| Sydney-newcastle Freeway |
Website Links For Freeway |
Information AboutSydney-newcastle Freeway |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT SYDNEY-NEWCASTLE FREEWAY | |
| australian highways | |
|
The Sydney-Newcastle Freeway is a 127km stretch of freeway linking Sydney to the Central Coast , Newcastle and Hunter regions of New South Wales and is part of the AusLink road corridor between Sydney and Brisbane . It currently carries the ''' National Highway 1 ''' route designation, although as alpha-numeric route numbering is implemented across New South Wales it will be replaced by the '''M1''' designation. In addition to the National Highway 1/M1 designation, the freeway also carries the Freeway Route 3 (F3) designation. This route system, introduced in the 1970s, was to provide distinctive route numbering and signage for freeways in Sydney and the surrounding areas. Although the signage of routes under this system stopped before the freeway was completed, the route is still known - both officially and unofficially - as the F3 and several signs along the freeway refer to it as such. ROUTE The freeway starts with the junction of the Pacific Highway and Pennant Hills Road at Pearce's Corner, Wahroonga in Sydney's north. From here it goes north, skirting the western edge of the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park before meeting the Hawkesbury River at Brooklyn . After crossing the Hawkesbury the freeway passes through the Brisbane Water National Park , crossing Mooney Mooney Creek with an impressive 480m long and 75m high bridge before reaching the first main interchange on the Central Coast at Kariong . After reaching Kariong the freeway continues through rural and semi-rural areas of the Central Coast with interchanges provided at Ourimbah , Tuggerah , Warnervale and near Doyalson . From the Doyalson interchange the freeway continues to the west of Lake Macquarie with interchanges near Morisset , Cessnock , Toronto and Cardiff . After the Cardiff interchange a link road takes traffic into Newcastle via Wallsend while the freeway continues north to reach its finish with a roundabout at the junction of Weakleys Drive and John Renshaw Drive, Beresfield . From here the National Highway route continues to Brisbane via the New England Highway (accessed via Weakleys Drive), with traffic on Highway 1 taking John Renshaw Drive and the New England Highway eastbound to meet the Pacific Highway at Hexham . HISTORY Planning began for the freeway in the 1950s, with the aim of providing a high-speed replacement to a section of the Pacific Highway which was built in the 1920s and was struggling to cope with the increased traffic volume. Furthermore it was planned that the freeway would connect to freeway systems being proposed for both Sydney and Newcastle, providing a city-to-city freeway link. However, due to several reasons the goal and route of the freeway changed significantly so that today it serves to bypass Newcastle rather than go into it. Firstly, the route between Mount White and Kariong was originally planned to go further east than the current route with an easier crossing of Mooney Mooney Creek. By the time that construction was to begin on this section resistance from the National Parks and Wildlife Service to the proposed route forced the government to take a route through Calga which at the time would have formed part of a route to Singleton . The route through Wyong Shire changed as well; instead of passing along the western edge of the Tuggerah Lakes development in that area resulted in the freeway moving further west with a link road being constructed to meet the Pacific Highway near Doyalson. Perhaps the most signigicant effect on the freeway's route and its connections was the anti-freeway movement of the 1970s. Strong public resistance to freeways being constructed within cities along with less than favourable results from government inquiries resulted in unconstructed freeway projects being cancelled and those under construction being revised or cut short. For the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway, this meant that the connecting Lane Cove Valley and North-Western Freeways in Sydney would not be built - forcing traffic to travel along the Pacific Highway between Wahroonga and the city. In addition, the freeway would now go to the west of Lake Macquarie rather than the east and bypass Newcastle. Sections of State Route 123, one of the two expressway routes that the freeway would have connected to in Newcastle, have been constructed (with calls to complete the whole route between Bennetts Green and Sandgate), while the freeway route between Belmont and Bennetts Green and the connecting expressway route to Merewether are still reserved with the possibility that they could be constructed in the future. The major stages in the construction of the freeway are:
CONNECTIONS At the Sydney end, the freeway connects with Sydney's Metroad system. Traffic heading towards the city travels southbound on the Pacfic Highway as Metroad 1 while traffic heading to the west and south of Sydney travels along Pennant Hills Road as Metroad 7 . Both of these roads can be heavily congested during peak hour, although with the construction of the Westlink M7 traffic on Metroad 7 enjoys motorway conditions after joining the M2 Motorway at the Pennant Hills Road junction. In addition, the Pacific Highway continues north from Wahroonga towards Doyalson as State Route 83. After leaving Sydney, there are interchanges providing access to the Pacific Highway near Berowra , Brooklyn, Mount White, Calga, Kariong and Ourimbah. The link road from the Doyalson interchange carries the State Route 111 designation, with the Pacific Highway carrying this designation from its junction with the link road to Hexham. Interchanges as Calga and Somersby take traffic onto Peats Ridge Road - which served as a temporary route between Calga and Ourimbah while that section of the freeway was being constructed - and a Tourist Drive to Cessnock via Wollombi . The Freeman's Waterhole interchange provides access to State Route 82, a route from Freeman's Waterhole to the New England Highway at Branxton via Cessnock, while the Cardiff interchange links to '''State Route 128''' which runs between Newcastle and the Cessnock coalfields. At the northern end of the freeway, John Renshaw Drive takes traffic westbound to Kurri Kurri and Cessnock as State Route 132 or eastbound towards the New England ('''National Highway 15''') and Pacific Highways as '''Highway 1''' while Weakleys Drive takes northbound traffic to the New England Highway. PLANNED EXTENSIONS Plans are currently underway for extensions at both ends of the F3:
SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|