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Mitchell Highway

Mitchell Highway is an outback state highway located in the central and south western regions of Queensland and the northern and central western regions of New South Wales in Australia. The southern part of the Mitchell Highway forms part of the National Highway A32 corridor, which stretches from Sydney to Adelaide via Dubbo and Broken Hill. Mitchell Highway also forms part of the shortest route between Sydney and Darwin, via Bourke and Mount Isa, making it an important road link for the transport of passengers and freight for regional New South Wales and Queensland.[2] The highway is a part of route Alternative A2 between Augathella and Charleville, route A71 and B71 between Charleville and Nyngan, and part of route A32 between Nyngan and Bathurst.

Mitchell Highway

New South Wales
Road freight on the Mitchell Highway between Cunnamulla and Charleville, 1979
General information
TypeHighway
Length1,095 km (680 mi)[1]
Route number(s)
  • Alternate A2 (2004–present)
    (Augathella–Charleville)
  • A71 (2004–present)
    (Charleville–QLD/NSW border)
  • B71 (2013–present)
    (QLD/NSW border–Nyngan)
  • A32 (2013–present)
    (Nyngan–Bathurst)
Former
route number
  • National Route 71 (1955–2004/2013)
    (Augathella–Nyngan)
  • National Route 32 (1955–2013)
    (Nyngan–Bathurst)
Major junctions
North end Landsborough Highway
Augathella, Queensland
 
South end Great Western Highway
Bathurst, New South Wales
Location(s)
Major settlementsCharleville, Cunnamulla, Bourke, Nyngan, Dubbo, Orange, Bathurst
Highway system

In New South Wales, the highway's south-eastern terminus is at its junction with Great Western and Mid-Western Highways, and it links with Golden, Newell, Oxley, Barrier and Kamilaroi Highways. In Queensland, the Mitchell links with Balonne and Warrego Highways and its northern terminus is at its junction with Landsborough Highway.

Route

Mitchell Highway lies west of the Great Dividing Range and in New South Wales runs generally northwest–southeast and in Queensland, runs generally north–south in the central western and southwest parts of that state.

From its northern terminus at a junction with the Landsborough Highway near Augathella, Mitchell Highway heads south as route Alternative A2 through Charleville, meeting Warrego Highway heading east as Alternative A2. As route A71, the highway continues south through Cunnamulla, meeting with Balonne Highway, and then further south to the state border between Queensland and New South Wales (called Barringun Road), where it changes to route B71.[3][4]

 
A typical narrow width of Mitchell Highway in the regional New South Wales village of Nevertire

Approximately 5 kilometres (3 mi) north of Bourke it crosses the Darling River before heading into Bourke where it forms junctions with Kamilaroi Highway heading east and Kidman Way heading south. From this point Mitchell Highway generally heads southeast through to Nyngan, meeting with Barrier Highway, and continues south as route A32. At Nevertire the highway meets Oxley Highway, before passing through Narromine and then heads generally east to the major rural centre of Dubbo, where it meets Newell Highway, before it crosses the Macquarie River and heads south towards Wellington, crossing the Macquarie River again. At Molong, the highway generally starts to head east towards Orange, where an alternative route diverts many heavy vehicles away from the city centre; the portion of Mitchell Highway that passes through Orange city centre is known locally as Summer Street.[5] The southern terminus of Mitchell Highway is at a roundabout in Bathurst, at the junction of Mid-Western Highway to Cowra, and Great Western Highway to Sydney via the Blue Mountains.[6]

History

The passing of the Main Roads Act of 1924[7] through the Parliament of New South Wales provided for the declaration of Main Roads, roads partially funded by the State government through the Main Roads Board (later the Department of Main Roads, and eventually Transport for NSW). North-Western Highway was declared (as Main Road No. 7) on 8 August 1928, from the interchange with Great Western Highway and Mid-Western Highway in Bathurst, via Orange, Dubbo, Nyngan, and Bourke, to the border with Queensland;[8] with the passing of the Main Roads (Amendment) Act of 1929[9] to provide for additional declarations of State Highways and Trunk Roads, this was amended to State Highway 7 on 8 April 1929. On 9 October 1936 the name was changed to Mitchell Highway, in honour of Lieutenant Colonel Sir Thomas Mitchell, who was Surveyor-General of New South Wales in the 1820s and explored much of inland New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.[10]

Mitchel Highway was signed National Route 71 between Augathella and Nygan, and National Route 32 between Nyngan and Bathurst, in 1955. With both states' conversion to their newer alphanumeric systems in 2004 and 2013, its former route numbers were updated to Alternative A2 between Augathella and Charleville and A71 between Charleville and the state border within Queensland in 2004, and B71 between the state border and Nyngan and A32 between Nyngan and Bathurst within New South Wales in 2013.

Truck explosion

On 5 September 2014, a truck travelling on the Mitchell Highway rolled off a road bridge at Angellala Creek approximately 30 km south of Charleville (26°39′15″S 146°10′34″E / 26.6541°S 146.1760°E / -26.6541; 146.1760). The truck was carrying 52 tonnes of ammonium nitrate which exploded. The blast destroyed the two road bridges and severely damaged the adjacent rail bridge.[11] The blast was so powerful that the truck was disintegrated and the dangers posed by the remaining ammonium nitrate necessitated a 2 km exclusion zone around the site for a number of days.[12] The large crater formed by the blast closed the highway necessitating detours of up to 600 km.[13] The Department of Transport and Mains Road was allowed to commence work at the site on 13 September and by 23 September had constructed a temporary side track around the blast site suitable for cars, buses and light trucks. By 7 October, the side track had been upgraded to support road trains, ending the need to detour.[14] In April 2015, the $10 million tender to reconstruct the highway and bridges were awarded and the construction work took place between June and November 2015.[15] In early 2016, a competition was held to decide a new name for the bridge.[14]

Major intersections

StateLGALocationkm[1]miDestinationsNotes
QueenslandMurwehAugathella00.0  Landsborough Highway (A2) – Cloncurry, Longreach, MorvenNorthern terminus of Mitchell Highway and route Alternative A2
Charleville7748  Diamantina Developmental Road (State Route 14) – Quilpie, Windorah, Bedourie
7848  Warrego Highway (Alt A2 east) – Morven, Roma, Dalby, ToowoombaNorthern terminus of route A71, route Alternative A2 continues east along Warrego Highway
ParooCunnamulla278173Bulloo Developmental Road (west) – Lake Bindegolly National Park
282175  Balonne Highway (State Route 49) – St George, Dalby
Barringun (QLD)397247  Mitchell Highway (A71)Southern terminus of route A71
State borderQueensland – New South Wales state border
New South WalesBourkeBarringun (NSW)  Mitchell Highway (B71)Northern terminus of route B71
Darling River528328Gateway Bridge
BourkeBourke533331  Kamilaroi Highway (B76) – Brewarrina, Walgett, Narrabri, Gunnedah
534332  Kidman Way (B87) – Cobar, Hillston, Griffith, Jerilderie
BoganNyngan736457  Barrier Highway (A32 west) – Cobar, Wilcannia, Broken Hill, BurraSouthern terminus of route B71, route A32 continues west along Barrier Highway
Nevertire796495Oxley Highway (north) – Warren, Coonabarabran, Tamworth, Port Macquarie
Nevertire-Bogan Road (south) – Tottenham, Tullamore
NarromineNarromine863536Peak Hill Road – Peak Hill, ParkesRoundabout
DubboDubbo901560  Newell Highway (A39) – Moree, Gilgandra, Parkes, Narrandera
Macquarie River902560L.H. Ford Bridge
Macquarie River951591Macquarie Bridge over the river at Wellington
CabonneMolong1,018633  Peabody Road (B81), to   Escort Way (B81) – Canowindra, Cowra
OrangeOrange1,049652Northern Distributor Road (northeast)Alternative route to bypass Orange city centre; roundabout
1,052654Escort Way – Eugowra, Forbes
1,057657Northern Distributor Road (northwest)Alternative route to bypass Orange city centre
BathurstBathurst1,095680  Great Western Highway (A32 east) – Lithgow, Katoomba, Sydney
  Mid-Western Highway (A41 southwest) – Cowra, West Wyalong, Hay
Southern terminus of highway at roundabout, route A32 continues east along Great Western Highway
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
  •       Route transition

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Google (4 April 2015). "Mitchell Highway" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  2. ^ Sinclair Knight Merz Pty Ltd (June 2007). (PDF). Auslink. Australia: Department of Transport and Regional Services. ISBN 978-1-921095-46-7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 March 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  3. ^ Rands, Paul (2015). "Mitchell Highway (A71)". Road Photos & Information: Queensland. from the original on 10 April 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2015.[self-published source]
  4. ^ Rands, Paul (2015). "Warrego Highway & Mitchell Highway (Alternate A2)". Road Photos & Information: New South Wales. from the original on 10 April 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2015.[self-published source]
  5. ^ (PDF). Orange City Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2008. Retrieved 14 August 2008.
  6. ^ Rands, Paul (7 December 2013). "Great Western Highway, Mitchell Highway & Barrier Highway (A32)". Road Photos & Information: Queensland. from the original on 10 April 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2015.[self-published source]
  7. ^ State of New South Wales, An Act to provide for the better construction, maintenance, and financing of main roads; to provide for developmental roads; to constitute a Main Roads Board 11 August 2022 at the Wayback Machine 10 November 1924
  8. ^ "Main Roads Act, 1924-1927". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 110. National Library of Australia. 17 August 1928. pp. 3814–20. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  9. ^ State of New South Wales, An Act to amend the Main Roads Act, 1924-1927; to confer certain further powers upon the Main Roads Board; to amend the Local Government Act, 1919, and certain other Acts; to validate certain payments and other matters; and for purposes connected therewith. 12 August 2022 at the Wayback Machine 8 April 1929
  10. ^ "Mitchell Highway: History and Development". OzRoads: The Australian Roads website. from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2015.[self-published source]
  11. ^ "Queensland Disaster Committee Management 2014–15 Management Report" (PDF). Queensland Government. p. 7. (PDF) from the original on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  12. ^ "Truck hauling fertiliser explodes in outback Queensland, injuring 8". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 7 September 2014. from the original on 29 October 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  13. ^ Calligeros, Marissa (23 September 2016). "Dirt road opens to Charleville after Mitchell Highway truck explosion". Brisbane Times. from the original on 5 January 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  14. ^ a b "Angellala Bridge reconstruction works". Department of Transport and Main Roads. Queensland Government. from the original on 13 September 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  15. ^ Howells, Melinda (22 April 2016). "Angellala Creek bridge, destroyed in outback Queensland truck explosion, to be ready by November". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. from the original on 14 July 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.

External links

mitchell, highway, confused, with, mitchell, freeway, outback, state, highway, located, central, south, western, regions, queensland, northern, central, western, regions, south, wales, australia, southern, part, forms, part, national, highway, corridor, which,. Not to be confused with Mitchell Freeway Mitchell Highway is an outback state highway located in the central and south western regions of Queensland and the northern and central western regions of New South Wales in Australia The southern part of the Mitchell Highway forms part of the National Highway A32 corridor which stretches from Sydney to Adelaide via Dubbo and Broken Hill Mitchell Highway also forms part of the shortest route between Sydney and Darwin via Bourke and Mount Isa making it an important road link for the transport of passengers and freight for regional New South Wales and Queensland 2 The highway is a part of route Alternative A2 between Augathella and Charleville route A71 and B71 between Charleville and Nyngan and part of route A32 between Nyngan and Bathurst Mitchell HighwayQueensland New South WalesRoad freight on the Mitchell Highway between Cunnamulla and Charleville 1979General informationTypeHighwayLength1 095 km 680 mi 1 Route number s Alternate A2 2004 present Augathella Charleville A71 2004 present Charleville QLD NSW border B71 2013 present QLD NSW border Nyngan A32 2013 present Nyngan Bathurst Formerroute numberNational Route 71 1955 2004 2013 Augathella Nyngan National Route 32 1955 2013 Nyngan Bathurst Major junctionsNorth endLandsborough HighwayAugathella Queensland Diamantina Developmental Road Warrego Highway Balonne Highway Kamilaroi Highway Kidman Way Barrier Highway Oxley Highway Newell Highway Golden Highway Peabody Road Mid Western HighwaySouth endGreat Western HighwayBathurst New South WalesLocation s Major settlementsCharleville Cunnamulla Bourke Nyngan Dubbo Orange BathurstHighway systemHighways in Australia National Highway Freeways in Australia Highways in Queensland Highways in New South WalesIn New South Wales the highway s south eastern terminus is at its junction with Great Western and Mid Western Highways and it links with Golden Newell Oxley Barrier and Kamilaroi Highways In Queensland the Mitchell links with Balonne and Warrego Highways and its northern terminus is at its junction with Landsborough Highway Contents 1 Route 2 History 2 1 Truck explosion 3 Major intersections 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksRoute EditMitchell Highway lies west of the Great Dividing Range and in New South Wales runs generally northwest southeast and in Queensland runs generally north south in the central western and southwest parts of that state From its northern terminus at a junction with the Landsborough Highway near Augathella Mitchell Highway heads south as route Alternative A2 through Charleville meeting Warrego Highway heading east as Alternative A2 As route A71 the highway continues south through Cunnamulla meeting with Balonne Highway and then further south to the state border between Queensland and New South Wales called Barringun Road where it changes to route B71 3 4 A typical narrow width of Mitchell Highway in the regional New South Wales village of NevertireApproximately 5 kilometres 3 mi north of Bourke it crosses the Darling River before heading into Bourke where it forms junctions with Kamilaroi Highway heading east and Kidman Way heading south From this point Mitchell Highway generally heads southeast through to Nyngan meeting with Barrier Highway and continues south as route A32 At Nevertire the highway meets Oxley Highway before passing through Narromine and then heads generally east to the major rural centre of Dubbo where it meets Newell Highway before it crosses the Macquarie River and heads south towards Wellington crossing the Macquarie River again At Molong the highway generally starts to head east towards Orange where an alternative route diverts many heavy vehicles away from the city centre the portion of Mitchell Highway that passes through Orange city centre is known locally as Summer Street 5 The southern terminus of Mitchell Highway is at a roundabout in Bathurst at the junction of Mid Western Highway to Cowra and Great Western Highway to Sydney via the Blue Mountains 6 History EditThe passing of the Main Roads Act of 1924 7 through the Parliament of New South Wales provided for the declaration of Main Roads roads partially funded by the State government through the Main Roads Board later the Department of Main Roads and eventually Transport for NSW North Western Highway was declared as Main Road No 7 on 8 August 1928 from the interchange with Great Western Highway and Mid Western Highway in Bathurst via Orange Dubbo Nyngan and Bourke to the border with Queensland 8 with the passing of the Main Roads Amendment Act of 1929 9 to provide for additional declarations of State Highways and Trunk Roads this was amended to State Highway 7 on 8 April 1929 On 9 October 1936 the name was changed to Mitchell Highway in honour of Lieutenant Colonel Sir Thomas Mitchell who was Surveyor General of New South Wales in the 1820s and explored much of inland New South Wales Victoria and Queensland 10 Mitchel Highway was signed National Route 71 between Augathella and Nygan and National Route 32 between Nyngan and Bathurst in 1955 With both states conversion to their newer alphanumeric systems in 2004 and 2013 its former route numbers were updated to Alternative A2 between Augathella and Charleville and A71 between Charleville and the state border within Queensland in 2004 and B71 between the state border and Nyngan and A32 between Nyngan and Bathurst within New South Wales in 2013 Truck explosion Edit On 5 September 2014 a truck travelling on the Mitchell Highway rolled off a road bridge at Angellala Creek approximately 30 km south of Charleville 26 39 15 S 146 10 34 E 26 6541 S 146 1760 E 26 6541 146 1760 The truck was carrying 52 tonnes of ammonium nitrate which exploded The blast destroyed the two road bridges and severely damaged the adjacent rail bridge 11 The blast was so powerful that the truck was disintegrated and the dangers posed by the remaining ammonium nitrate necessitated a 2 km exclusion zone around the site for a number of days 12 The large crater formed by the blast closed the highway necessitating detours of up to 600 km 13 The Department of Transport and Mains Road was allowed to commence work at the site on 13 September and by 23 September had constructed a temporary side track around the blast site suitable for cars buses and light trucks By 7 October the side track had been upgraded to support road trains ending the need to detour 14 In April 2015 the 10 million tender to reconstruct the highway and bridges were awarded and the construction work took place between June and November 2015 15 In early 2016 a competition was held to decide a new name for the bridge 14 Major intersections EditStateLGALocationkm 1 miDestinationsNotesQueenslandMurwehAugathella00 0 Landsborough Highway A2 Cloncurry Longreach MorvenNorthern terminus of Mitchell Highway and route Alternative A2Charleville7748 Diamantina Developmental Road State Route 14 Quilpie Windorah Bedourie7848 Warrego Highway Alt A2 east Morven Roma Dalby ToowoombaNorthern terminus of route A71 route Alternative A2 continues east along Warrego HighwayParooCunnamulla278173Bulloo Developmental Road west Lake Bindegolly National Park282175 Balonne Highway State Route 49 St George DalbyBarringun QLD 397247 Mitchell Highway A71 Southern terminus of route A71State borderQueensland New South Wales state borderNew South WalesBourkeBarringun NSW Mitchell Highway B71 Northern terminus of route B71Darling River528328Gateway BridgeBourkeBourke533331 Kamilaroi Highway B76 Brewarrina Walgett Narrabri Gunnedah534332 Kidman Way B87 Cobar Hillston Griffith JerilderieBoganNyngan736457 Barrier Highway A32 west Cobar Wilcannia Broken Hill BurraSouthern terminus of route B71 route A32 continues west along Barrier HighwayNevertire796495Oxley Highway north Warren Coonabarabran Tamworth Port MacquarieNevertire Bogan Road south Tottenham TullamoreNarromineNarromine863536Peak Hill Road Peak Hill ParkesRoundaboutDubboDubbo901560 Newell Highway A39 Moree Gilgandra Parkes NarranderaMacquarie River902560L H Ford BridgeMacquarie River951591Macquarie Bridge over the river at WellingtonCabonneMolong1 018633 Peabody Road B81 to Escort Way B81 Canowindra CowraOrangeOrange1 049652Northern Distributor Road northeast Alternative route to bypass Orange city centre roundabout1 052654Escort Way Eugowra Forbes1 057657Northern Distributor Road northwest Alternative route to bypass Orange city centreBathurstBathurst1 095680 Great Western Highway A32 east Lithgow Katoomba Sydney Mid Western Highway A41 southwest Cowra West Wyalong HaySouthern terminus of highway at roundabout route A32 continues east along Great Western Highway1 000 mi 1 609 km 1 000 km 0 621 mi Route transitionSee also Edit Australian Roads portal New South Wales portal Queensland portal Highways in Australia Highways in New South Wales List of highways in QueenslandReferences Edit a b Google 4 April 2015 Mitchell Highway Map Google Maps Google Retrieved 4 April 2015 Sinclair Knight Merz Pty Ltd June 2007 Sydney Dubbo Corridor Strategy Building our National Transport Future PDF Auslink Australia Department of Transport and Regional Services ISBN 978 1 921095 46 7 Archived from the original PDF on 20 March 2015 Retrieved 4 April 2015 Rands Paul 2015 Mitchell Highway A71 Road Photos amp Information Queensland Archived from the original on 10 April 2015 Retrieved 4 April 2015 self published source Rands Paul 2015 Warrego Highway amp Mitchell Highway Alternate A2 Road Photos amp Information New South Wales Archived from the original on 10 April 2015 Retrieved 4 April 2015 self published source Summer Street Commercial Area PDF Orange City Council Archived from the original PDF on 22 July 2008 Retrieved 14 August 2008 Rands Paul 7 December 2013 Great Western Highway Mitchell Highway amp Barrier Highway A32 Road Photos amp Information Queensland Archived from the original on 10 April 2015 Retrieved 4 April 2015 self published source State of New South Wales An Act to provide for the better construction maintenance and financing of main roads to provide for developmental roads to constitute a Main Roads Board Archived 11 August 2022 at the Wayback Machine 10 November 1924 Main Roads Act 1924 1927 Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales No 110 National Library of Australia 17 August 1928 pp 3814 20 Retrieved 1 August 2022 State of New South Wales An Act to amend the Main Roads Act 1924 1927 to confer certain further powers upon the Main Roads Board to amend the Local Government Act 1919 and certain other Acts to validate certain payments and other matters and for purposes connected therewith Archived 12 August 2022 at the Wayback Machine 8 April 1929 Mitchell Highway History and Development OzRoads The Australian Roads website Archived from the original on 24 September 2015 Retrieved 4 April 2015 self published source Queensland Disaster Committee Management 2014 15 Management Report PDF Queensland Government p 7 Archived PDF from the original on 22 December 2016 Retrieved 5 September 2016 Truck hauling fertiliser explodes in outback Queensland injuring 8 Australian Broadcasting Corporation 7 September 2014 Archived from the original on 29 October 2016 Retrieved 5 September 2016 Calligeros Marissa 23 September 2016 Dirt road opens to Charleville after Mitchell Highway truck explosion Brisbane Times Archived from the original on 5 January 2017 Retrieved 5 September 2016 a b Angellala Bridge reconstruction works Department of Transport and Main Roads Queensland Government Archived from the original on 13 September 2016 Retrieved 5 September 2016 Howells Melinda 22 April 2016 Angellala Creek bridge destroyed in outback Queensland truck explosion to be ready by November Australian Broadcasting Corporation Archived from the original on 14 July 2016 Retrieved 5 September 2016 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mitchell Highway Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mitchell Highway amp oldid 1123367277, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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