Big River Way is a road in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales that connects the Pacific Highway to the city of Grafton. It runs along a former section of the Pacific Highway that was bypassed by a newer alignment in 2020.
Big River Way | |
|---|---|
  South end North end | |
| Coordinates |
|
| General information | |
| Type | Rural road |
| Length | 55 km (34 mi)[1] |
| Gazetted | 29 May 2020[2] |
| Maintained by | Transport for NSW |
| Route number(s) |
|
| Former route number |  A1 (2013–2020) National Route 1 (1955–2013)Entire route |
| Major junctions | |
| South end | Pacific Highway Glenugie, New South Wales |
 Gwydir Highway Summerland Way | |
| North end | Pacific Highway Maclean, New South Wales |
| Location(s) | |
| Region | Northern Rivers |
| LGA(s) | Clarence Valley Council |
| Major settlements | South Grafton, Grafton, Ulmarra |
| Highway system | |
Route
editBig River Way branches from Pacific Highway at Glenugie and follows the former Pacific Highway alignment via the city of Grafton and the town of Tyndale to Maclean, which runs along the Clarence River and South Arm.
History
editMany sections of the Pacific Highway had been bypassed since 1996 as part of the Pacific Highway Upgrade. The section between Glenugie and Maclean was due to be bypassed by a new alignment in 2020. The existing alignment was proposed to be renamed when the new alignment opens, with community consultation undertaken in 2019 to obtain suggestions and feedback from the community. Originally, the route names of Gwydir Highway and Summerland Way were to be extended along the road alignment towards Tyndale and Glenugie respectively. However, this was not supported by the community and so a local name was to be given instead.[3] The route numbers of Gwydir Highway and Summerland Way, route B76 and route B91 respectively, would still be extended along the road alignment. In December 2019, Clarence Valley Council voted to endorse Big River Way as the new name for submission to the Geographical Names Board of New South Wales (GNB),[4] and in February 2020, the new name was approved by the GNB.[5][6]
The new alignment of the highway between Tyndale and Maclean opened on 1 April 2020.[7] On a temporary basis, the northern end of the old Pacific Highway only connected to Cameron Street, with a left-in left-out temporary access to the newly-aligned Pacific Highway located to the south.[8] On 19 May 2020, the new alignment between Glenugie and Tyndale opened and bypassed Grafton.[9][10] The old alignment was the site of the Grafton bus crash in October 1989 when a semi-trailer and a bus collided head-on, resulting in the deaths of 21 people.[11]
A week later, on 26 May 2020, the old Pacific Highway at Grafton was realigned onto a new link road intersecting perpendicular to Iolanthe Street (Summerland Way), as part of the New Grafton Bridge project. The previous alignment of the old Pacific Highway was reduced to northbound only.[12] Three days later, on 29 May 2020, the old alignment of Pacific Highway between Glenugie and Maclean was officially renamed and gazetted as Big River Way.[2]
In June 2020, Transport for NSW began to propose safety improvement upgrades on the Big River Way between Glenugie and Tyndale.[13][14]
In August 2020, the Maclean Interchange fully opened and the Big River Way connected to a new roundabout with connections to Cameron Street and direct on-ramp and off-ramps to Pacific Highway.[15] The temporary access to Pacific Highway to the south was also closed.[16] In the same month, the roundabout at the intersection of Big River Way and Charles Street (Gwydir Highway) was completed and opened to traffic, marking the completion of major works on the New Grafton Bridge project.[17]
The section between Glenugie and Grafton is signposted as B91, the route number for Summerland Way, and the section between Grafton and Tyndale is signposted B76, the route number for Gwydir Highway.[18]
The passing of the Roads Act of 1993[19] updated road classifications and the way they could be declared within New South Wales. Under this act, Gwydir Highway (as Highway 12) was officially extended east along Big River Way from South Grafton to the Tyndale North interchange, and Summerland Way (as Main Road 83) was officially extended south along Big River Way from South Grafton to the Glenugie interchange, on 5 July 2022,[20] although the road is still known locally and sign-posted as Big River Way. Gwydir Highway and Summerland Way today, as parts of Highway 12 and Main Road 83 respectively, still retain these declarations.[21]
Major junction list
editBig River Way is entirely contained within the Clarence Valley Council local government area.
| Location | km[1] | mi | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glenugie | 0 | 0.0 | Pacific Highway (A1 south) – Coffs Harbour, Newcastle, Sydney | Southern terminus of Big River Way and route B91 | |
| 1.3 | 0.81 | Eight Mile Lane – Sandy Crossing, Wooli | To Pacific Highway (A1 north) – Tweed Heads, Gold Coast, Brisbane) | ||
| South Grafton | 13.3 | 8.3 | Charles Street (Gwydir Highway) (B76) – Glen Innes, Moree, Walgett | Southern terminus of concurrency with route B76/B91 at roundabout | |
| 13.6 | 8.5 | Iolanthe Street (Summerland Way) (B91) – Grafton, Casino, Kyogle | Northern terminus of concurrency with route B76/B91 at roundabout | ||
| Tyndale | 41.6 | 25.8 | Bensons Lane – Tyndale | To Pacific Highway (A1 south) – Coffs Harbour, Newcastle, Sydney | |
| 43.4 | 27.0 | Pacific Highway (A1 north) – Tweed Heads, Gold Coast, Brisbane | No access between Pacific Highway and Big River Way (north) Northern terminus of route B76 | ||
| Maclean | 55.0 | 34.2 | Pacific Highway – Sydney, Coffs Harbour, Tweed Heads, Brisbane Cameron Street (west) – Maclean Goodwood Street (east) – Townsend, Brooms Head | Maclean Interchange Northern terminus of Big River Way at roundabout | |
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| |||||
See also
edit- Macleay Valley Way – bypassed section of Pacific Highway and the site of the Kempsey bus crash
- Giinagay Way – bypassed section of Pacific Highway at Nambucca Heads and Urunga
References
edit- ^ a b "Big River Way" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
- ^ a b "Clarence Valley Council – Roads Act 1993 – Naming of Roads" (PDF). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 107. 29 May 2020. p. 2165. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
- ^ "Ordinary Council Meeting – Minutes – 26 November 2019 – Item 6a.19.031". Clarence Valley Council. 26 November 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
- ^ "New name for old highway". Clarence Valley Independent. 4 December 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
- ^ "Pacific Hwy renamed between Glenugie and Maclean". Transport for NSW – Roads and Maritime. 28 February 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
- ^ "Part of Pacific Highway to be renamed following construction". Roads and Infrastructure. 3 March 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
- ^ "Safer journeys between Tyndale and Maclean". Mirage News. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
- ^ "Woolgoolga to Ballina Pacific Highway upgrade – Tyndale to Maclean – Project update" (PDF). Pacific Highway Upgrade. Transport for NSW. March 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- ^ "New Highway Upgrade Open". Big Rigs. Archived from the original on 27 May 2020.
- ^ "Pacific Highway from Glenugie to Tyndale open". Echo Netdaily. 19 May 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
- ^ "Grafton bus crash section of Pacific Highway replaced more than 30 years later". ABC News. 19 May 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
- ^ "Traffic changes in South Grafton from Tuesday 26 May 2020" (PDF). Transport for NSW – Roads and Maritime. May 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
- ^ "Proposed safety improvements along Big River Way between Glenugie and Tyndale" (PDF). Transport for NSW – Roads and Maritime. June 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
- ^ "Have your say on shaping Big River way". Transport for NSW – Roads and Maritime. 26 June 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
- ^ "Maclean Interchange opens to traffic". Transport for NSW – Roads and Maritime. 4 August 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
- ^ "Permanent traffc changes Maclean interchange and Pacific Motorway, Maclean" (PDF). Transport for NSW – Pacific Highway Upgrade. July 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
- ^ "New Grafton bridge – Project update" (PDF). Transport for NSW. August 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
- ^ "New Grafton Bridge – Proposed directional signage plan – Stage 3 – Project completion (Target Date – June 2020)" (PDF). Transport for NSW – Roads and Maritime. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
- ^ State of New South Wales, An Act to make provision with respect to the roads of New South Wales; to repeal the State Roads Act 1986, the Crown and Other Roads Act 1990 and certain other enactments; and for other purposes. Archived 11 August 2022 at the Wayback Machine 10 November 1924
- ^ "Roads Act 1993" (PDF). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 323. Legislation NSW. 15 July 2022. pp. 3–9. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- ^ Transport for NSW (August 2022). "Schedule of Classified Roads and Unclassified Regional Roads" (PDF). Government of New South Wales. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.