Oxley Highway

Oxley Highway
map
Basic data
Operator:	Roads and Maritime Services
Start of the street:	Gordon Street Hollingworth Street Port Macquarie ( NSW ) ( 31 ° 26 ′  S , 152 ° 54 ′  E )
End of street:	Mitchell Highway Nevertire ( NSW ) ( 31 ° 50 ′  S , 147 ° 43 ′  E )
Overall length:	656 km
States :	New South Wales
Oxley Highway in Carroll

 Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap

The Oxley Highway is a trunk road in New South Wales , Australia . It runs over a length of 656 kilometers in an east-west direction and connects the port city of Port Macquarie with the small town of Nevertire on the Mitchell Highway .

history

Construction of the Oxley Highway began in 1838 when prisoners from the Australian penal colony built a road from Port Macqaurie across the Great Dividing Range to Walcha. This work took four years and the road was opened to traffic in 1842. It was mainly used to transport wool from the farms in the hinterland to the port in Port Macqaurie.

The next section between Walcha and Bendemeer was first recorded on maps in 1857, but it was not until 1889 before this section was marked as a regular road. However, this section of the highway could only be used by carts of oxen even then.

In the 1920s, the existing road was expanded and renewed. In some sections, the course of the road was relocated to avoid difficult passages and inclines.

In 1928 the road was named "Oxley Highway" in memory of the discoverer John Oxley . He was the first European to explore large parts of the New South Wales hinterland.

course

Road sign on the Oxley Highway

The Oxley Highway begins in Port Macquarie, a port city on the Pacific coast of New South Wales, about 400 km north of Sydney . From Port Macquarie, the Oxley Highway runs west. Just a few kilometers after its start, the Oxley Highway crosses the Pacific Highway (R1), part of National Highway 1 , which connects the capitals of New South Wales and Queensland , Sydney and Brisbane .

The first major town on the Oxley Highway is Wauchope, about 8 km after the Pacific Highway intersection. The long and winding path over the Great Dividing Range begins behind Wauchope. On this section, the Oxley Highway passes numerous national parks, such as Cottan Bimbang National Park , Mummel Gulf National Park and Werrikimbe National Park . In the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park , about 1 km north of the Oxley Highway, the spectacular "Apsley Falls" can be visited. The water of the Apsley River falls in two stages by 65 m and 58 m.

The next major settlement on the Oxley Highway is Walcha . In Walcha an extensive museum and open-air area can be visited, in which numerous pieces from the early years of settlement in the area are exhibited.

At Bendemeer, the Oxley Highway meets the New England Highway (N15). Both highways run on the same road for about 40 km before they split again at Tamworth . The New England Highway continues south to Newcastle , while the Oxley Highway runs west.

About 180 km west of Tamworth, a few kilometers before Coonabarabran , the Oxley Highway meets the Newell Highway (N39) coming from Goondiwindi on the border with Queensland in the north . Both highways will be on the same road for the next 95 km. West of Coonabarabran is the Warrumbungle National Park , which is known for its bizarre rock formations.

At Gilgandra the Oxley Highway crosses the Castlereagh Highway (R55 / S86), which runs from St. George in Queensland to Lithgow west of the Blue Mountains . In Gilgandra, the Newell Highway and Oxley Highway also separate. The Newell Highway leads to Dubbo and to the border with Victoria , while the Oxley Highway branches off in a westerly direction.

After another 106 km, the Oxley Highway meets the Mitchell Highway (R32) and ends. The Mitchell Highway offers the possibility of driving further into western Queensland or on the Barrier Highway, which branches off a little later, to South Australia .

source

Steve Parish: Australian Touring Atlas . Steve Parish Publishing. Archerfield QLD 2007. ISBN 978-1-74193-232-4 . Pp. 26, 27, 28, 29