Oxley Highway

Oxley Highway New South Wales

General information
Type	Highway
Length	653 km (406 mi)
Route number(s)	B56 (Port Macquarie-Coonabarabran) No shield (Coonabarabran-Nevertire)
Former route number	National Route 34 (unknown-2013) (Port Macquarie-Nevertire)
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, Kootingal, Moonbi, Bendemeer, Walcha, Wauchope
Highway system
Highways in Australia National Highway • Freeways in Australia Highways in New South Wales

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

The Oxley Highway links with the Mitchell Highway at Warren 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	Mitchell Highway (A32) north - Nyngan and Bourke / south - Narromine and Dubbo	Western end of Oxley Highway - continues south-west as Nevertire-Bogan Road towards Tottenham and Tullamore
Gilgandra	Gilgandra	105.0	65.2	Castlereagh Highway (B55) - Coonamble and Walgett	Oxley Highway continues south to Newell Highway as Castlereagh Street
Gilgandra	Gilgandra	105.1	65.3	Newell Highway (A39) - Dubbo and 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 north-east of Coonabarabran Newell Highway eastern concurrency terminus: continues north
Gunnedah	Gunnedah	305.6	189.9	Kamilaroi Highway (B51) - Boggabri and 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 and 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 and 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 and Armidale	New England Highway eastern concurrency terminus: continues north
Walcha	Walcha	472.0	293.3	Thunderbolts Way north - Uralla / south - Nowendoc and 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) north - Kempsey and Macksville / south - Taree and Bulahdelah	Intersection is 9 km 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 - Pacific Highway / Ocean Drive south - Lake Cathie and Bonny Hills	Eastern end of Oxley Highway - continues east into Port Macquarie as Gordon Street
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 on 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. "Sancrox, New South Wales" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
↑ Google. "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

Road infrastructure in regional New South Wales

Motorways	Hume Motorway Hunter Expressway Pacific Motorway (Brisbane – Brunswick Heads) Pacific Motorway (Sydney–Newcastle) Princes Motorway

National highways	Barton Highway Federal Highway Hume Highway New England Highway Newell Highway Sturt Highway

Highways	Barrier Highway Bruxner Highway Carnarvon Highway Castlereagh Highway Cobb Highway Great Western Highway Gwydir Highway Illawarra Highway Kamilaroi Highway Kings Highway Mid-Western Highway Mitchell Highway Monaro Highway Murray Valley Highway Olympic Highway Oxley Highway Pacific Highway Princes Highway Riverina Highway Silver City Highway Snowy Mountains Highway

Local highways	Alpine Way Appin Road Barry Way Bathurst-Ilford Road Bells Line of Road Bucketts Way Burley Griffin Way Bylong Valley Way Camden Valley Way Castlereagh Highway Central Coast Highway Escort Way Fossickers Way Golden Highway Goldfields Way Goulburn-Oberon Road Henry Lawson Way Irrigation Way Kidman Way Lachlan Valley Way Memorial Drive Newcastle Inner City Bypass Newcastle Link Road O'Connell Road Old Hume Highway Picton Road Princes Highway Putty Road Remembrance Drive Summerland Way Thunderbolts Way Waterfall Way Wombeyan Caves Road Yass Valley Way

Bridges	Denison Bridge Grafton Bridge Harwood Bridge Hampden Bridge Macleay River Bridge Martin Bridge Mooney Mooney Bridge Nowra Bridge Sea Cliff Bridge Tea Gardens-Hawks Nest Bridge

Tunnels	Cudgen Road Tunnel St Helena Tunnel

Proposals	Sydney Bypass

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