Heathcote Road is a major arterial road in the south of

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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It plays a major role in the servicing of traffic travelling between the

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal Regions of New South Wales, region in the southeast of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region. It encompas ...

and

Western Sydney Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...

, and its eastern end is a constituent part of the A6 route.

Route

Heathcote Road commences at the intersection of Newbridge Road in Moorebank, just east of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, and heads in a southeasterly direction as a four-lane, single carriageway road, meeting M5 South Western Motorway shortly afterwards. Still heading southeast, it enters the more rural areas of southern Sydney, past the

Holsworthy Barracks Holsworthy military base is an Australian Army military barracks, located in the Heathcote National Park in Holsworthy approximately from the central business district, in south-western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The barracks is pa ...

in the northern borders of

Heathcote National Park Heathcote National Park is a protected national park that is located in the southern area of Sydney, New South Wales in eastern Australia, and is situated on Dharawal country. The national park is situated approximately southwest of the Sydne ...

Holsworthy Holsworthy is a market town and civil parish in the Torridge district of Devon, England, west of Exeter. The River Deer, a tributary of the River Tamar, forms the western boundary of the parish, which includes the village of Brandis Corner. ...

. It meets New Illawarra Road at Lucas Heights, and eventually terminates at the intersection with

Princes Highway Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney via Melbourne to Adelaide through the states of New South Wales, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and South Australia. It has a length of (along Highway 1) or via the former ...

in Heathcote. As its name suggests, the road is generally surrounded by

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

, but more often dry

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...

woodlands and shrublands with some mallee vegetation. The road has a history of accidents, due to its narrow nature, the number of blind corners and the steep gradients.

History

Heathcote Road was constructed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as a military defence route and a way to bypass the old Illawarra Road which used the ridge lines and a causeway crossing of the

Woronora River The Woronora River is a perennial river of the Sydney Basin, located in the Sutherland Shire local government area of Greater Metropolitan Sydney, approximately south of the Sydney central business district, in New South Wales, Australia. 'W ...

between Menai and

Engadine Engadine may refer to: Places * Engadin(e), a valley region in Switzerland * Engadine, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia *Engadine, Michigan Engadine ( ) is an unincorporated community in Mackinac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. ...

. Construction began in 1940 and was completed in 1943, although the route, or at least sections of it, existed in some form prior to 1940. 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, later

Transport for NSW Transport for NSW (TfNSW) is a Government of New South Wales, New South Wales Government transport services and roads List of New South Wales government agencies, agency established on 1 November 2011. The agency is a different entity to the NSW ...

). With the subsequent passing of the ''Main Roads (Amendment) Act of 1929'' to provide for additional declarations of State Highways and Trunk Roads, the Department of Main Roads (having succeeded the MRB in 1932) declared Main Road 512 along the route on 15 November 1939, between

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 ...

and

in Heathcote, in preparation of the route's reconstruction starting the following year. The route was officially re-named Heathcote Road, between Terminus Street in Liverpool and Pacific Highway at Heathcote, on 27 July 1955. The opening of the new bridge over

Georges River The Georges River, also known as Tucoerah River, is an intermediate tide-dominated Ria, drowned valley estuary, that is located in Sydney, Australia. The Georges River is located south and south-west from the Sydney central business district, w ...

(now known as the Light Horse Bridge) in 1958 had the western end of Heathcote Road truncated to meet the new road over the bridge (now Newbridge Road) in Moorebank instead. The passing of the ''Roads Act of 1993'' updated road classifications and the way they could be declared within New South Wales. Under this act, Heathcote Road retains its declaration as part of Main Road 512. The route was allocated State Route 61 in 1974, then re-designated part of

Metroad Metroads were the primary road routes serving the Sydney and Brisbane metropolitan areas from the 1990s to the early 2010s. The Metroads formed a network of radial and circumferential routes throughout the cities, simplifying navigation. Metroads ...

7 in April 1993. This was completed removed in 1999, with just the eastern end between Lucas Heights and Heathcote re-designated as part of Metroad 6 in its place. With the conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in 2013, Metroad 6 was replaced by route A6.

Major intersections

References

{{Streets of Sydney Australia Streets in Sydney Heathcote, New South Wales

Route

History

Major intersections

See also

References