National Highway 1 (Australia)

course

The National Highway 1 , often referred to simply as Highway 1 designates a highway in Australia . Highway 1 follows the course of the coast and circles the entire Australian continent . At around 13,600 kilometers, it is the second longest national road link in the world after the “ Trans-Siberian Road ” in Russia. Highway 1 connects the capital cities of Brisbane , Darwin , Perth , Adelaide , Melbourne and Sydney . Tasmania also has its own section of Highway 1 .

history

In 1955, the national road numbering system was introduced in Australia. At the time, Highway 1 was the only real national highway. But this did not mean that Highway 1 is the shortest connection between two places. Many other highways were no more than back roads of Highway 1 at the time.

Some roads that run parallel to Highway 1 were then known as National Route Alternative 1 , indicated on road signs as ALT 1 . These could be used as an alternative route without changing the general direction of travel or missing your destination.

In the 1990s, a new National Highway System was introduced in Australia. New alphanumeric names for streets were introduced. The streets are designated with the letters A, B, C, D or M depending on their meaning. As a result, the name Highway 1 lost its importance and routes that were previously designated as Alternative 1 were given their own numbers.

today

Labelling

Today Highway 1 is still an important part of the network of Australian highways. Since the introduction of the National Highway System in the 1990s and its gradual implementation in the individual states, Highway 1 is now largely signposted as A1 or M1 . The original signs for Highway 1, however, have largely disappeared.

In the conurbations of the larger cities, Highway 1 is very well developed and can be used as a four-lane, sometimes six-lane road. In rural areas, the road is sometimes poorly developed, especially with regard to the technical infrastructure (e.g. petrol stations or rest stops).

The following table lists the route of National Highway 1, starting from Brisbane in a counterclockwise direction:

State / territory	From	To	Highway / Street	Length (km)	Signage
Queensland	Brisbane	Cairns	Bruce Highway	1,652
	Cairns	Smithfield	Captain Cook Highway	12
	Smithfield	Forty Mile Scrub National Park	Kennedy Highway	238
	Forty Mile Scrub National Park	Normanton	Gulf Developmental Road	445
Queensland / Northern Territory	Normanton	Borroloola	Savannah Way	1,350
	Borroloola	Daly Waters	Carpentaria Highway	386
	Daly Waters	Darwin	Stuart Highway	590
	Darwin	Katherine	Stuart Highway	317
Northern Territory / Western Australia	Katherine	Wyndham	Victoria Highway	618
	Wyndham	Port Hedland	Great Northern Highway	1,602
	Port Hedland	Geraldton	North West Coastal Highway	1,340
	Geraldton	Perth	Brand Highway	424
	Perth	Mandurah	Kwinana Freeway	73
	Mandurah	Bunbury	Old Coast Road	108
	Bunbury	Walpole	South Western Highway	250
	Walpole	Esperance	South Coast Highway	605
	Esperance	Norseman	Coolgardie-Esperance Highway	368
Western Australia / South Australia	Norseman	Port Augusta	Eyre Highway	1,675
	Port Augusta	Port Wakefield	Princes Highway	210
	Port Wakefield	Adelaide	Port Wakefield Road	98
South Australia / Victoria	Adelaide	Melbourne	Princes Highway	898
Victoria / New South Wales	Melbourne	Sydney	Princes Highway	1,040
New South Wales / Queensland	Sydney	Brisbane	Pacific Highway	1,025
Tasmania	Burnie	Devonport	Bass Highway	49
	Devonport	Launceston	Bass Highway	100
	Launceston	Granton	Midland Highway	182
	Granton	Hobart	Brooker Highway	19th

Records

The highway, with its course leading around Australia, was used for various long-distance races to circumnavigate Australia. In 1982 Ross Atkins needed a time of 6 days, 22 hours and 57 minutes with his near-series Kawasaki Z1300 to cover the distance of 15015 km (excluding the course in Tasmania) . During the race he only stopped to refuel and a total of five times to sleep, in total he slept for 22 hours during this time. His route led from the start in Melbourne to Brisbane (five hours of sleep), Darwin (five), the vicinity of Broome (six), Perth (five) and over the Nullarbor Plain (two) back to Melbourne.

literature

• Touring Atlas of Australia . 1st edition. Gregory`s Publishing, St. Peters, NSW (AUS) 1983, ISBN 0-85566-302-2 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Pacific Highway. In: Google Maps. Retrieved July 25, 2016 .