Carnarvon Highway –New South Wales | |
|---|---|
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| Carnarvon Highway between St George and Surat, 1979 | |
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| General information | |
| Type | Highway |
| Length | 697 km (433 mi)[1] |
| Gazetted | November 1933(NSW, as Main Road 232)[2] August 1998(NSW, as State Highway 28)[3] |
| Route number(s) |
|
| Former route number |
|
| Major junctions | |
| North end |   Dawson HighwayRolleston, Queensland |
| South end |  Gwydir HighwayMoree, New South Wales |
| Location(s) | |
| Major settlements | Injune,Roma,Surat,St George,Mungindi |
| Highway system | |
Carnarvon Highway is a statehighway inQueensland andNew South Wales, Australia, linking the township ofRolleston in Queensland'sCentral Highlands Region, via the town ofSt George, eventually toMoree in northern New South Wales. It is the main access road to theCarnarvon National Park, and serves as a strategic route to take B-doubles and other large vehicles (which cannot useBruce Highway) to the Queensland ports north ofRockhampton.
Carnarvon Highway commences at the intersection withDawson Highway just west ofRolleston in Queensland, and heads in southerly direction until it reachesRoma, where it shares a short concurrency withWarrego Highway, and continues south toSt George, where it meets theMoonie,Balonne, andCastlereagh Highways. It crosses the state border at Mungindi to eventually terminate at the intersection withGwydir Highway inMoree, in New South Wales.
The passing of theMain Roads (Amendment) Act of 1929[4] (which amended the originalMain Roads Act of 1924[5]) through theParliament of New South Wales on 8 April 1929 provided for the declaration of State Highways, Trunk Roads and Main Roads, partially funded by the State government through the Main Roads Board (later theDepartment of Main Roads, and eventuallyTransport for NSW). Main Road 232 was declared on 21 November 1933, from the intersection with Main Road 338 (Moree-Boggabilla Road, later to becomeNewell Highway) at Moree, via Ashley, Garah and Boomi to the state border with Queensland at Boonangar,[2] and Main Road 367 was declared on 23 March 1937 from the intersection with Main Road 232 at Garah to the state border with Queensland at Mungindi.[6]
The passing of theRoads Act of 1993[7] through theParliament of New South Wales updated road classifications and the way they could be declared within New South Wales. Under this act,Carnarvon Highway was declared as State Highway 28 on 7 August 1998, from the intersection with Newell Highway at Moree via Ashley and Garah to the state border with Queensland at Mungindi, subsuming Main Road 367;[3] the southern end of Main Road 232 was truncated to meet Carnarvon Highway at Garah.[3] The highway today, as Highway 28, still retains this declaration.[8]
It was formerly known asCarnarvon Developmental Road north ofRoma.[9]
Queensland signed its portion of Carnarvon Highway as National Route 55 between 1983 and 1997. However, New South Wales had previously signedCastlereagh Highway between Gilgandra and Walgett as National Route 55 in 1974, extending it to the border by 1983. This caused a major discrepancy for many years in that National Route 55 met the border at Mungindi but abruptly begun again over 100 kilometres (62 mi) west along the border at Hebel. The Queensland Road Department eventually changed this in 1997, diverting National Route 55 along its portion of Castlereagh Highway over the border south to Hebel; the former allocation between St George and Mungindi was then re-allocated National Route 46, however the New South Wales portion remained unallocated. With Queensland's conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in 2004, its route number was updated to route A7 between Rolleston and Roma (continuing north alongDawson andGregory Highways toEmerald andCharters Towers), and A55 between Roma and St George; it is still allocated National Route 46 between St George and the border, and is still unallocated between the border and Moree.
TheRoads of Strategic Importance initiative, last updated in March 2022, includes the following projects for Carnarvon Highway.
A lead project to upgrade the Townsville to Roma corridor, including sections ofGregory,Dawson and Carnarvon Highways and surrounding state and council roads, at an estimated cost of $125 million, commenced construction of some work projects in 2020. Planning continues for other projects.[10]
A project to upgrade the intersection with Arcadia Valley Road at a cost of $925,000 was completed in January 2022.[11] This project was targeted for "early works" by the Queensland Government.[12]
A project to upgrade the intersection withCastlereagh Highway at a cost of $3.4 million is due for completion in mid-2022.[13] This project is targeted for "early works" by the Queensland Government.[12]
A project to upgrade the intersection with Salmon Road at a cost of $4.8 million is due for completion in mid-2022.[14] This project is targeted for "early works" by the Queensland Government.[12]
A project to upgrade Carnarvon Highway nearOrange Hill at a cost of $3.9 million was expected to finish in late 2021.[15] This project was targeted for "early works" by the Queensland Government.[12]
A project to widen and seal a section of road north of Injune, at a cost of $5.22 million, started in May 2021.[16]
A project to widen and seal a section of road east of St George, at a cost of $4.5 million, was completed in August 2021.[17]
A project to replace a steel culvert just east of Surat, at a cost of $3.6 million, was completed in October 2021.[18]
A project to widen and replace a culvert north of Roma, at a cost of $1.36 million, started in September 2021.[19]
TheQueensland Inland Freight Route is a proposal to upgrade the existing highways fromCharters Towers to Mungindi. This would involve significant upgrades to Carnarvon Highway between Rolleston and Mungindi.
| State | LGA | Location[1] | km[1] | mi | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queensland | Central Highlands | Rolleston | 0 | 0.0 | Dawson Highway (A7 west, State Route 60 east) – Springsure,Moura,Blackwater | Northern terminus of highway, route A7 continues west along Dawson Highway |
| Maranoa | Roma | 263 | 163 |  Warrego Highway (A2 west) – Mitchell | Concurrency with route A2 Southern terminus of route A7, northern terminus of route A55 | |
| 269 | 167 | Warrego Highway (A2 east) – Miles,Brisbane | ||||
| Surat | 343 | 213 |  Surat Developmental Road (State Route 87) – Meandarra | |||
| Balonne | St George | 449 | 279 |  Moonie Highway (State Route 49 east) – Dalby | Concurrency with State Route 49 | |
| 459 | 285 | Balonne Highway (State Route 49 west) – Mitchell,Cunnamulla | ||||
| 466 | 290 |  Castlereagh Highway (A55) – Dirranbandi,Hebel | Route A55 continues south along Castlereagh Highway Northern terminus of National Route 46 | |||
| Nindigully | 503 | 313 |  Barwon Highway (State Route 85) – Goondiwindi | |||
| Mungindi | 577 | 359 |  Carnarvon Highway | Southern terminus of National Route 46 | ||
| State border alongBarwon River | Queensland – New South Wales state border | |||||
| New South Wales | Moree Plains | Mungindi | Carnarvon Highway | |||
| Moree | 697 | 433 | Gwydir Highway (B76) – Goondiwindi,Narrabri,Collarenebri | Southern terminus of highway | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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