Road Photos & Information: Australian Capital Territory

Northern Sports and Recreation Tour (Tourist Drive 4)

Statistics:

• Miscellaneous: Route runs as a loop in the northern part of the ACT.
• Roads forming the route: Northbourne Avenue (NR23), Vernon Circle (NR23), Mouat Street, Ginninderra Drive, Tucker Street, Leverrier Crescent, Battye Street, Haydon Drive, College Street, Eastern Valley Way, Emu Bank, Luxton Street, Coulter Drive, William Slim Drive, Owen Dixon Drive, Kuringa Drive and Barton Highway (NH25).
• Suburbs, Towns & Localities along route: Downer, Lyneham, Reid, Braddon, Civic, Kaleen, Bruce, Belconnen, McKellar, Giralang, Spence, Nicholls, Crace and Mitchell.

Route Numbering:

• Current:
• Multiplexed With:

General Information:

Tourist Drive 4 is the Northside Sport & Recreation Tour, designed to take in the Australian Institute of Sport, Lake Ginninderra and also the tourist attractions alongside the Barton Highway such as Gold Creek Village and Cockington Green. The route consists of multi-lane arterial road and also single carriageway suburban streets and roads. It is one the ACT's original tourist drive routes introduced in the 1970s or 80s.

History:

• 1931: Construction of Northbourne Avenue. The road was built as an unemployment relief work project during the depression, back when Canberra’s population remained around 7000 *
• 1960s: Duplication of Northbourne Avenue **
• 1970s: Barton Highway route moved from what is now Ellenborough Street and Mouat Street to current alignment (which was once called Dunsmore Street) **
• 1986: First ACT dual carriagway section of Barton Hwy opened, bypassing Hall
• Late 1980s and early 1990s: Construction of dual carriageways between Hall and Kaleen
• Dec 2002: Dual carriageways between Gungahlin Dr and Federal Hwy opened

* Information courtesy of the Canberra and District Historical Society
** Information courtesy of the ACT Government