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Photo Gallery
New South Wales Road Photo Gallery:
National Route 48: Illawarra Highway (Robertson to Hoddles Crossroads)
Illawarra Highway connects Wollongong to the New South Wales Southern Highlands. It links Princes Highway and Hume Highway and signed as National Route 48.
It is named after the geographical area it crosses, the Illawarra region and Illawarra Escarpment. Typical scenery is bushland and farmland, dotted with towns. The route incorporates the spectacular Macquarie Pass (opened in 1898), the pass has one of the southernmost stands of Australia's sub tropical rainforest. The route's name was intronduced in the early 1960s and was given the NR48 sheild in 1974.
The main towns along the route include Robertson and Moss Vale. Eastern terminus is the roundabout at the junction with the Princes Highway, outside the airport at Albion Park Rail and the western terminus is Hoddle's Crossroads: the interchange built in 1987 with the Hume Highway and Canyonleigh Road at Sutton Forest.
The section of the highway from Moss Vale to Sutton Forest formed part of the Great South Road from the 1800s, the precursor to the modern day Hume Highway.
History:
The Illawarra Highway was originally part of the main South Coast Road from Wollongong to Jamberoo. It branches off the Princes Highway near Albion Park and links the Illawarra to the Southern Highlands via the Macquarie Pass. The latter was originally an Aboriginal track, cleared in 1863 but not properly constructed until 1898. As well as providing a commercially useful link between these areas, the scenic beauty of the route, particularly along the Macquarie Pass, attracted tourists, a growing industry in the late nineteenth century; and trips from Albion Park to Macquarie Falls were a popular local attraction. From the late 1870s coal seams were discovered in the Escarpment at Tongarra in what is now the Macquarie Pass National Park and mining began in 1893.
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McGraths Road intersection
Westbound at Burrawang, approaching McGraths Road. Looking at the maps, it seems through traffic once had to pass through Burrawang, via McGraths Road. April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Distance Sign
Westbound RD sign after the McGraths Road intersection at Burrawang. April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands
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Typical Scenery
Typical scenery in the Burrawang area, westbound. April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Church Road Intersection
Westbound at Burrawang at the other old through traffic connection to Burrawang. April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands
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Distance Sign
Westbound RD sign after Church Rd, Burrawang. April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Advance Directional Sign
AD sign approaching Sheepwash Road at Calwalla, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Sheepwash Road Intersection
Westbound at Calwalla as you approach Sheepwash Road (beginning of SR79 multiplex), April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Sheepwash Road Northbound
AD Sign facing NB traffic as they approach the Illawarra Highway junction at Calwalla, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Distance Sign
Westbound RD sign after the Sheepwash Road intersection at Calwalla, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Typical Scenery
Passing through open farmland at Yarrunga, westbound, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Advance Directional Sign
Westbound AD sign approaching Nowra Road at Yarrunga, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Nowra Road Intersection
Westbound at Nowra Road, Yarrunga, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Distance Sign
Westbound RD sign at Yarrunga, located after the Nowra Rd intersection, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Entering Moss Vale
Westbound into Moss Vale, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Westbound near Throsby Park
Heading towards the Moss Vale CBD, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Advance Directional Sign
AD sign approaching Argyle Road in Mossvale, heading northwest, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands
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Tourist Drive End Sign
End TD15, as you join TD14 at the junction with Argyle Road at Moss Vale, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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ID Signs
Intersection directional signs on the corner of the Illawarra Hwy, Suttor & Argyle Rds, Moss Vale, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Argyle Road
Heading southwest towards Moss Vale CBD, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands
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Moss Vale CBD
Travelling southwest in the Moss Vale central business district, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands
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Moss Vale CBD
Looking southwest in the Moss Vale central business district, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Moss Vale CBD
Looking northeast in the Moss Vale central business district, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Passing under Main Southern Railway
Heading southwest in Moss Vale, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands
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Waite Street Intersection
Approaching Waite Street in Moss Vale, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands
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Westbound in Moss Vale
Travelling west towards Sutton Forest at Moss Vale, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Westbound in Moss Vale
Travelling west towards Sutton Forest at Moss Vale, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Westbound in Moss Vale
Travelling west towards Sutton Forest at Moss Vale, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Entering Sutton Forest
Westbound approaching Medway Rivulet, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Crossing Medway Rivulet
Sutton Forest, westbound, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Approaching Exeter Road
Southbound approaching Exeter Road at Sutton Forest, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Distance Sign
Southbound RD sign after the Exeter Road junction, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Leaving Sutton Forest
Southbound, with old 1950s roadside tree plantings on the left, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Old Argyle Road
Heading southwest through the Old Argyle Rd intersection at Sutton Forest, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Sutton Forest
Travelling southwest at Sutton Forest, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Advance Directional Sign
Clear and concise AD sign approaching Hoddle's Crossroads: the Hume Highway / Canyonleigh Road interchange, April 2006.
This is a remake of an old sign installed in 1987, but it has the incorrect sheilds for the Hume Highway, the old sign was correct.
Image © Paul Rands |
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Hoddle's Crossroads
Welcome to Hoddle's Crossroads - the western terminus of the Illawarra Highway, April 2006.
Image © Paul Rands |
Multiplexed with 
