Oxley Highway

Oxley Highway

New South Wales
Oxley Highway; New South Wales
General information
Type	Highway
Length	653 km (406 mi)
Route number(s)	B56 (2013-present); (Coonabarabran-Port Macquarie)
Former; route number	National Route 34 (1955-2013); Entire route
Major junctions
West end	Mitchell Highway; Nevertire, New South Wales
	Newell Highway; Castlereagh Highway; Newell Highway; Kamilaroi Highway; New England Highway; Fossickers Way; New England Highway; Thunderbolts Way Pacific Highway;
East end	Gordon Street; Port Macquarie, New South Wales
Location(s)
Major settlements	Warren, Gilgandra, Coonabarabran, Gunnedah, Tamworth, Bendemeer, Walcha, Wauchope
Highway system
	Highways in Australia; National Highway • Freeways in Australia; Highways in New South Wales; ; ;

The Oxley Highway is a rural highway in New South Wales, Australia.^[1] It starts at Nevertire where it joins the Mitchell Highway. It links Nevertire, Warren, Gilgandra, Coonabarabran, Gunnedah, Carroll, Tamworth, Bendemeer, Walcha, Yarrowitch, Ellenborough, Long Flat, and Wauchope and ends at Port Macquarie on the coast of the Tasman Sea.

The Oxley Highway starts from the Mitchell Highway at Nevertire before journeying to the Castlereagh Highway at Gilgandra, from where it is duplexed with the Newell Highway to Coonabarabran, thence to the New England Highway at Tamworth, with which it is duplexed to Bendemeer, the Thunderbolts Way at Walcha, and the Pacific Highway near Port Macquarie.

The highway was formerly signed National Route 34 for its entire length, however during 2013 the route west of Coonabarabran was decommissioned and east to Port Macquarie signed as the B56 as part of the new system of alpha-numeric route marking in NSW.

History[]

Work commenced in 1838 with the use of convicts working from Port Macquarie towards a spot known as "Prisoners' Garden" about 20 km from Yarrowitch. Here it is said that the convicts were chained up each night. In 1842 the track from the Northern Tablelands to Port Macquarie was opened for the first time. Wool carried along this new route reduced the travelling time to 10 days, as opposed to 12–14 weeks for the trip to Maitland. The section from Walcha to Bendemeer existed as a mapped road in 1857, was surveyed in 1867, and proclaimed a Parish Road in c.1889. West of Walcha the road was only suitable for bullock teams and they too had difficulties, especially with the ranges.^[2]

The steep range section from Yarras to Yarrowitch was in serious need of repair in 1925 when the Main Roads Board was formed. Following a re-survey in 1927 the road was altered between Yarras and Tobins Camp. The Highway was named in 1928 to commemorate John Oxley who was the first European to explore much of inland New South Wales in 1818. On 30 September 1933 the Highway section between Walcha and Port Macquarie was officially opened. Walcha Shire maintained 106 km of the Highway until July 1966 when this part was taken over by the Department of Main Roads.

About 45 kilometres of the Yarrowitch to Wauchope section is unfenced and livestock (cattle) may be encountered there, along with other wild animals on most of the highway. Kangaroos are the most likely of those to be spotted, but wombats and other marsupials may be found.

Major intersections[]

LGA	Location	km	mi	Destinations	Notes
Warren	Nevertire	0	0.0	Mitchell Highway (A32) – Nyngan, Bourke, Narromine, Dubbo	Western end of Oxley Highway (no route number) – continues south-west as Nevertire-Bogan Road to Tottenham and Tullamore
Gilgandra	Gilgandra	105.0	65.2	Castlereagh Highway (B55) – Coonamble, Walgett	Oxley Highway continues south to Newell Highway as Castlereagh Street
Gilgandra	Gilgandra	105.1	65.3	Newell Highway (A39) – Dubbo, Parkes	Newell Highway western concurrency terminus: continues south
Castlereagh River		105.1	65.3	Jack Renshaw Bridge
Gilgandra	Gilgandra	106.3	66.1	Castlereagh Highway (B55) – Dunedoo
Castlereagh River		199.4	123.9	Mary Jane Cain Bridge
Warrumbungle	Coonabarabran	204.3	126.9	Newell Highway (A39) – Narrabri	Intersection is 5 km (3.1 mi) north-east of Coonabarabran Newell Highway eastern concurrency terminus: continues north Oxley Highway continues east as route B56
Gunnedah	Gunnedah	305.6	189.9	Kamilaroi Highway (B51) – Boggabri, Narrabri	Kamilaroi Highway western concurrency terminus: continues north Oxley and Kamilaroi Highways continue south as Conadilly Street
Gunnedah	Gunnedah	307.8	191.3	Kamilaroi Highway (B51) – Quirindi	Kamilaroi Highway eastern concurrency terminus: continues south
Tamworth	Tamworth	380.8	236.6	New England Highway (A15) – Scone, Aberdeen	New England Highway western concurrency terminus: continues south
Peel River		381.1	236.8	Bridge (no known official name)
Tamworth	Tamworth	381.4	237.0	Fossickers Way (B95) – Manilla, Barraba	Fossickers Way proceeds north from Tamworth via Peel Street and Manilla Road
Macdonald River		421.1	261.7	TA Perry Bridge
Tamworth	Bendemeer	422.4	262.5	New England Highway (A15) – Uralla, Armidale	New England Highway eastern concurrency terminus: continues north
Walcha	Walcha	472.0	293.3	Thunderbolts Way – Uralla, Nowendoc, Gloucester
Apsley River		472.1	293.3	Bridge (no known official name)
Tia River		507.5	315.3	Bridge (no known official name) This bridge spans the boundary between the localities of Walcha and Yarrowitch
Yarrowitch River		520.5	323.4	Bridge (no known official name)
Ellenborough River		601.6	373.8	Bridge (no known official name)
Port Macquarie – Hastings	Sancrox^[3] – Thrumster^[4] boundary	644.4	400.4	Pacific Highway (A1) – Kempsey, Macksville, Taree, Newcastle	Intersection is 9 km (5.6 mi) west of Port Macquarie, on the boundary between Sancrox and Thrumster, which follows the Pacific Highway
Port Macquarie – Hastings	Port Macquarie	653.0	405.8	Hastings River Drive (north) – to Pacific Highway Ocean Drive (south) – Lake Cathie and Bonny Hills	Eastern end of Oxley Highway – continues east into Port Macquarie as Gordon Street
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus

Gallery[]

Signs, Oxley Highway.
The Apsley Falls are located adjacent to the Oxley Highway, near Walcha.

References[]

^ Oxley Highway, Great Road Rides – New South Wales. Retrieved 25 May 2008. Archived 19 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine
^ Donald, J.Kay, Exploring the North Coast and New England, Kangaroo Press, Kenthurst, 1978
^ Google (15 October 2013). "Sancrox, New South Wales" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
^ Google (15 October 2013). "Thrumster, New South Wales" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 15 October 2013.

Walcha – 100 Years of Local Government, Walcha Shire Council, Newprint Industries, Walcha, 1989.

External links[]

Oxley Highway travel guide from Wikivoyage

[1] Oxley Highway, Great Road Rides – New South Wales. Retrieved 25 May 2008. Archived 19 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine

[2] Donald, J.Kay, Exploring the North Coast and New England, Kangaroo Press, Kenthurst, 1978

[3] Google (15 October 2013). "Sancrox, New South Wales" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 15 October 2013.

[4] Google (15 October 2013). "Thrumster, New South Wales" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 15 October 2013.

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Vehicular ferries	Berowra Waters Lawrence Lower Portland Sackville Speewa Ulmarra Webbs Creek Wisemans Wymah
Tunnels	Cudgen St Helena Tugun Bypass