right|thumb|Road sign of the National Highway.

thumb|right|National Highway Sign located on the Stuart Highway near Darwin, listing distances to key locations on this highway.

thumb|Map of the National Highway System

The National Highway (part of the National Land Transport Network) is a system of roads connecting all mainland states and territories of Australia, and is the major network of highways and motorways connecting Australia's capital cities and major regional centres.

History

Legislation

National funding for roads began in the 1920s, with the federal government contributing to major roads managed by the state and territory governments. However, the Federal Government did not completely fund any roads until 1974, Under the act, the states were still responsible for road construction and maintenance, but were fully compensated for money spent on approved projects.

In 1988, the National Highway became redefined under the Australian Land Transport Development (ALTD) Act 1988, which had various amendments up to 2003. The 1988 Act was largely concerned with funding road development in cooperation with the state governments. The federal transport minister defined the components of the National Highway, and also a category of "Road of National Importance" (RONI), with federal funding implications. Section 10.5 of the Act required the state road authorities to place frequent, prominent, signs on the National Highways and RONI projects funded by the federal government.

In 2005, the National Highway became the National Land Transport Network, under the AusLink (National Land Transport) Act 2005. The criteria for inclusion in the network was similar to the previous legislation, but expanded to include connections to major commercial centres, and inter-modal facilities. All of the roads included in National Land Transport Network as of 2005 were formally defined by regulation in October 2005. The Minister for Transport may alter the list of roads included in the network. Three amendments to the scheduled list of roads have been made, in February 2007, September 2008 and February 2009. The third variation, published in February 2009, is current as of September 2012.

Under AusLink a program that operated between July 2004 and 2009, the AusLink National Network had additional links, both road and rail. The Federal Government encouraged funding from state, territory and local governments and public–private partnerships to upgrade the network and requires state government funding contributions on parts of the network, especially for new links. For example, the Pacific Highway and the Calder Highway are part of the National Network, yet new projects are being funded 50/50 by federal and state governments. State contributions (generally 20%) are required on some sections of the old network near major cities.

Roads and routes

The various superseded Acts defined National Highways as roads, or a series of connected roads, that were the primary connection between two State or Territory capital cities, as well as between Brisbane and Cairns, and between Hobart and Burnie.

Subsequent replacement legislation in 1977, 1988, and 2005, along with other intervening amendments, contained similar provisions. Notably, important roads to near-metropolitan locations such as Geelong, Bunbury and Wollongong were added in 2005, although not within the original concept of interstate National Highways.

Original routes included in 1974

The original components of the National Highway were officially declared on 20 September 1974, as "links" and terminated at the edge of each capital city. The parts of the routes within the major urban areas were not defined as National Highways, and the Sturt and Newell highway routes were not included in the original 1974 network. In June 1995, as a condition of federal funding, the National Highway route in New South Wales was required to remove existing tolling on the former F3 and former F6 inter-urban freeways, even though the former F6 did not become part of a National Highway until 2005.

The Sydney to Adelaide route via the Hume and Sturt highways, and the Melbourne to Brisbane route via the Newell Highway, were added as links of the National Highway network in November 1992 under the 1988 Act, however the decision to use the route from Goondiwindi to Brisbane via the Gore Highway and Toowoomba, rather than the Cunningham Highway (via Warwick), was not finalized until October 1993.

As sections of existing highways were upgraded or replaced by nearby parallel routes of a new higher standard, the "National Highway" designation was usually moved onto the new part of the route. The principal route between Sydney and Newcastle was shifted from the old Pacific Highway onto the new Sydney-Newcastle freeway in nine separate stages between 1966 and 1999 as the freeway was progressively implemented. Similar changes were made as the Hume Highway was re-developed. are:

  • the Pacific Highway route between Newcastle and Brisbane
  • the route between Townsville and Mt Isa
  • the route from Sydney (or Eastern Creek) to Dubbo via the M4, Great Western and Mitchell highway
  • the Calder Highway route from Melbourne to Mildura via Bendigo
  • the Southern Freeway and Princes Highway route from Sydney to Wollongong
  • the Princes Freeway from Melbourne to Geelong
  • the Monash Freeway, Princes Freeway and Princes Highway to Taralgon and Sale
  • the route between Perth and Bunbury
  • the route from Launceston to Bell Bay
  • some additional urban connecting routes linking ports and airports and linking the national routes, and forming urban growth corridors, a complete definition of the network as of 2005 is included in the schedule of the 2005 Act
  • The route description for the Cumberland Highway ( Pennant Hills Road ), between the junctions with the M2 motorway and the F3 Sydney-Newcastle Freeway, was altered. Almost all of the original Cumberland Highway route from Prestons to Wahroonga, established in the 2005 network, was deleted due to the opening of the M7 motorway.

Changes to the National Land Transport Network made in 2008

  • The route description of the national route consisting of part of the Princes Freeway and Princes Highway between Melbourne and Waurn Ponds (west of Geelong), was altered.
  • The proposed Townsville Port Access Road was added.
  • The proposed Tiger Brennan Drive extension in suburban Darwin was added.

Changes to the National Land Transport Network made in 2009

  • The portion of the M4 Western Motorway in Sydney, between Eastern Creek and Strathfield was added.
  • The part of the Princes Freeway, and Princes Highway, west of Melbourne which is included in the National network, was extended from Waurn Ponds to Colac.
  • A section of the Great Eastern Highway and the Great Eastern Highway Bypass in suburban Perth was added.
  • Alteration to the definition of the South Road route in Adelaide and addition of the access road to Adelaide Airport.
  • The Townsville Ring Road was added
  • The Karratha–Dampier Road and part of the North West Coastal Highway was added.
  • The Bunbury Port Access Road and part of the Wilman Wadandi Highway were added.
  • Part of the Hobart–Burnie route was altered.

Urban components of the national land transport (road) network

In Sydney, only a subset of the network of motorways and major roads in the Sydney metropolitan area are part of the current National Land Transport (Roads) Network, the rest are not part of the national network and therefore the Federal Government does not contribute funding on the same basis. The following roads in and around Sydney are currently part of the designated National Land Transport Network

  • Hume Highway from Melbourne to the junction of the M7 and M5 at Prestons, continuing on the M5 South Western Motorway to General Holmes Drive (near Kyeemagh) and then Foreshore Road to its junction with Botany Road. The most notable example is "Highway 1", which follows the periphery of the continent, and only parts of which form part of the former National Highway and current National Land Transport (Roads) Network.

See also

  • Highway 1 (Australia)

References

  • AusLink National Network
  • National Land Transport Network – Road Corridors
  • [http://www.auslink.gov.au/whatis/network/htm/sydney_map.html]