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The Australian Roads Portal

File:Route 1 sign Coolbellup Stock Rd.jpg

A section of Highway 1

Australia's earliest needs for trade and travel were met by narrow bush tracks, used by tribes of Indigenous Australians prior to European settlement. The formal construction of roads began in 1788 in the newly formed colony of New South Wales. Road construction programs in the early 19th century were generally underfunded, as they were dependent on government budgets, loans, and tolls, while there was a huge increase in road usage, due to the Australian gold rushes. Local government authorities, often known as Road Boards, were therefore established to be primarily responsible for funding and undertaking road construction and maintenance. The early 1900s saw both the increasingly widespread use of motorised transportation, and the creation of state road authorities in each state, between 1913 and 1926, to manage each state's arterial road network. The federal government became involved in road funding in the 1920s, distributing funding to the states. The depression of the 1930s slowed the funding and development of the major road network until the onset of World War II. Supply roads leading to the north of the country were considered vital, resulting in the construction of Barkly, Stuart, and Eyre highways.

The decades following the war saw substantial improvements to the network, with freeways established in cities, many major highways sealed, development of rural roads in northern Queensland and Western Australia, and interstate routes upgraded. In 1974, the federal government assumed responsibility for funding the nations most important road links, between state and territory capitals cities, which were declared National Highways. Those roads were gradually improved, and by 1989, all gravel road sections had been sealed. In the following decades, the National Highway system was amended through legislation, and was eventually superseded in 2005 by the broader National Land Transport Network, which includes connections to major commercial centres, and intermodal freight transport facilities.

The first route marking system was introduced to Australia in the 1950s. National Routes were assigned to significant interstate routes – the most important road links in the country. National Route 1 was designated to a circular route around the Australian coastline. A state route marking system was designed to supplement the national system, for inter-regional and urban routes within states. When the National Highway system was introduced, National Routes along it became National Highway routes with the same numbers, but with distinctive green and gold route markers. During the late 1970s, planning began for a new alphanumeric route system in the state of Tasmania. Alphanumeric routes have since been introduced in most states and territories in Australia, partially or completely replacing the previous systems.

More about roads and highways in Australia...

Houghton Highway at sunset

The Houghton Highway is a 2.74 km (1.70 mi) reinforced concrete viaduct, shortening the road distance between the cities of Redcliffe and Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. The bridge, along with its duplicate, the Ted Smout Memorial Bridge, are the longest bridges in the country. With rising traffic levels on the two-lane Hornibrook Bridge in the 1970s, the Department of Main Roads investigated the construction of another structure to increase capacity and cope with future demand. Authorisation by the department was given to construct a new bridge in 1977, and the new Houghton Highway opened on 20 December 1979. Almost immediately after opening it faced a greater capacity task than originally intended, and in later years became a contentious issue politically with concerns about its ability to meet growing traffic demands, refusal to build another bridge, and the lowering of its speed limit. The duplication of the Houghton Highway, a new bridge named the Ted Smout Memorial Bridge, was completed in July 2010 and opened to southbound traffic on 15 July 2010. After the opening of the Ted Smout Memorial bridge, the Houghton Highway was upgraded with a bitumen overlay and new variable speed limit signs.

Crossing The Causeway in Perth

Wikinews Roads portal

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300px

The eastern end of Ginninderra Drive, Canberra

• ... that the 1862 opening of the second Causeway in Perth, Western Australia, was disrupted by a young man on horseback who raced across after announcing that he would be first to do so?
• ... that in 1794, Old Windsor Road was the second major road in Sydney?
• ... that Stuart Highway is named after John McDouall Stuart, the first European to cross Australia from south to north?

▼ Roads in Australia

► Australian freeways

► Toll roads in Australia

► Highways and freeways in Perth, Western Australia

► Roads in Perth, Western Australia

► Roads in Western Australia

► Streets in Perth central business district, Western Australia

National topics:

• Highways in Australia
• Freeways in Australia
• The National Highway
• Highway 1 (Australia)

Lists of highways by state/territory:

• ACT
• NSW
• NT
• QLD
• SA
• TAS
• VIC
• WA

Road infrastructure: Australian Capital Territory

New South Wales

Northern Territory

Queensland

Tasmania

South Australia

Victoria

Western Australia

Main project:
WikiProject Australian Roads

Related projects:

• Australia
  • and -1 sub-projects
• Highways
  • Canada Roads
  • UK Roads
  • U.S. Roads
  • Hong Kong Roads
  • Indian roads

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