Bylong Valley Way

Bylong Valley Way
Basic data
Operator:	Roads and Maritime Services
Start of the street:	Castlereagh Highway Bathurst-Ilford Road Ilford ( NSW ) ( 32 ° 57 ′ S , 149 ° 52 ′ E ); ; ;
End of street:	Golden Highway; Sandy Hollow ( NSW ); ( 32 ° 20 ′ S , 150 ° 35 ′ E )
Overall length:	140 km
States :	New South Wales
	Bylong Valley Way at the bridge over the Goulburn River

The Bylong Valley Way is a connecting road in the east of the Australian state of New South Wales . It connects the Castlereagh Highway and Bathurst-Ilford Road in Ilford with the Golden Highway in Sandy Hollow . The road is named after the Bylong Valley , which crosses the Great Dividing Range between Wollemi National Park and Goulburn River National Park .

course

The Bylong Valley Way branches off as a continuation of Bathurst-Ilford Road (S54) in Ilford from the Castlereagh Highway (S86) to the east. Soon he turns north and crosses the small towns of Kandos and Rylstone . At Rylstone the crosses the Cudgegong River . The path continues north-northeast to the settlement of Bylong , just south of the Goulburn River . She crossed the Growee River several times and finally the Bylong River .

In Bylong the road turns sharply to the east and enters the eponymous Bylong Valley . The road runs along the south bank of the Goulburn River and the border of the two national parks and meets the Goulburn River and the Golden Highway (S84) in Sandy Hollow .

Importance for tourism

Phipps Cutting Picnic Area

Together with the Bathurst-Ilford Road, the Bylong Valley Way forms a little-traveled, but quite promising connection from Bathurst to the Hunter Valley . Access to the two national parks is available at several points in the Bylong Valley.

After the road was completely paved, the Muswellbrook Chamber of Commerce created a website promoting the road as a tourist route. The stretch from Sandy Hollow to Bylong is also advertised as a tourist route. It is part of Upper Hunter Tourist Drive No. 4 , which leads back to the Golden Highway from Bylong via other local roads. The Phipps Cutting Picnic Area is indicated as a resting place on this route.

The Tablelands Way , a tourist route from Canberra to Muswellbrook, also runs on this route between Mudgee and Muswellbrook.

Attachment

Bylong Valley Way at Coxs Gap, with railway line. Looking west on a dirt road section

It was not until February 2009 that the last stretch of the Bylong Valley Way was paved. For decades, the expansion of this road was a political issue. At the beginning of 2007 there were four unpaved sections on this road, which together were 32 km long. Two of these sections were between Coxs Gap and Bylong , with only 850 meters of paved road between them. The other two were south of Bylong on the Rylstone route . A few years earlier, 2 km had been paved there, turning a long, unpaved stretch of road into two shorter ones.

On December 13, 2006, the Australian federal government announced the partial financing of the road expansion, which should cost AU $ 4.1 million, with outlink funds in the amount of AU $ 2.0 million. The New South Wales Department of Transportation contributed AU $ 900,000 and the Mid-Western Regional Council provided the remaining AU $ 1.2 million. The final costs slightly exceeded the forecast amount and the Regional Council had to bear the small additional amount.

The Regional Council had the work carried out in three stages:

Construction phase 1 (March 2007 – June 2007): asphalting two road sections south of Bylong (together 6 km); Widening of the remaining 9 km long, unpaved stretch of road in preparation for asphalting.
Construction phase 2 (July 2007 – June 2008): Asphalting of the two still unpaved road sections south of Bylong (together 12.42 km); Asphalting a 1 km long section near Bylong; Preparation for the asphalting of the remaining sections of the route.
Construction phase 3 (July 2008 – March 2009): Asphalting of the last two route sections east of Bylong (together 12.6 km).

bridges

Kirk's Bridge in Baerami after installing the concrete parts (November 2007)

Muswellbrook Shire

The dilapidated parts of Kirk's Bridge , a wooden bridge over Baerami Creek in Bearami , were demolished and should be replaced by concrete sections by August 31, 2007. Unfortunately, the work was delayed by a month due to the effects of the storm. Before the storm, the bridge had been partially renewed, with both supports and two bridge parts at one end of the bridge being made of concrete.

The Muswellbrook Shire Council had to maintain a temporary detour over private property for several years to allow heavy vehicles to enter the construction site. After the bridge was reopened, the diversion was eliminated and the land returned to the owners.

The single-lane wooden bridge over Widden Creek also had to be replaced. The Muswellbrook Shire Council had allocated AU- $ 480,000 for this until 30th June 2007, but the difficulties at Kirks Bridge led to the funds being redirected to this more urgent project. The bridge over Widden Creek was then rebuilt by June 30, 2009 for AU $ 1.4 million. This means that trucks with a weight of up to 38 t can now use the entire route again.

Mid-Western Region

The Mid-Western Regional Council replaced the Carwell Bridge between Kandos and Ilford between mid-2009 and mid-2010.

railroad

Ulan Line Railway Bridge over the Bylong Valley Way at Coxs Gap

The railway line from Sandy Hollow to Gulgong and parts of the Merriwa railway line , which together form the Ulan railway line from Muswellbrook to Gulgong, follow the same valley as the Bylong Valley Way. In Bylong, however, the railway line continues west, while the road turns south.

The railway line crosses the street three times, twice on level crossings and once on a railway bridge across the street. One level crossing is near the Golden Highway and the other is near Bylong. The railway bridge is on the west side of the Coxs Gap.

The railway line to Gwabegar crosses the road at a level crossing in northern Rylstone .

All three level crossings have no barriers but have warning lights.

Web links

Commons : Bylong Valley Way - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

source

Steve Parish: Australian Touring Atlas . Steve Parish Publishing. Archerfield QLD 2007, ISBN 978-1-74193-232-4 , p. 26 and 27

Individual evidence

Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap

[1] Welcome to the Bylong Valley Way. Muswellbrook Chamber of Commerce

[2] The Tablelands Way . Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism. Australian Government