad 8 as Alpha Numerics came before the Westconnex.

In 2013, the state replaced its entire system of State Routes, National Routes, National Highways and Metroads with an alphanumeric route numbering system.[4] All numbered routes are allocated a letter (M, A, B or D) in addition to its number, with 'M' routes denoting motorways, 'A' routes denoting routes of national significance, and 'B' routes denoting routes of state significance. Instead of shields, the route numbers are displayed as yellow text on green rectangular background outlined in white. Now all old routes have changed except for 1 (SR2 to be with QLD) The changeover to alphanumeric routes was announced from March 2013 and signs were updated throughout 2013, either by removing old "shield" coverplates installed on newer signs, or installing new alphanumeric coverplates on old shielded signs. In 2020, the styling of the markers was modified to remove the white border, aligning with all other states except the ACT.[5]

Motorways (M routes)

Route	Component roads	From	To	Length		Notes
				km	mi
M1	Pacific Motorway	QLD border	Ballina	89	55
	Pacific Motorway	Dirty Creek	Sapphire Beach	35	22
	Pacific Motorway	Bonville	Thrumster	141	88
	Pacific Motorway	Newcastle	Wahroonga	127	79
	Gore Hill Freeway	Artarmon	Naremburn	3	2
	Warringah Freeway	Naremburn	North Sydney	4	2
	Sydney Harbour Tunnel	North Sydney	Sydney (City)	2.8	2	Toll Citybound
	Cahill Expressway	Sydney	Woolloomooloo	0.9	1
	Eastern Distributor	Woolloomooloo	Kensington	6	4	Toll Citybound
	Princes Motorway	Waterfall	Yallah	53	33
M2	Lane Cove Tunnel	Artarmon	North Ryde	3.6	2	Toll
	Hills Motorway Abbott Road	North Ryde	Seven Hills	21	13	Toll
M4	Western Motorway	North Strathfield	Lapstone	46	29	Toll from North Strathfield to Merrylands
	M4 East	Homebush	Haberfield	5.5	3	Toll
M5	M5 East	Mascot	Berverly Hills	10	6	Toll
	South-West Motorway	Beverly Hills	Prestons	21	13	Toll from Beverly Hills to Glenfield
M7	Westlink M7	Prestons	Seven Hills	40	25	Toll
M8	M8 Motorway	Kingsgrove	St Peters	9	6	Toll
M15	Hunter Expressway	Cameron Park	Belford	39	24
M23	Federal Highway	Yarra	ACT border	66	41
M31	Hume Motorway	Prestons (Sydney)	Berrima	86	53
	Hume Highway	Berrima	VIC Border	425	264	Formerly

Future road routes

  F6 Extension - In 2019, the New South Wales Government announced it would rename the northern extension of the Princes Motorway, between Arncliffe and Kogarah (due to open in 2025) to the "M6 Motorway". No announcement has yet been made on whether the A6 will be renumbered to avoid duplicate numbers. (Wikipedia)

 - Western Sydney Airport Motorway.

Routes of national significance (A routes)

Route	Component roads	From	To	Length		Notes
				km	mi
A1	Pacific Highway	Ballina	Dirty Creek	161	100	Has Freeway Significance
	Pacific Highway	Sapphire Beach	Bonville	16	10	Has Freeway Significance
	Pacific Highway	Thrumster	Hexham	218	135	Has Freeway Significance
	Pacific Highway (Sydney)	Wahroonga	Artarmon	15	9
	General Holmes Drive The Grand Parade	Kyeemagh	Brighton-Le-Sands	3	2
	President Avenue	Brighton-Le-Sands	Kogarah	2	1
	Princes Highway	Kogarah	Waterfall	28	17
	Princes Highway	Albion Park	Victorian border	420	261
A2	Old Windsor Road Windsor Road	Seven Hills	Windsor	21	13	Separate South Eastern and North Western Routes at Old Windsor Road at M2 M7 - M2 - Abbott Road
A3	Mona Vale Road Ryde Road Lane Cove Road Devlin Street Church Street Concord Road Homebush Bay Drive Centenary Drive Roberts Road King Georges Road	Mona Vale	Blakehurst	52	32
A4	Bradfield Highway Western Distributor Freeway Victoria Road City West Link Road Dobroyd Parade Wattle Street	North Sydney	Ashfield	12	7	Toll on Bradfield Highway
A6	Marsden Road	Carlingford	West Ryde	2	1
	Stewart Street Kissing Point Road	West Ryde	Dundas Valley	0.85	1
	Silverwater Road	Dundas Valley	Auburn	6	4
	Boorea Street Olympic Drive Joseph Street Rookwood Road Stacey Street Fairford Road Davies Road Alfords Point Road New Illawara Road	Auburn	Lucas Heights	26	16
	Heathcote Road	Lucas Heights	Engadine	5	3
A8	Pittwater Road Condamine Street Burnt Bridge Creek Deviation Manly Road Spit Road	Mona Vale	Mosman	20	12
	Military Road	Mosman	North Sydney	3	2
A9	Narellan Road The Northern Road Parker Street	Campbelltown	Cranebrook	59	37
	The Northern Road	Llandilo	Berkshire Park	8	5
	Richmond Road	Berkshire Park	Londonderry	0.25	0
	George Street Macquarie Street	South Windsor	Windsor	5	3
A11	Pacific Highway	Pearces Corner	Unknown	N/A	N/A	This route in no longer in use
A15	New England Highway	Branxton	Queensland border	541	336
	Newcastle Link Road Thomas Street Newcastle Road Griffiths Road Donald Street Parry Street	Cameron Park	Newcastle West	15	9
A20	Sturt Highway	Gundagai	Victorian border	597	371
A22	Parramatta Road Great Western Highway	Chippendale	Summer Hill	6	4
	Hume Highway Liverpool Road Sydney Road	Summer Hill	Liverpool	30	19
A25	Barton Highway	ACT border	Yass	40	25	Has freeway significance
A28	Camden Valley Way Hume Hwy Cumberland Highway James Ruse Dr Pennant Hills Road	Wahroonga	Prestons	42	26	Has freeway significance at James Ruse Drive
A32	Barrier Highway Great Western Highway Mitchell Highway	Lapstone	Cockburn	1,146	712
A34	Milperra Road Canterbury Road New Canterbury Road	Liverpool	Newtown	26	16
A36	Princes Highway King Street City Road	Kogarah	Sydney	11	7
A37	Newcastle Inner City Bypass	Windale	Sandgate	16	10	Has freeway significance
A38	Delhi Road Millwood Avenue Fullers Road Pacific Highway Boundary Street Baggage Road Warringah Road	North Ryde	Dee Why	18	11
A39	Newell Highway	Victorian border	Queensland border	1,059	658
A40	Victoria Road James Ruse Dr Old Windsor Rd	Rozelle	West Baulkham Hills	29	18	Has freeway significance at James Ruse Drive
A41	Mid-Western Highway Olympic Highway	Bathurst	Albury	423	263
A43	New England Highway Pacific Highway Motorway Link	Warnervale	Branxton	115	71	Has Freeway Significance when with
A44	Russell St High St Castlereagh Rd Jane St High St Great Western Highway (Sydney) Parramatta Road Wattle St	Strathfield	Emu Plains	45	28
A48	Illawarra Highway	Sutton Forest	Wollongong	62	39
A49	Central Coast Highway	Doyalson	Kariong	50	31

Routes of state significance (B routes)

Route[6]	Component roads	From	To	Length		Notes
				km	mi
B23	Monaro Highway	ACT border	Victoria border	204	127	Formerly
B51	Kamilaroi Highway	Willow Tree	Narrabri	188	117
B52	Kings Highway	ACT border	Batemans Bay	115	71
B53	Lake Road T C Frith Avenue Five Islands Road Toronto Road Main Road (Fennell Bay) Anzac Parade Cary Street Mount Waring Road Wangi Road Main Road (Dora Creek) Macquarie Street Dora Street Mandalong Road	Wallsend	Morisset	35.2	22
B55	Castlereagh Highway	Marrangaroo	Queensland border	631	392
B56	Oxley Highway	Port Macquarie	Coonabarabran	448	278
B57	The Esplanade Medcalf Street Hillsborough Road Charlestown Road	Speers Point	Charlestown	9.5	6
B58	Riverina Highway	Deniliquin	Victorian border	220	137
B59	Groves Avenue Hawkesbury Valley Way Windsor Street East Market Street Kurrajong Road Bells Line of Road Chifley Road Mort Street Lithgow Street Main Street	Vineyard	Lithgow	90	56
B60	Bruxner Highway	Ballina	Tenterfield	185	115
B62	Bangalow-Lismore Road	Ewingsdale	Lismore	39.6	25
B63	Northcott Drive Bridges Road Turton Road Railway Terrace Platt Street Hanbury Street Vine Street Industrial Drive (concurrent with A43) Tourle Street Cormorant Road Teal Street Nelson Bay Road	Kotara	Nelson Bay	59.7	37
B64	Mid-Western Highway	Cowra	Hay	413	257
B65	Princes Highway (Bulli) (superseded route)} Memorial Drive Princes Highway (North Wollongong) (superseded route) Bourke Street Corrimal Street Springhill Road Five Islands Road King Street Primbee Bypass Windang Road Shellharbour Road	Bulli Tops	Shellharbour	39	24
B68	Cessnock Road John Renshaw Drive	Beresfield	Cessnock	29.4	18
B69	Appin Road	Campbelltown	Bulli Tops	34.1	21
B70	Sparks Road Wallarah Road Main Road	Warnervale	Noraville	14	9
B71	Mitchell Highway	Nyngan	Queensland border	338	210
B72	Snowy Mountains Highway	Steeple Flat	Stony Creek	287	178	Separate eastern and northern sections
B73	Old Hume Highway Bowral Road Mittagong Road Bong Bong Street Kangaloon Road Sheepwash Road Nowra Road Moss Vale Road	Mittagong	Nowra	68.2	42
B74	Wyong Road	Tuggerah	Bateau Bay	11.4	7
B75	Cobb Highway	Wilcannia	Victoria border	598	372
B76	Big River Way Gwydir Highway Kamilaroi Highway	Tyndale	Bourke	835	519
B78	Waterfall Way	Urunga	Armindale	165	103
B79	Silver City Highway	Curlwaa	Broken Hill	297	185
B81	Lachlan Valley Way Canowindra Road Escort Way Peabody Road Wellington Street Edward Street	Yass	Molong	215	134
B82	Freemans Drive Wine Country Drive	Freemans Waterhole	Branxton	50.4	31
B83	Pacific Highway	Wahroonga	Somersby	54.6	34
B84	Golden Highway	Belford	Dubbo	314	195
B85	Goldfields Way	West Wylong	Junee	113	70
B87	Kidman Way	Jerilderie	Bourke	644	400
B88	Picton Road	Picton	Wollongong	45	28
B89	George Booth Drive Main Road Macquarie Road King Street The Esplanade Macquarie Drive (Warners Bay) Bareki Road Macquarie Drive (Croudace Bay) Croudace Bay Road Lewers Street Ross Street Brooks Parade Macquarie Street	West Wallsend	Belmont	22.9	14
B91	Big River Way Summerland Way	Glenugie	Queensland border	212	132	[7]
B94	Burley Griffin Way	Bowning	Griffith	289	180
B95	Fossickers Way	Tamworth	Yetman	274	170
B400	Murray Valley Highway	Euston	VIC Border	2.6		Not shown in Google maps

State Routes

State Route 2	Gold Coast Highway	Tweed Heads	Queensland Border	3	2	This Route is the extension of a QLD route

D routes (detour routes)

- Pacific Hwy at Wahroonga to M15 via Pacific Highway

- King Georges Road to M1 Southern Cross Drive

Decommissioned Alpha Numeric Road Routes

A31	Hume Highway
A46	Newcastle Link Road (Now A15)
B80	Now B23 to remain the same with Victoria

Minor arterial roads

• Alpine Way
• Barry Way
• Bathurst-Ilford Road
• Bucketts Way
• Bylong Valley Way
• Camden Valley Way
• Carnarvon Highway
• Escort Way
• Goulburn-Oberon Road
• Henry Lawson Way
• Irrigation Way
• Macleay Valley Way
• Murray Valley Highway
• O'Connell Road
• Old Hume Highway
• Putty Road
• Remembrance Drive
• Thunderbolts Way
• Wombeyan Caves Road
• Yass Valley Way

See also

• Highways in Australia for highways in other states and territories
• Highways in New South Wales for details about officially gazetted highways

References

1. "Sydney Ring Roads". Ozroads. 28 August 1964. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
2. "Northern Distributor". Ozroads. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
3. "The National Highway System". Ozroads. 20 September 1974. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
4. "Alpha Numeric route numbers - A new Road Numbering System". Transport for NSW - Roads and Maritime. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
5. "Harmonisation of alpha numeric route markers with Australian Standard AS 1742.15" (PDF). 15 April 2020.
6. "NSW alpha-numeric routes". Ozroads. 1 September 2013. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
7. "Schedule of Classified Roads And State and Regional Roads" (PDF). Roads and Maritime Services. April 2017. p. 6 (Gazetted Road Number 83). Retrieved 8 January 2018.