Length:

98 km

Termini:

Northern: Motorway Link (SR111) and Pacific Hwy (SR111), Doyalson

Southern: Pacific Hwy (Metroad 1) and Pennant Hills Rd (Cumberland Hwy) (Metroad 7), Wahroonga

Suburbs, Towns & Localities Along Route:

Wahroonga, Waitara, Hornsby, Asquith, Mt Colah, Mt Ku-Ring-Gai, Berowra, Cowan, Brooklyn, Mooney Mooney, Cheero Point, Mooney Mooney Creek, Mount White, Calga, Somersby, Kariong, West Gosford, Gosford, Wyoming, Niagara Park, Narara, Lisarow, Ourimbah, Kangy Angy, Tuggerah, Wyong, Watanobbi, Wadalba, Kanwal, Charmhaven, Blue Haven, San Remo and Doyalson

Current: B83

Former: 83 1 1

Multiplexed with: 2

Road Authority Internal Classification: ¹

HW10

General Information:

State Route 83 is the former National Route 1 from Hornsby in Sydney's northern suburbs to Doyalson on the NSW Central Coast, tracing the pre-1960's route from Sydney to Newcastle. The Sydney to Gosford segment now forms an alternative / scenic route to the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway between Wahroonga and Calga.

The route varies from multi-lane suburban arterial, both divided and undivided, and single carriageway rural highway standard. The route features the striking Peats Ferry Bridge at Brooklyn, which crosses a wide section of the Hawkesbury River.

The highway traces its origins back to an early settler, George Peat, who owned the land between the Hawkesbury River and Mooney Mooney Creek. To provide access to his property, Peat began a ferry service across the Hawkesbury River in 1844 and surveyed, then constructed a road between Hornsby and Kariong in 1854. After his death in 1870, the ferry service was abandoned and the road fell into disrepair, finally closing to all traffic in 1899, following the completion of the Sydney-Newcastle railway. ²

Peats Ferry Road Bridge was designed by the Department of Main Roads. The bridge design incorporates two exceptional features for its day: (a) welding was used in place of riveting in the fabrication of all members in the two main truss spans and (b) the bridge piers are founded on very deep caissons to the river bed.

Each of the two main bridge spans measure 133 metres long (438 feet) and these were the longest welded truss spans in the world when built. The deck of the truss spans in concrete, cast around the truss members. The truss spans were fabricated off site and floated into position on barges, requiring a high degree of accuracy and coordination in fabrication and bridge pier setting out. To the north of the truss spans, the bridge has eight long and eight short steel girder spans.

Pier 2 supporting the main bridge spans is founded on a concrete caisson. The cutting foot of the caisson was cast on a barge in sheltered water and then floated out and sunk to the river bed within its own cofferdam. Jetting with compressed air and the addition of further sections of caisson then further sank the caisson. At one point the caisson accidentally slid under its own weight to below the water line. To recover this situation a further section had to be added by divers and the caisson pumped out, which is reputed to have taken a total of 9 months to recover. The final caisson extends 241 feet and 4 inches (73 m) below low water level, just 8 inches (20 cm) short of the world record depth for a bridge foundation at that time, held by Bay Bridge, San Francisco. Records show the remaining piers to be on precast concrete piles driven into the river bed.

The original railings to the east and west sides of the bridge spans were tubular top and bottom rails supported to steel angle standards with crimped wire mesh infill panels. These original rails still exist to the girder spans of the bridge. The rails to the two truss spans of the bridge were modified in 1966 by the removal of the tubular rails and crimped wire mesh and substitution with Armco type barriers bolted to the original steel angle standards. This is the only significant changed that has been made to the bridge structure since it opened in 1945.

The bridge has appeared in many television commercials and films. The most notable of these was an appearance in the motorcycle cult movie "Stone", filmed in 1973. In the film, almost 400 motorcyclists followed a sidecar-mounted coffin along the Pacific Highway and across the bridge. In 1998, a 25th anniversary ride attracted an estimated 32 000 riders.

Tourist Drive 2, for 9 km, between Ourimbah and Wyong.

August 1925: Construction of a new road from Sydney to Newcastle between Hornsby and Gosford commenced. ⁴

1928: Construction begins of a new sealed highway from Hookham's Corner at Hornsby to Peat's Ferry. Upgrades were made to the old road and converting it to a modern standard, plus creating a new route north, utilising some of the abandoned Peat's Ferry Rd, while improving the horizontal and vertical alignments. ³

May 1930: The road was completed and the first of two diesel ferries for motor vehicles, the George Peat and Frances Peat, became operational across the Hawkesbury River. These ferries operated up until the bridge opened to traffic, when they were removed to serve in New Guinea. ³

2 June 1930: The section of highway between Hookhams Corner, Hornsby and the Hawkesbury River officially opened and proclaimed as Great Northern Highway. ⁴

May 1931: After pressure from the Queensland Government, the coastal highway linking Sydney and Brisbane was named Pacific Hwy. ²

1939: As a result of rapidly rising traffic volumes, work commences on a bridge to cross the Hawkesbury. ³

May 1945: Peats Ferry Bridge over the Hawkesbury River at Brooklyn opens, and formed an important link in the system of national defence routes. At the time, the Department of Main Roads overcame staff and material shortages to open the bridge 6 years after commencing construction. A plaque on the southern end of the bridge serves as a monument to the energy and skill of the workmen. ⁴

1956: The first climbing lane for slow traffic was added on a section of the Pacific Highway south of Gosford by the DMR. ⁴ It was located on the Penang Range at Kariong. Permanent vehicle weighing station established by the DMR at Gosford on the Pacific Highway. ⁵

20 May 1960: The first roadway in NSW classified as motorway was constructed, incorporating a stretch of the Pacific Highway between Peats Ferry and Gosford, near Mount White. It still forms part of the route today, albeit reduced from 2 lanes in each direction, to 1 lane in each direction, divided. ³

9 October 1960: The Berowra checking station opened. The one at the interchange with the Sydney-Newcastle Fwy at Berowra opened 9 years later. ⁶

1979: State Route 83 itself was first signposted. ²

1980s: Deviation of the Pacific Highway at Somersby due to the construction of the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway segment between Calga and Ourimbah. ⁷

1995: Pacific Highway maintenance, between Calga and Somersby, transferred from Roads and Traffic Authority to Gosford City Council. ⁷

24 June 2003: Renwick Street to Brook Avenue Duplication opened by MP Grant McBride. ⁸

7 November 2002: Northbound carriageway Renwick Street to Brook Avenue Duplication opened. ⁸

2013: State Route 83 decommissioned with the introduction of alphanumeric route numbering.