Expressway - The Australian Highway Site: Road Photos & Information: NSW: M31 (Wilton to Berrima)

Road Photos & Information: New South Wales

Hume Motorway and Hume Highway (M31)

Wilton to Berrima

Statistics:

Length:: 513 km (Wilton to Berrima: 50 km)
Termini:: Northern: Westlink (M7) and South Western Mwy (M5) at Prestons; Southern: NSW-VIC Border at Albury
Miscellaneous:: Continues as Hume Freeway (M31) at the Victorian border
Suburbs, Towns & Localities Along Route:: Tahmoor, Bargo, Mittagong and Berrima

Route Numbering:

Current: M31
Former: 31 31 F5
Road Authority Internal Classification: ¹: HW2

General Information:

The Hume Highway is one of Australia's most vital highway links. Providing access between Sydney and Melbourne, Australia's 2 largest cities. The National Highway section of the Hume Highway consists of 100% dual carriageway road, either rural expressway or motorway standard.

In NSW, the highway in one form or another started life as the Great South Road, linking Sydney with the southern highlands and eventually beyond. The highway was named in 1928 after Hamilton Hume (1797-1873), a famous explorer in the early 19th century who, in 1824, in conjunction with William Hovell first found an overland route between Sydney and the infant colonial outpost of Port Phillip, the original name of Melbourne.

M31 is the main freight and commuter route between Sydney and Melbourne and has gone through a massive amount of transformation over the past 30 or so years, with many towns being bypassed along its route as well and gradual upgrades to motorway standards. Since the 1960s, the road has either been duplicated, where alignments allow for it, and also large deviations have also been part of the upgrade process.

The route around the Mittagong area averages around 16 000 vehicles every day, in other sections the number drops off a little or closer to Sydney increases. ⁴

The route forms the Remembrance Driveway which honours war veterans.

Here are some interesting statistics on the Hume Highway bypasses: ³

: The Mittagong Bypass is 15 km long.

History:

: 1914: Sydney-Melbourne road (Great South Road) is declared a main road; 1928: Sections of Great South Road renamed to Hume Highway; 1939: 95% (557 km) of the Hume Highway paved with a bituminous surface. ²; 1950s: In 1952, a group of citizens met and formed a committee under Lt-General Sir Frank Berryman to create a national memorial to servicemen by using trees and shrubs as living memorials. The NSW Premier, J J Cahill, officially launched the scheme on 9 December 1953. The Remembrance Driveway project as it was called started on 5 February 1954, when trees were planted at either end of the Driveway at the War Memorial, Canberra, and in Macquarie Place, Sydney, by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. By June 1959, 10 000 trees had been planted. Since then, planting of trees in avenues or groves has continued. When the M5 Motorway replaced the Hume Highway (and also Camden Valley Way) south of Liverpool, it became the focus for planting trees and shrubs in remembrance. ³; 1951: Planning for the F5 Freeway (South Western Fwy) commenced ⁴; 1959: an experiment using advisory speed signs on curves on the Hume Highway between Camden and Berrima was successful and was extended to other roads. ³; 17 March 1967: The last single-laned bridge on the Hume Hwy was eliminated when the bridge over the Bargo River and Main Southern Railway Line at Tahmoor opened. The bridge length is 191 metres. ²; May 1977: South Western Freeway between Yanderra and Alpine opens to traffic; December 1980: Opening of freeway between Campbelltown and Yanderra north of Mittagong. This section of the Hume Hwy features the highest bridge ever built in NSW, which was the Pheasants Nest Bridge across the Nepean River, which is 76 metres above water level. ⁴ When this section was built, it formed part of the longest freeway in Australia at the time and won the DMR world wide design and engineering awards.; March 1989: Berrima was bypassed by the South Western Freeway. ⁵; 1992: Mittagong Bypass open.; 2002: Replacement of bridges over Nattai River and Gibbergunyah Creek near Mittagong ⁴; 2013: National Highway 31 replaced by M31.; 2016: Trial implementation of exit numbering between Aylmerton and Prestons.

Wilton to Berrima

Reassurance Directional Sign:

Distance sign at Pheasants Nest, September 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Services Sign:

Advance directional sign for Pheasants Nest Service Centre, September 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Services Sign:

Advance directional sign for Pheasants Nest Service Centre, September 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Pheasants Nest Service Centre:

Southbound service centre at Pheasants Nest, September 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Advance Directional Sign:

AD sign approaching Avon Dam Rd, Pheasants Nest, November 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Supplemental Advance Directional Sign:

Supplemental AD sign approaching Avon Dam Rd, Bargo, November 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Advance Directional Sign:

AD sign approaching Avon Dam Rd, Bargo, November 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Supplemental Advance Directional Sign:

Supplemental AD sign approaching Avon Dam Rd, Bargo, November 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Avon Dam Road Interchange:

Hume Mwy (M31) at the Avon Dam Rd interchange in Bargo, November 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Avon Dam Road:

Hume Mwy (M31) as it passes under Avon Dam Rd at Bargo, September 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Distance Sign:

RD sign at Bargo, September 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

RD sign:

Distance sign at Yerrinbool, September 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

No Stopping On Freeway:

Unusual no stopping on freeway sign at Yerrinbool, September 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Tourism Reassurance Directional Sign:

Tourism region distance sign at Yerrinbool, November 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Sierra Street:

Hume Mwy (M31) as it passed under Sierra St, Yerrinbool, September 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Advance Directional Sign:

AD sign at Yerrinbool, approaching Church Av, September 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Advance Directional Sign:

AD sign at Alpine, approaching Church Av, November 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Supplemental Advance Directional Sign:

Supplemental AD sign at Alpine, approaching Church Av, November 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Church Avenue Interchange:

Hume Mwy (M31) at the Church Av interchange at Alpine, November 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Supplemental Advance Directional Sign:

Supplemental AD sign at Alpine near Church Av for the Old Hume Hwy (B73) interchange, November 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Advance Directional Sign:

AD sign at Aylmerton approaching Old Hume Hwy (B73), November 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Bypassed Town Sign:

Bypassed town sign at Aylmerton approaching Old Hume Hwy (B73), September 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Supplemental Advance Directional Sign:

Supplemental AD sign at Aylmerton for the Old Hume Hwy (B73) interchange, November 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Advance Directional Sign:

AD sign at Aylmerton approaching Old Hume Hwy (B73), November 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Old Hume Highway Interchange:

Hume Mwy (M31) at the Old Hume Hwy (B73) interchange at Aylmerton, September 2013.

Image © Paul Rands