Newell Highway

The Newell Highway is a national highway in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. It provides the major road link between southeastern Queensland and Victoria via central NSW and as such carries large amounts of freight. At 1,058 kilometres (657 mi) in length, the Newell is the longest highway in NSW,[2][3] and passes through fifteen local government areas.[1] The highway is part of Australian national route 39 and was signposted accordingly until 2013. Since then it has been signposted as NSW route A39.

Newell Highway New South Wales
General information
Type	Highway
Length	1,058 km (657 mi)[1]
Route number(s)	A39 (Goondiwindi-NSW/QLD border) A39 (NSW/VIC border-Tocumwal) Duplexes: B56 (Coonabarabran-Gilgandra) B64 (Marsden-West Wyalong) B94 (Mirrool-Ardlethan)
Former route number	National Highway 39 (1992-2013) NSW section National Route 39 (1965-1992)
Major junctions
North end	Leichhardt Highway Goondiwindi, Queensland NSW/Qld Border
	Barwon Highway Cunningham Highway Bruxner Highway Carnarvon Highway Gwydir Highway Kamilaroi Highway Oxley Highway Castlereagh Highway Oxley Highway Golden Highway Mitchell Highway Escort Way Lachlan Valley Way Henry Lawson Way Mid-Western Highway Goldfields Way Mid-Western Highway Burley Griffin Way Irrigation Way Sturt Highway Kidman Way Riverina Highway
South end	Goulburn Valley Highway Tocumwal, New South Wales NSW/Vic Border
Location(s)
Major settlements	Moree, Narrabri, Coonabarabran, Gilgandra, Dubbo, West Wyalong, Narrandera, Finley
Highway system
Highways in Australia National Highway • Freeways in Australia Highways in New South Wales

Traffic volumes along the Newell Highway vary from around 1,200 to 4,000 vehicles per day in rural areas. In Dubbo, the largest urban centre through which the highway passes, average daily traffic volumes are in the order of 20,000 vehicles a day. Many heavy vehicles use the Newell Highway – between 26 per cent and 52 per cent of all traffic, depending on the point along the highway.[1] At one point in the Riverina region of NSW, the highway carries approximately 1,900 vehicles daily, of which about 32 per cent is heavy vehicles;[4] while at another point in the north of the state, which carries the largest number of heavy vehicles, on average a truck passes every 60 seconds, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.[5]

The highway is named in honour of H. H. Newell, the first Commissioner for Main Roads in New South Wales (1932-1941).[6] It carries NSW route A39 signage for its entire length.

Other than short four-lane lengths within some of the urban areas through which it passes, the Newell Highway is a single carriageway, two-lane road, although there are many overtaking lanes, with further overtaking lanes under construction up until 2021 (see Newell Highway Alliance Program" www.rms.nsw.gov.au/projects/newell-highway/program-alliance/index.html)

The speed limit on most rural sections of the highway is 110 km/h (68 mph).[7]

Route

The terrain that the highway traverses is generally flat to gently undulating, with long, straight sections joined by the occasional curved section. However, passing through the Warrumbungle Range, there are steeper grades and tighter curves than on the rest of the highway.[1]

The highway runs generally north-south, parallel to the coast of NSW, about 400 kilometres (250 mi) inland, and is the most direct road link from Victoria to southeastern Queensland, bypassing the more urbanised and congested coastal areas of the state, and in doing so avoiding the difficult coastal topography traversed by the Pacific Highway.

From its northern terminus at Goondiwindi on the Queensland-NSW border, where it meets the Cunningham and Leichhardt Highways, and forms the southward extension of the Cunningham Highway from Warwick and Brisbane, the Newell runs south across the Queensland-New South Wales border through Boggabilla, Moree, Narrabri, Coonabarabran, Gilgandra, Dubbo, Parkes, Forbes, West Wyalong, Narrandera, Jerilderie, and Finley. Its southern terminus is where it crosses the Murray River (part of the border between New South Wales and Victoria) at Tocumwal and meets the Goulburn Valley Highway in Victoria.[7] The Goulburn Valley Highway forms the next section of national route 39 south towards Melbourne via Shepparton and Seymour, where it joins the Hume Highway.

The Newell intersect the following highways:

Bruxner (at Boggabilla), Carnarvon and Gwydir (at Moree), Kamilaroi (at Narrabri), Oxley (east) (north of Coonabarabran), Castlereagh and Oxley (west) (at Gilgandra), Golden and Mitchell (at Dubbo), Mid-Western (east) at Marsden), Mid-Western (west) at West Wyalong), Sturt (at Gillenbah) and Riverina (at Finley).

The Newell Highway is located entirely west of the Great Dividing Range, running largely along the foot of the western slopes of the range, and as such crosses nine major rivers, all west-flowing from the Great Dividing Range. From north to south these rivers are the Macintyre (at Goondiwindi), the Gwydir (10 km north of Moree), the Mehi (at Moree), the Namoi (near Narrabri), the Castlereagh (at Coonabarabran and again at Gilgandra), the Macquarie (at Dubbo), the Lachlan (at Forbes), the Murrumbidgee (at Narrandera), and the Murray (at Tocumwal). Some sections of the Newell Highway are subject to periodic flooding from these rivers,[3] particularly north of Moree,[8] at Dubbo,[9] and south of Narrandera.[10][11]

Naming and numbering

The route now known as the Newell Highway was proclaimed as State Highway 17 in July 1938, and in July 1941 named in honour of H. H. Newell (Commissioner for Main Roads 1932-1941) following his death in office.[7][6] At the time of the gazettal of state highway 17, it followed existing roads as far as possible, but between Coonabarabran and Narrabri and between Narrandera and West Wyalong [2] no road existed. The section through the Pilliga Scrub between Coonabarabran and Narrabri was constructed during 1941-42 as a wartime defence project, and the section between Narrandera and West Wyalong was constructed in 1946-49. In 1952 the ultimate gazetted route of the highway between Narrandera and West Wyalong was altered from its original 1938 gazetted route.

Under the original national road numbering scheme in 1954, national route 39 was to run from the Hume Highway (national route 30, subsequently changed to 31) at Seymour, via Shepparton Tocumwal, Finley, Narrandera, West Wyalong, Forbes, Parkes, Dubbo, Gilgandra, Coonabarabran, Narrabri, Moree, Goondiwindi, Moonie, Miles and Banana to Rockhampton, to connect with the Bruce Highway (national route 1). Consequently the Newell Highway, as part of this route, was signposted in 1965 with the standard black and white national route markers. On 15 January 1993, following the passage of the Australian Land Transport Development Act 1988, the Australian Government assumed financial responsibility from the NSW government for the upkeep and improvement of the Newell Highway. It also assumed responsibility for the onward connectors from either end of the Newell Highway - the Goulburn Valley Highway in Victoria and the Cunningham Highway in Queensland. The black and white national route shields were then replaced with green and gold shields (signifying that the highway is a nationally- rather than state-funded route). These in turn were replaced in 2013 by the alpha-numerical shields of the NSW state-based numbering system.

Some sections of the route of the Newell Highway are shared with the routes of other highways. From north to south these are the Gwydir at Moree, the Kamilaroi at Narrabri, the Oxley (from 10 km north of Coonabarabran to Gilgandra), the Castlereagh through Gilgandra, the Mid-Western between Marsden and West Wyalong, and the Riverina (185 m through Finley).

Route development

Completion of the sealing of the full length of the highway occurred in 1972.

Town centre bypasses have been provided in Moree, Dubbo, Parkes and West Wyalong (heavy vehicle route). A town bypass at Ardlethan has also been constructed.

Major intersections

State	LGA	Location	km	mi	Destinations	Notes
Queensland	Goondiwindi	Goondiwindi			Marshall Street west to Barwon Highway (State Route 83) – Goondiwindi town centre, St George Cunningham Highway (National Highway A39) north to Leichhardt Highway (National Highway A39) and Cunningham Highway (National Route 42) – Brisbane, Rockhampton, Warwick Kildonan Road (Tourist Drive 3) east – Border Rivers Tourist Drive	Northern highway terminus at roundabout
			0	0.0	Newell Highway	Route transition: South end of National Highway A39, north end of A39
Queensland – New South Wales state border			1	0.62	Queensland – New South Wales state border
New South Wales	Macintyre River		2	1.2	Bridge over river
	Moree Plains	Boggabilla	8	5.0	Bruxner Highway (B60) – Northern Rivers coast
	Gwydir River		122	76	Bridge over river
	Moree Plains	Moree	131	81	Boggabilla Road
	Mehi River		133	83	Bridge over river
	Moree Plains	Moree	133	83	Gwydir Highway (B76) east – Warialda	B76 eastern concurrency terminus
			134	83	Gwydir Highway (B76) north / Alice Street west – Collarenebri	B76 western concurrency terminus at roundabout
	Narrabri	Narrabri	232	144	Kamilaroi Highway west – Wee Waa
	Namoi River		235	146	Bridge over river
	Narrabri	Narrabri			Kamilaroi Highway (B51) east – Boggabri, Gunnedah	Roundabout
	Warrumbungle	Coonabarabran	348	216	Oxley Highway (B56) north-east – Gunnedah	B56 northern concurrency terminus
	Gilgandra	Tooraweenah	407	253	Tooraweenah–Mendooran Road  – Tooraweenah
		Gilgandra	441	274	Castlereagh Highway (B55) east  – Mendooran, Dunedoo	B55 eastern concurrency terminus
	Castlereagh River		442	275	Jack Renshaw Bridge
	Gilgandra	Gilgandra	442	275	Castlereagh Highway (B55) / Oxley Highway (B56) – Coonamble, Warren	B55 and B56 concurrency termini
	Talbragar River		501	311	Bridge over river
	Dubbo	Dubbo	506	314	Erskine Street (B84) – Dunedoo
	Macquarie River		507	315	Emile Serisier Bridge
	Dubbo	Dubbo	508	316	Mitchell Highway (A32)  – Wellington, Narromine
	Narromine	Tomingley	559	347	Tomingley Narromine Road  – Narromine
	Parkes	Parkes	626	389	Condobolin Road west  – Condobolin Clarinda Street / Orange Road east  – Orange
	Forbes	Forbes	659	409	Lachlan Valley Way east  – Cowra Henry Lawson Way  – Grenfell	Lachlan Valley Way northern concurrency terminus
	Lake Forbes		660	410	Oxley Bridge
	Lachlan River		661	411	Bridge over river
	Forbes	Bundaburrah	665	413	Lachlan Valley Way west  – Condobolin	Lachlan Valley Way southern concurrency terminus
	Bland	Marsden	726	451	Mid-Western Highway (B64) east  – Grenfell	Mid-Western Highway eastern concurrency terminus
		Wyalong	758	471	Barmedman Road (B85)  – Temora
		West Wyalong	763	474	Mid-Western Highway (B64) west  – Hay	Mid-Western Highway western concurrency terminus
	Coolamon	Mirrool Junction	813	505	Burley Griffin Way (B94) east  – Temora	Burley Griffin Way eastern concurrency terminus
		Ardlethan	831	516	Burley Griffin Way (B94) west  – Griffith	Burley Griffin Way western concurrency terminus
	Narrandera	Grong Grong	876	544	Ganmain Road  – Coolamon
		Narrandera	898	558	Irrigation Way  – Griffith
	Irrigation Canal		898	558	Bridge over the canal
	Murrumbidgee River		899	559	Narrandera Bridge
	Narrandera	Gillenbah	900	560	Sturt Highway (A20) south-east  – Wagga Wagga	Sturt Highway south-eastern concurrency terminus
			901	560	Sturt Highway (A20) north-west  – Darlington Point	Sturt Highway north-western concurrency terminus
	Jerilderie	Jerilderie Junction	991	616	Kidman Way  – Griffith
	Billabong Creek		1,005	624	Bridge over creek
	Jerilderie	Jerilderie	1,007	626	Conargo Road  – Conargo
	Berrigan	Finley	1,042	647	Riverina Highway  – Deniliquin, Berrigan	B58 concurrency terminus
	Murray River		1,057	657	Edward Hillson Bridge
New South Wales – Victoria state border			1,058	657	New South Wales – Victoria state border
Victoria	Moira	Koonoomoo			Goulburn Valley Highway (A39)  – Melbourne	Southern highway termninus: continues as Goulburn Valley Highway
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Route transition

Gallery

• 
  Oxley Highway looking towards the Junction of Newell and Oxley Highways, just east of Coonabarabran, looking south-west.
• 
  National Route 39, the Newell Highway, in New South Wales, just south of West Wyalong, looking south.

See also

• Highways in Australia
• List of highways in New South Wales
• List of highways in Queensland
• Bland Creek Bridge

References

1. "Draft Newell Highway Corridor Strategy" (PDF) (PDF). Roads & Maritime Services, Government of New South Wales. April 2014. pp. 8–9, 11. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
2. "Newell Highway: History and Development". OzRoads. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
3. "Roads Minister says duplicating Newell Highway is on state government's agenda". ABC News. Australia. 7 May 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
4. "Improvements to the Newell Highway at Grong Grong". Projects: South West NSW. Roads & Maritime Services, Government of New South Wales. 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
5. Brown, Emma (8 May 2014). "Draft Newell Highway Strategy released". ABC News. Australia. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
6. "The Newell Highway – Named after a pioneer road man". Main Roads. OzRoads. 43 (2). December 1977.
7. "Newell Highway: State Highway No. 17". OzRoads. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
8. "Heavy rain closes roads in NSW north-west". The Sydney Morning Herald. AAP. 28 November 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
9. Howe, Marc (12 May 2014). "NSW's Newell Highway Slated for Upgrade". Sourceable. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
10. "Travelling? Check road closures here". The Land. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
11. "Highway flood plan (video)". Prime 7. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2015.

External links

• "Draft Newell Highway Corridor Strategy" (PDF) (PDF). Roads & Maritime Services, Government of New South Wales. April 2014.