Federal Highway is a

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 ...

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 ...

and the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

. It is a part of a motorway-standard link between

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, and is also the main thoroughfare between those cities. The north-eastern end of Federal Highway is located at its junction with

Hume Highway Hume Highway, inclusive of the sections now known as Hume Freeway and Hume Motorway, is one of Australia's major inter-city national highways, running for between Melbourne in the southwest and Sydney in the northeast. Upgrading of the route ...

near the rural city of . It runs southwest to

, the national capital of Australia, where its southwestern end is located at the intersection of

Northbourne Avenue Northbourne Avenue is a major road in Canberra, Australia. It extends from City Hill in the south, to the Federal Highway in the north. It is a north–south running road which has three lanes for motorised traffic, and one lane for bicyc ...

and

Barton Highway Barton Highway is a highway in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. It connects Canberra to Hume Highway at Yass, and it is part of the route from Melbourne to Canberra. It is named in honour of Sir Edmund Barton, the first Pri ...

. Federal Highway passes the villages of Wollogorang, and , as well as skirting the western side of the

endorheic basin An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...

containing Lake George.

Route

Federal Highway is a motorway-standard roadway linking from the interchange with Hume Highway at , southeast of Goulburn, to Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory. The roadway has a continuous speed limit within New South Wales northbound. A southbound section between the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...

, south of Yarra, and Rowes Lagoon, north of Collector, is on an old and winding alignment and has a speed limit of 100k/h with many lower advisory speed signs. Within the Australian Capital Territory the posted speed limit is in rural areas and once it enters the urban area of Canberra. The entire length of the roadway is

dual carriageway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

with 2 lanes in each direction.

History

In New South Wales, 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, ...

). The New South Wales section of Federal Highway was declared (as Main Road No. 3) on 8 August 1928, from its interchange with

in Yarra, via Collector and Geary's Gap, to the interstate border; with the passing of the ''Main Roads (Amendment) Act of 1929'' to provide for additional declarations of State Highways and Trunk Roads, this was amended to State Highway 3 on 8 April 1929. Construction had already been completed and traffic was already using the portion of the highway within New South Wales by December 1930. In the Federal Capital Territory, the local Sydney-Canberra Road was officially declared part of Federal Highway in September 1928. Surveying and levelling had finished and work had started in April 1929 to connect to the NSW portion of the road, with the contract awarded to John Fowler (Aust) Ltd, to construct a 6-mile section of highway from Canberra (today Lyneham) to the interstate boundary. Approaching completion by February 1930, it was officially completed and opened on 25 February 1931. 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, Federal Highway today retains its declaration as Highway 3, from Yarra to the interstate border with the ACT. Federal Highway was allocated National Route 23 across its entire length in 1955. The Whitlam Government introduced the federal ''National Roads Act 1974'', where roads declared as a National Highway were still the responsibility of the states for road construction and maintenance, but were fully compensated by the Federal government for money spent on approved projects. As an important interstate link between the capitals of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, the Federal Highway was declared a National Highway in 1974 and was consequently re-allocated National Highway 23. With the conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in 2013, this was replaced with route M23 across the New South Wales' section, and route A23 across the Australian Capital Territory's section; an eastern portion was upgraded to route M23 when

Majura Parkway Majura Parkway is a north–south parkway located in the Majura district of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It links the interchange with Federal Highway and Horse Park Drive at the edge of Gungahlin district to Monaro Highway in ...

opened in 2016.

Junction list

References

External links

{{Road infrastructure in New South Wales Highways in Australia Highways in the Australian Capital Territory Highways in New South Wales

Route

History

Junction list

See also

References

External links