Kings Highway (Australia) Explained

Road Name:Kings Highway
State:act
State2:nsw
Type:highway
Route:
  • B52
  • B52
Former: National Route 52
Length:139
Gazetted:August 1928
Gazetted Ref:[1]
Direction A:West
Direction B:East
End A: Canberra Avenue
End B: Princes Highway
Through:Bungendore, Braidwood, Nelligen
Exits:
Location:Location Kings Hwy.svg

Kings Highway is an interstate highway located within the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales, Australia. The highway connects Canberra with Batemans Bay on the South Coast. It is designated route B52.

Route

West to east, it starts at the interchange with Monaro Highway, Canberra Avenue and Ipswich Street on the northern border of Symonston in the Australian Capital Territory and continues in an easterly direction along Canberra Avenue, crosses over the border into New South Wales near Queanbeyan, passes through Queanbeyan itself, Carwoola, briefly crosses back into the Kowen district of ACT and then back into NSW heading south-east to Batemans Bay via Bungendore, Braidwood and Nelligen.

Kings Highway links Monaro Highway in Canberra to Princes Highway in Batemans Bay, and provides access for residents of Canberra to the NSW South Coast and its beaches. The highway is often busy on weekends, especially during summer. The highway also experiences a high number of car crashes, on occasions averaging around one every three days, costing the local community around the highway several million dollars a year.[2]

The landscape is generally sheep country. The highway travels from the Southern Tablelands to the South Coast via Clyde Mountain.

Notable features and landmarks

A small rock cave at "Pooh Bear's Corner" can be found near the top of the Clyde Mountain Pass. This was the location of a munitions store during the Second World War, that could be detonated to stop passage from the coast to the national capital inland.[3]

Dozens of soft toys are placed in the eucalyptus trees along the stretch of road that connects Queanbeyan and Bungendore.[4]

History

The road through the Clyde Mountain area was surveyed by Thomas Mitchell in 1855.[5]

A punt service across the Clyde River began at Nelligen in 1895 linking Batemans Bay to Braidwood. The service continued until 1964 when the Nelligen bridge was completed.[6] The new Nelligen Bridge is expected to open to traffic by late 2023 and the entire project, which includes intersection upgrades and demolition of the existing bridge, is scheduled for completion by late 2024.[7]

The passing of the Main Roads Act of 1924[8] 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 Transport for NSW). Main Road No. 51 was declared along this road on 8 August 1928, from the intersection with Princes Highway at Batemans Bay, via Braidwood, Bungendore, and Queanbeyan to the border with the Federal Capital Territory (today the Australian Capital Territory); 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 Trunk Road 51 on 8 April 1929.

The passing of the Roads Act of 1993[10] through the Parliament of New South Wales updated road classifications and the way they could be declared within New South Wales. Under this act, the highway today retains its declaration as Main Road 51, from the state border with Australian Capital Territory west of Queanbeyan to the intersection with Princes Highway in Batemans Bay.[11] Despite its long-standing classification as a Main Road, and a long historical identity as Kings Highway, the road still has no officially gazetted name. Transport for NSW has come to an informal agreement with councils along the route to signpost the entire route as Kings Highway.

Kings Highway was signed National Route 52 across its entire length in 1974. With the conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in both states in 2013, this was replaced with route B52.[12] [13]

In 2006 construction commenced on Headquarters Joint Operations Command in the Kowen district of the ACT between Bungendore and Queanbeyan. The facility opened in December 2008, and sections of the highway between the HQJOC turnoff and Queanbeyan have progressively been upgraded to cater for the increased traffic.[14]

Road usage

In 2013 it was reported that the highway carries an average of 4,500 vehicles a day. There is an increase in traffic in the summer months.[15] In 2003, approximately 3,000 vehicles a day were using the highway at Nelligen. From Braidwood (at the Shoalhaven River Bridge) there were about 4,200 cars travelling on the road. Out of Bungendore near Burbong, 5,600 cars were counted each day.[16]

Casualty crash rates on the Kings Highway are 85% higher than the NSW average and road fatalities are 8% higher. A 2005 NRMA Motoring and Services road survey found:[17]

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Main Roads Act, 1924-1927 . Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales . 110 . National Library of Australia . 17 August 1928 . 3814–20 . 1 August 2022 . 3 August 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220803050207/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/219952359 . live .
  2. Web site: Research highlights costly Kings Highway crashes. 20 October 2005. ABC News. Australia. 19 May 2013.
  3. Web site: Dunn. Peter. DEMOLITION OF OUR HARBOURS, AIRFIELDS, ROADS AND OTHER IMPORTANT INSTALLATIONS. www.ozatwar.com. 20 May 2013.
  4. Web site: Bear Spotting. Fred. Harden. 25 March 2004. 19 May 2013.
  5. Book: Cumpston, J.H.L. . Thomas Mitchell: Surveyor General and Explorer . 2007 . 1954 . eBook No.: 0700531h.html . Project Gutenberg of Australia eBook . The final evidence—lamentably too final—of his tendency to do everything himself was his personal presence, in his sixty-fourth year, at the survey of a road through that rugged Clyde Mountain region: work which might well have been entrusted to his surveyors. ... Having contracted a chill when supervising the survey of a road from Braidwood to Nelligen, he developed broncho-pneumonia and died at his home, "Carthona" at Darling Point on 5 October 1855, in his sixty-fourth year..
  6. Web site: Brief history of Nelligen, Batemans Bay and the Clyde River on the Eurobodalla South Coast, NSW Australia . Clyde River Houseboats . 14 January 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071215180308/http://www.clyderiverhouseboats.com.au/south-coast-history.html . 15 December 2007 .
  7. Web site: $148m NSW Nelligen Bridge Replacement project now under construction.
  8. http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/num_act/mra1924n24133/ 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
  9. https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/pdf/asmade/act-1929-15 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.
  10. https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-1993-033 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.
  11. Web site: Schedule of Classified Roads and Unclassified Regional Roads . . August 2022 . Government of New South Wales . 1 August 2022 . 25 August 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220825104657/https://roads-waterways.transport.nsw.gov.au/business-industry/partners-suppliers/lgr/documents/classified-roads-schedule.pdf . dead .
  12. Web site: Road number and name changes in NSW . . Government of New South Wales . 2012 . 7 November 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160325194425/http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/documents/projects/key-build-programs/alpha-numeric/nsw-factsheet.pdf# . 25 March 2016 . dead.
  13. Web site: Guide Signs MIS 12 . ACT Government . 13 . April 2019 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20200328204755/https://www.cityservices.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/1378528/MIS12-Guidesigns.pdf . 28 March 2020 . 9 November 2022 .
  14. Web site: 2004 . Inquiry into the Provision of Facilities for Headquarters Joint Operations Command, NSW (Chapter 3) . Joint Standing Committee on Public Works . Parliament of Australia . 14 January 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080411042357/http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/pwc/hqjocnsw/report/chapter3.pdf . 11 April 2008 .
  15. Web site: Kings Highway Route Safety Review. March 2013. New South Wales Government.
  16. Web site: 2004 . Traffic Volume Data for Southern Region 2003: Annual Average Daily Traffic for MAIN ROAD NO.51 – BATEMANS BAY-QUEANBEYAN . Traffic Management Branch . . 5 February 2008 . 14–15 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080411042357/http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/trafficinformation/downloads/aadt_data_files/aadtsouthern2003_i.pdf . 11 April 2008 .
  17. Web site: Report on Southern NSW and ACT Roads . NRMA Motoring and Services . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080411043917/http://www.mynrma.com.au/cps/rde/xbcr/mynrma/SouthernNSW_ACT_Report.pdf . 11 April 2008 .

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