Mitchell Highway

Mitchell Highway
map
Basic data
Operator:	Dept. of Transport and Main Roads
Start of the street:	Mid-Western Highway Great Western Highway Bathurst-Ilford Road O'Connell Road Bathurst ( NSW ) ( 33 ° 25 ′  S , 149 ° 34 ′  E )
End of street:	Landsborough Highway Augathella ( QLD ) ( 25 ° 50 ′  S , 146 ° 37 ′  E )
Overall length:	1110 km
States :	Queensland
Mitchell Highway, the main street in Orange

 Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap

The Mitchell Highway is a trunk road in southeast Australia . It runs over a length of 1,110 kilometers from Bathurst , west of Sydney through large areas in the hinterland of New South Wales to Augathella in southwest Queensland .

history

The road from Bathurst via Orange to Wellington was declared a highway in 1928 and was named North Western Highway . Back then, all highways were named after the direction in which they ran from Sydney. Some of these names have survived to this day. In 1936 the North Western Highway was renamed the Mitchell Highway. This was in honor of Thomas Livingstone Mitchell . Mitchell had led several expeditions in the 1830s, exploring and mapping large parts of rural New South Wales.

course

New South Wales

The Mitchell Highway begins in Bathurst, a town in New South Wales west of the Blue Mountains . The Great Western Highway (R32) runs from Sydney over the Blue Mountains. At Bathurst, it splits into the Mid Western Highway (R24), which leads to Hay in southwest New South Wales, and the Mitchell Highway, which takes a more northerly route.

The first important town on the Mitchell Highway is the city of Orange, about 55 kilometers west of Bathurst. Orange is known as the birthplace of the Australian poet Banjo Paterson , whose most famous work Waltzing Matilda is Australia's unofficial national anthem . Another 30 kilometers along the Mitchell Highway is Molong, a small town in the immediate vicinity of which Australia's first copper mine was once built. After Molong, the Mitchell Highway continues north, where the city of Wellington is reached after 60 kilometers. Wellington was the first permanent settlement west of the Blue Mountains established in 1823.

The highway continues in a north-westerly direction and after 50 kilometers Dubbo is reached. In Dubbo the Newell Highway (N39) crosses in a north-south direction. In combination with other highways, this offers a direct and fast connection to Brisbane and Melbourne . Another branch of the Mitchell Highway leads to Adelaide , the Golden Highway (S84) to Newcastle . If you consider the direct connection to Sydney, Dubbo becomes a kind of central point from where all the capitals in the south and east of Australia can be easily reached.

At Nevertire, about 100 kilometers northwest of Dubbo, the Oxley Highway (R34) meets the Mitchell Highway coming from Port Macquarie on the east coast of New South Wales. About 60 kilometers to the northwest is the city of Nyngan . This is where the Barrier Highway (R32) begins . This leads west to Broken Hill and on to South Australia to Gawler north of the capital Adelaide.

From Nyngan on the Mitchell Highway about 200 kilometers northwest to Bourke . About 100 kilometers of this route run as a dead straight route without any bends or curves. North of Bourke, the Mitchell Highway turns north. The further course over 135 kilometers to Barringun on the border between New South Wales and Queensland is very winding again in contrast to the last stage.

Queensland

After the Mitchell Highway has crossed the border from New South Wales to Queensland at Barringun, it continues for about 120 kilometers north until it reaches Cunnamulla . The Balonne Highway begins in Cunnamulla and heads east from there to St. George .

Another 200 kilometers to the north is Charleville, the last major settlement on the Mitchell Highway. The Warrego Highway (alternative route A2) begins in Charleville . This leads from here in an easterly direction to Ipswich on the western edge of the metropolitan area around the capital Brisbane.

After another 85 kilometers to the north, the Mitchell Highway meets the Landsborough Highway (NA2) south of Augathella and ends. The Landsborough Highway continues north via Longreach to Cloncurry .

Numbering and alternative names

In Bathurst, the Mitchell Highway takes over the designation National Route 32 (R32) from the Great Western Highway and maintains it until Nyngan, where it in turn takes over the Barrier Highway. From Nyngan on, the Mitchell Highway is referred to as National Road 71 (R71) and leads to the Queensland border. From the border, he receives the number A71, which he carries to Charleville. The last 77 km to Augathella were given the name Alternative route A2.

From Bourke to the Queensland border at Barringun, the Mitchell Highway is also known as the Kidman Way . From there to its end in Augathella, it is also known as the Matilda Highway .

source

Steve Parish: Australian Touring Atlas . Steve Parish Publishing. Archerfield QLD 2007. ISBN 978-1-74193-232-4 . Pp. 19, 26, 31 Bathurst (New South Wales)