The Federal Highway is a

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

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

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

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

Hume Highway The Hume Highway, including the sections now known as the Hume Freeway and the 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 t ...

near the rural city of

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, approximately south-west of Sydney and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters patent by Queen Victor ...

. 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 bicycl ...

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 Pr ...

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

endorheic basin An endorheic basin ( ; also endoreic basin and endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water (e.g. rivers and oceans); instead, the water drainage flows into permanent ...

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. It runs roughl ...

, 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 between the State-border and Antill Street, between Antil Street and Flemington Road, and between Flemington Road and the end of the road at Barton Highway (where the road runs parallel with the

Canberra Metro The Canberra light rail network is a light rail system serving the city of Canberra, Australia. The initial line links the northern town centre of Gungahlin to the city centre (Civic) and has 14 stops. Services commenced on 20 April 2019. The ...

light rail route). The entire length of the roadway is dual carriageway 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, formally the Legislature of New South Wales, (definition of "The Legislature") is the bicameral legislative body of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW). It consists of the Monarch, the New South Wa ...

provided for the declaration of Main Roads, roads partially funded by the State government through the

Main Roads Board The Main Roads Board was an agency of the Government of New South Wales, responsible for planning, constructing and maintaining road infrastructure in New South Wales, Australia. History The Main Roads Board (MRB) was founded on 1 January 1925 ...

(MRB). 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 The Whitlam government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam of the Australian Labor Party. The government commenced when Labor defeated the McMahon government at the 1972 Australian federal elect ...

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), Majura district of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It links the interchange with Federal Highway and Horse Park Drive at the edge of Gungahlin, Gungahlin dist ...

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