Kamilaroi Highway is a state

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

located in the north-western region of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia, and links via and to . The highway is named after the

Kamilaroi The Gamilaraay, also known as Gomeroi, Kamilaroi, Kamillaroi and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people whose lands extend from New South Wales to southern Queensland. They form one of the four largest Indigenous nations in Aust ...

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

people who live in the area.

Route

The highway begins at the intersection with

Mitchell Highway Mitchell Highway is an outback state highway located in the Central West Queensland, central and South West Queensland, south western regions of Queensland and the North West Slopes, northern and Central West, New South Wales, central western ...

at Bourke, and heads in an easterly direction through Brewarrina and Walgett to meet Newell Highway in northern Narrabri. It recommences from the intersection with Newell Highway in southern Narrabri and continues in a south-easterly direction via Gunnedah and Quirindi to eventually terminate at the intersection with

New England Highway New England Highway is an long highway in Australia running from Yarraman, north of Toowoomba, Queensland at its northern end to Hexham at Newcastle, New South Wales at its southern end. It is part of Australia's National Highway system, an ...

just north of Willow Tree. Approximately north of Boggabri is a spectacular landmark called Gin's Leap, known in the days of

Cobb and Co Cobb & Co was the name used by many successful sometimes quite independent Australian coaching businesses. The first was established in 1853 by American Freeman Cobb and his partners. The name Cobb & Co grew to great prominence in the late 19t ...

as "The Rock". It is said that a young Aboriginal girl, being pursued by white settlers on horseback, jumped to her death rather than be raped and shot like others in her family.

History

The passing of the ''Main Roads Act of 1924'' through the

Parliament of New South Wales The Parliament of New South Wales is a bicameral legislature in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), consisting of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the New South Wales Legislative Council (upper house). Eac ...

provided for the declaration of Main Roads, roads partially funded by the State government through the Main Roads Board (later the Department of Main Roads, and eventually

Transport for NSW Transport for NSW, sometimes abbreviated to TfNSW, and pronounced as Transport for New South Wales, is an agency of the New South Wales Government established on 1 November 2011, and is the leading transport and roads agency in New South Wales, ...

). Main Road No. 68 was declared from Bourke via Brewarrina to Walgett (and continuing northwards via Collarenabri and Mogil Mogil to the state border with Queensland, and westwards via Louth, Wilcannia, Menindee and Pooncarrie to Wentworth), Main Road No. 126 was declared from Quirindi via Gunnedah and Boggabri to Narrabri (and continuing northwards via Bellata and Moree to Boggabilla), and Main Road No. 127 was declared from Narrabri to Wee Waa (and continuing west via Pilliga to Walgett) on the same day, 8 August 1928. With the passing of the ''Main Roads (Amendment) Act of 1929'' to provide for additional declarations of State Highways and Trunk Roads, these were amended to Trunk Road 68 and Main Roads 126 and 127 on 8 April 1929. The Department of Main Roads, which had succeeded the MRB in 1932, later declared Trunk Road 72 from Narrabri via Boggabri to the intersection with State Highway 11 (

Oxley Highway Oxley Highway is a rural highway in New South Wales, Australia, linking Nevertire, Gilgandra, Coonabarabran, Tamworth, and Walcha to Port Macquarie, on the coast of the Tasman Sea. It was named to commemorate John Oxley, the first European t ...

) in Gunnedah (and continuing north via Bellata to Moree) on 18 July 1933; the northern end of Main Road 126 was truncated to meet State Highway 11 at Gunnedah, but these declarations were altered only 3 months later, when the southern end of Trunk Road 72 was extended to terminate at the intersection with State Highway 9 (New England Highway) just north of Willow Tree, subsuming Main Road 126, on 17 October 1933; Main Road 126 was re-declared from the intersection with Trunk Road 72 in Quirindi to the intersection with State Highway 9 at Wallabadah. Main Road 343 was declared on 26 September 1933 between Wee Waa and Burren Junction. Trunk Road 72 was permanently truncated at Narrabri when State Highway 17 (later

Newell Highway Newell Highway is a national highway in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. It provides the major road link between southeastern Queensland and Victoria via central NSW and as such carries large amounts of freight. At in length, the Newell is th ...

) was declared on 16 March 1938. Main Road 619 was declared on 16 August 1978 between Burren Junction and Walgett. The passing of the ''Roads Act of 1993'' through the

updated road classifications and the way they could be declared within New South Wales. Under this act, Kamilaroi Highway was declared as State Highway 29 on 12 February 1999, from the intersection with New England Highway at Willow Tree to the intersection with Oxley Highway at Gunnedah, then from Gunnedah via Boggabri to the intersection with Newell Highway at Narrabri, then from Narrabri via Wee Waa to the intersection of Castlereagh Highway northeast of Walgett, then from Walgett via Brewarrina to the intersection with Mitchell Highway in Bourke, subsuming Trunk Road 72 and Main Roads 343 and 619; the eastern end of Trunk Road 68 was truncated to meet Mitchell Highway at Bourke, and the northern end of Main Road 127 was truncated to meet Kamilaroi Highway at Wee Waa. The highway today, as Highway 29, still retains this declaration. Kamilaroi Highway was signed National Route 37 in 1974, between Willow Tree and Narrabri - later extended west to Bourke when the highway was declared in 1999 - but poorly signed west of Walgett. With the conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in 2013, this was replaced with route B51 between Willow Tree and Narrabri, unallocated between Narrabri and Walgett, and route B76 between Walgett and Bourke.

Brewarrina Bridge

The wrought-iron Brewarrina Bridge over the Barwon River was officially opened on 7 December 1888. The main span is 16.8 metres in length and there are four approach spans on each side, all approximately 9 metres in length. The overall length is 91 metres and the bridge has a single lane 4.5 metres wide. The roadway is carried on cross-girders covered with timber deck. It is the second oldest lift bridge in New South Wales, and has been assessed as being of State significance. The bridge was damaged in 2000 and is now closed to vehicular traffic, and used as a pedestrian bridge only.

Major junctions

References

External links