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The Australian Roads Portal

File:Australia Hwy 1.svg

Map of Australia's Highway 1

Australia's earliest needs for trade and travel were met by narrow bush tracks, used by tribes of Indigenous Australians prior to European settlement. The formal construction of roads began in 1788 in the newly formed colony of New South Wales. Road construction programs in the early 19th century were generally underfunded, as they were dependent on government budgets, loans, and tolls, while there was a huge increase in road usage, due to the Australian gold rushes. Local government authorities, often known as Road Boards, were therefore established to be primarily responsible for funding and undertaking road construction and maintenance. The early 1900s saw both the increasingly widespread use of motorised transportation, and the creation of state road authorities in each state, between 1913 and 1926, to manage each state's arterial road network. The federal government became involved in road funding in the 1920s, distributing funding to the states. The depression of the 1930s slowed the funding and development of the major road network until the onset of World War II. Supply roads leading to the north of the country were considered vital, resulting in the construction of Barkly, Stuart, and Eyre highways.

The decades following the war saw substantial improvements to the network, with freeways established in cities, many major highways sealed, development of rural roads in northern Queensland and Western Australia, and interstate routes upgraded. In 1974, the federal government assumed responsibility for funding the nations most important road links, between state and territory capitals cities, which were declared National Highways. Those roads were gradually improved, and by 1989, all gravel road sections had been sealed. In the following decades, the National Highway system was amended through legislation, and was eventually superseded in 2005 by the broader National Land Transport Network, which includes connections to major commercial centres, and intermodal freight transport facilities.

The first route marking system was introduced to Australia in the 1950s. National Routes were assigned to significant interstate routes – the most important road links in the country. National Route 1 was designated to a circular route around the Australian coastline. A state route marking system was designed to supplement the national system, for inter-regional and urban routes within states. When the National Highway system was introduced, National Routes along it became National Highway routes with the same numbers, but with distinctive green and gold route markers. During the late 1970s, planning began for a new alphanumeric route system in the state of Tasmania. Alphanumeric routes have since been introduced in most states and territories in Australia, partially or completely replacing the previous systems.

More about roads and highways in Australia...

Tonkin Highway is a 44-kilometre long (27 mi) north-south highway in Perth, Western Australia, linking Perth Airport and Kewdale with the city's north-eastern and south-eastern suburbs. The northern terminus is at Reid Highway in Malaga, and the southern terminus is at Thomas Road in Oakford. It forms the entire length of State Route 4, and connects to several major roads, including Great Eastern Highway, Leach Highway, Roe Highway, and Albany Highway. Planning for the route began in the 1950s, but the first segment between Wattle Grove and Cloverdale wasn't opened until 1980. Over the next five years, the highway was extended north to Great Eastern Highway and south to Albany Highway, and a discontinuous section was constructed north of the Swan River. In 1988 the Redcliffe Bridge linked these sections, and three years later, Reid Highway became the northern terminus. The next major works on the highway, between 2003 and 2005, extended the highway south to Thomas Road. The Gateway WA project, which began in 2013, will see the central section of the highway upgraded to a six-lane freeway-standard road by 2017. Further extensions to both the northern and southern extents of the highway are planned, which would connect the highway to the proposed Perth Darwin National Highway near Ballajura, and to South Western Highway south of Byford.

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A dogbone roundabout at the Karel Avenue / Roe Highway interchange

Wikinews Roads portal

• November 25: Canadian politician Manmeet Bhullar dies aged 35 after traffic collision
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• September 24: Volkswagen CEO resigns after emissions scandal
• September 22: Volkswagen engulfed by diesel emissions scandal
• September 17: South Sudan fuel tanker explosion kills dozens
• September 9: Actor Ryan Thomas involved in car crash in Manchester, England

The Cahill Expressway in Sydney

• ... that a committee in the 1920s raised the funds to turn a collection of tracks into Anzac Avenue, the longest World War I memorial road in Queensland?
• ... that local Aboriginal activist Michael Mansell called for the Brighton Bypass to be scrapped, stating that to continue construction "would be cultural vandalism, on an extreme scale"?
• ... that grader which broke down during construction of Gary Junction Road had to be towed over 800 kilometres (500 mi), travelling at just 3 kilometres per hour (1.9 mph)?

▼ Roads in Australia

► Australian freeways

► Toll roads in Australia

► Highways and freeways in Perth, Western Australia

► Roads in Perth, Western Australia

► Roads in Western Australia

► Streets in Perth central business district, Western Australia

National topics:

• Highways in Australia
• Freeways in Australia
• The National Highway
• Highway 1 (Australia)

Lists of highways by state/territory:

• ACT
• NSW
• NT
• QLD
• SA
• TAS
• VIC
• WA

Road infrastructure: Australian Capital Territory

New South Wales

Northern Territory

Queensland

Tasmania

South Australia

Victoria

Western Australia

Main project:
WikiProject Australian Roads

Related projects:

• Australia
  • and -1 sub-projects
• Highways
  • Canada Roads
  • UK Roads
  • U.S. Roads
  • Hong Kong Roads
  • Indian roads

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