SYDNEY-NEWCASTLE FREEWAY

The 'Sydney-Newcastle Freeway' is a 127-km stretch of motorway linking Sydney to the Central Coast, Newcastle and Hunter regions of New South Wales and is part of the AusLink road corridor between Sydney and Brisbane, carrying the route designation.
In addition to the National Highway 1 designation, the motorway at one stage carried the Freeway Route 3 ('F3') designation. This route numbering system, introduced in 1973, was to provide distinctive route numbering and signage for freeways in Sydney and the surrounding areas. Although the route was never signed with the F3 route marker (the numbering system was removed in 1982), the route is now widely known as the F3, with this title being used not only colloquially but on all state and federal government documents and web sites. The sign at the Wahroonga entrance to the 'Sydney-Newcastle Freeway' also reads 'F3 FREEWAY'.

Contents

Route

Interchanges

History

Current controversy

Upgrades and proposed connections

See also

References

External links

Route

The freeway starts with the junction of the Pacific Highway and Pennant Hills Road at Pearce's Corner, Wahroonga in Sydney's north. From here it goes north, skirting the western edge of the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park before meeting the Hawkesbury River at Brooklyn. After crossing the Hawkesbury the motorway passes through the Brisbane Water National Park, crossing Mooney Mooney Creek with an impressive 480-metre-long and 75-metre-high bridge before reaching the first main interchange on the Central Coast at Kariong.


After reaching Kariong the motorway continues through rural and semi-rural areas of the Central Coast with interchanges provided at Ourimbah, Tuggerah, Warnervale and also Kiar, near Doyalson. From the Doyalson interchange the freeway continues to the west of Lake Macquarie with interchanges near Morisset, Cessnock, Toronto and Cardiff.
After the Cardiff interchange a link road takes traffic into Newcastle via Wallsend while the motorway continues north to reach its finish with a 2-lane roundabout at the junction of Weakleys Drive and John Renshaw Drive, Beresfield. From here the National Highway route continues to Brisbane via the New England Highway (accessed via Weakleys Drive), with traffic on Highway 1 taking John Renshaw Drive and the New England Highway eastbound to meet the Pacific Highway at Hexham.

Interchanges

The freeway has the following interchanges (travelling south to north):

Name	Road name	Route number	Focal points	Additional points	Direction
Pearce's Corner 'START FREEWAY'	Pennant Hills Rd	Metroad 7	Parramatta Canberra		Left turn off/left and right turn on
	Pacific Highway	Metroad 1 (southbound) State Route 83 (northbound)	Sydney Hornsby		South off/North on
	Ku-ring-gai Chase Road		Mt Colah Bobbin Head	Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park Hornsby Hospital	North off/South on
Windybanks	Pacific Highway	State Route 83	Berowra		North off/South on
Berowra	Pacific Highway	State Route 83	Berowra Hornsby		South off/north on
Hawkesbury River	Pacific Highway	State Route 83	Mooney Mooney Brooklyn	Between this exit and the Mt White exit, the Freeway northbound has a variable speed limit of 90 to 100km/h, while a fixed 90km/h limit applies southbound.	Both directions
Mt White	Pacific Highway	State Route 83	Mt White		Both directions
Calga		Tourist Drive 33	Calga Peats Ridge	Wollombi Cessnock Australia Walkabout Wildlife Park (formerly ''Calga Springs Sanctuary'') Glenworth Valley Horse Riding	Both directions
Kariong	Central Coast Highway	State Route 83	Gosford Woy Woy Terrigal	Australian Reptile Park Gosford Hospital	Both directions
Somersby	Peats Ridge Rd		Central Mangrove Peats Ridge		Both directions
Ourimbah	Pacific Highway	State Route 83	Ourimbah Palmdale	Australian Rainforest Sanctuary University of Newcastle - Central Coast Campus	Both directions
Tuggerah			Wyong The Entrance Yarramalong	Tuggerah Berkeley Vale	Both directions
''Paruna'' Freeway service centres - Jilliby				Caltex service station McDonald's Coolabah Tree Cafe Oliver's Real Food	Left off/left on Separate centres each side
Warnervale	Sparks Rd		Wyee Toukley	Wyong Hospital Gorokan	Both directions
Doyalson	Motorway Link	State Route 111	Budgewoi Swansea Charlestown	East Lake Macquarie including Belmont	North off/south on
Morisset	Mandalong Rd	State Route 133	Morisset Cooranbong Doyalson (southbound only)	West Lake Macquarie	Both directions
Freemans Waterhole	Freemans Drive	State Route 82	Kurri Kurri Cessnock	Hunter Valley Vineyards	North off/south on
Awaba	Palmers Rd		Toronto		Both directions
West Wallsend	George Booth Dr	State Route 128	Cardiff		North off/south on
Newcastle	Newcastle Link Rd		Wallsend Newcastle Cardiff (southbound only)		North & south off/south on
Blackhill	'On:' Blackhill Rd 'Off:' Lenaghans Dr		'On:' Maitland Taree 'Off:' Minmi Blackhill		South off/north on
Beresfield roundabout 'END FREEWAY'	John Renshaw Dr	State Route 132	Kurri Kurri Cessnock		Left off/right on
		''To Pacific Highway''	Newcastle Taree Brisbane	Newcastle Airport Service centre (BP service station, Hungry Jacks)	Right off/left on
	Weakleys Dr	National Highway 15 ''To New England Highway''	Maitland Tamworth Brisbane		Straight off/on

History

Planning began for the freeway in the 1952, with the aim of providing a high-speed replacement for a section of the Pacific Highway which was built in 1928 and was struggling to cope with the increased traffic volume. Furthermore it was planned that the freeway would connect to the freeway systems being proposed for both Sydney and Newcastle, providing a city-to-city freeway link. However, for several reasons the goal and route of the freeway changed significantly so that today it serves to bypass Newcastle rather than to go into it.
Firstly, the route between Mount White and Kariong was originally planned to go further east than the current route with an easier crossing of Mooney Mooney Creek. By the time that construction was to begin on this section resistance from the National Parks and Wildlife Service to the proposed route forced the government to take a route through Calga which at the time would have formed part of a route to Singleton.
The route through Wyong Shire changed as well; instead of passing along the western edge of the Tuggerah Lakes, development in that area resulted in the freeway moving further west with a link road being constructed to meet the Pacific Highway near Doyalson.
Perhaps the most significant effect on the freeway's route and its connections was the anti-freeway movement of 1972. Strong public resistance to freeways being constructed within cities along with less than favourable results from government inquiries resulted in unconstructed freeway projects being cancelled and those under construction being revised or cut short. For the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway, this meant that the connecting Lane Cove Valley and North-Western Freeways in Sydney would not be built - forcing traffic to travel along the Pacific Highway between Wahroonga and the city. In addition, the freeway would now go to the west of Lake Macquarie rather than the east and bypass Newcastle. Sections of 'State Route 123', one of the two expressway routes that the freeway would have connected to in Newcastle, have been constructed (with calls to complete the whole route between Bennetts Green and Sandgate), while the freeway route between Belmont and Bennetts Green and the connecting expressway route to Merewether are still reserved with the possibility that they could be constructed in the future.
The major stages in the construction of the freeway are:^[1]

★ April 1963 - Construction begins on a 7-km section of dual carriageways from the Hawkesbury River to Mount White. This section was opened as a toll road in June 1965. The toll was removed in 1990 when the Federal Government decreed that all National Highways should be toll free.

★ December 1967 - Opening of Berowra to Hawkesbury River section as a toll road.

★ April 1979 - Opening of the current 6 lane Hawkesbury River bridge. At this time the toll from each of the north and south sections open (20 cents for each section) was combined with the new bridge (which linked both sections) for a toll of 50 cents. This was collected at the existing Berowra toll booths.

★ December 1983 - Opening of the Somersby to Wallarah Creek section.

★ December 1986 - Opening of a 15 km section between Calga and Somersby

★ March 22 1989 - Berowra to Wahroonga section opened^[2]

★ December 1990 - Freeway completed from Wallarah Creek to Palmer's Road

★ December 1993 - Palmer's Road to Minmi section opened

★ December 1997 - The second "Missing link" between Ourimbah and Kangy Angy opened.

★ December 1998 - Final stage of freeway opened between Minmi and John Renshaw Drive, Beresfield.

★ December 2004 - Completion of widening between Calga and Jolls Bridge.

★ May 2009 - Expected completion of widening between Mt Colah to Cowan.

Current controversy

As a result of being one of the few ways to travel between Sydney and the Central Coast (and also being the major route), the freeway has suffered a fair share of trials and tribulations, generally through traffic volume related to on-road accidents, or natural disasters, in particular bushfire.
Bushfires have caused closure of the freeway and the nearby railway line and Pacific Highway between the Sydney basin and the Hawkesbury River on a number of occasions in recent decades. The most recent disaster of this type was recorded on 21 and 22 January 2007, when a fire broke out in the adjoining Kuring-gai Chase National Park. The fire forced the closure of the two roads and the railway line between Sydney and the Central Coast, resulting in traffic chaos. As such, arguments for a second major freeway north from the Sydney metropolitan area continue to be pushed forward.
This particularly includes the Federal Government's recent proposal for a new motorway connecting the Sydney-Newcastle freeway near Mount White to the northwestern corner of the M7.
February 2007 has also seen the advent of consistent and frustrating traffic problems at varying sections along the F3 route. This includes a number of accidents such as a truck rolling down an embankment on the Mooney Mooney Bridge, several goods vehicles overturning and blocking the road for extended periods of time, and multiple car pile-ups at varying stages of the freeway. These blockages continue to give rise to public outcry for an alternative route between Sydney and its northern regions.

Upgrades and proposed connections

Plans are currently underway for extensions at both ends of the F3:

★ A freeway standard Sydney Bypass has been intended as part of the National Highway system for decades. At the southern end, a mostly underground route will link the freeway at Pearce's Corner, Wahroonga with the M2 Motorway near the Pennant Hills Road interchange is currently under review, because the Land and Environment Court (LEC) says there is a problem.^[3] This will provide the motorway standard ''missing link'' between the F3 and the Sydney Orbital Motorway that was originally to be provided by the cancelled Lane Cove Valley Freeway section of the North West Freeway.^[4]Many previous corridor's have been proposed and all have been abandoned (B2/B3, B1, C1)

★ Towards the northern end, the F3 to Branxton link will branch off the freeway at the Newcastle Link Road interchange and connect to the New England Highway at the Belford Bends Deviation west of Branxton. This will allow traffic to bypass Maitland and its surrounding suburbs.

★ As part of the upgrade of the Pacific Highway between Hexham and the New South Wales/Queensland border, a freeway link will be constructed between the F3 near Black Hill and the Raymond Terrace Bypass.^[5] This section is currently a major bottleneck during holiday and long weekend periods, with delays lasting hours not uncommon. The layout of the two bridges at Hexham was designed primarily for local commuter traffic to and from Newcastle, rather than for access to the current end of the freeway. Northbound traffic from the freeway uses a single lane ramp onto the northbound Hexham Bridge, while southbound traffic must use the right lane of the southbound bridge to access the right turn lanes at traffic lights just past the end of the bridge. When completed, freeway conditions will extend to the northern end of the Raymond Terrace bypass.

★ The Southern section from Wahroonga to just north of Ku-ring-gai Chase Road was built six lanes wide. The freeway is now six lanes wide from Cowan to the Kariong Interchange. The section between Cowan and Mt Colah is currently only four lanes wide and will be widened in three stages; stage 1 - Cowan to Berowra, stage 2 - Berowra to Mt Colah and stage 3 - A northbound lane for the Mt Colah hill and 3 lanes exiting to the Pennant Hills Road at the end of the F3, currently only 2 lanes. Major widening roadworks commenced in May 2007 on stage 1; a 5 kilometre section from 4 lanes to six lanes between Berowra and Cowan. All these three widening stages between Mt Colah and Cowan is scheduled to be completed by early 2009. When completed, this will provide a "minimum" of 6 lanes for 43 kilometers from Wahroonga to Kariong.^[6]

See also

★ Highways in Australia

★ List of freeways in Australia

★ List of highways in New South Wales

References

1. http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/constructionmaintenance/completedprojects/sydneynewcastle/index.html RTA Sydney-Newcastle Freeway Summary
2. Motorists Rejoice as Bypass Opens
3. http://www.dotars.gov.au/department/statements/2007_2008/media/002trs.aspx F3 to M2 Link Road
4. http://www.ministers.dotars.gov.au/jl/releases/2007/February/L016_2007.htm Federal minister's press release
5. http://upstart2.theoutfit.co.nz/maunsell/_rta/f3_4_1.asp F3 to Pacific Highway route study
6. http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/constructionmaintenance/majorconstructionprojectssydney/f3widening/index.html RTA F3 widening information

External links

★ Sydney-Newcastle Freeway at Ozroads Detailed site containing many existing and historical photos.

★ NSW RTA F3 Real-Time Traffic Cameras