|
Photo Gallery
New South Wales Road Photo Gallery:
State Route 83 (Pacific / Central Coast Highway) (Wahroonga to Brooklyn)
State Route 83 is the Pacific Highway between Wahroonga
and Doyalson, tracing the pre-1960's route from Sydney
to Newcastle. It's less trafficked than it used to be
because of the Sydney - Newcastle Freeway (F3), however
SR83 is still a major route through the Central Coast,
servicing the areas of SR83 Gosford and Wyong.
The highway traces its origins back to an early settler,
George Peat, who owned the land between the Hawkesbury
River and Mooney Mooney Creek. To provide access to
his property, Peat began a ferry service across the
Hawkesbury River in 1844 and surveyed, then constructed
a road between Hornsby and Kariong in 1854. After his
death in 1870, the ferry service was abandoned and the
road fell into disrepair, finally closing to all traffic
in 1899, following the completion of the Sydney-Newcastle
railway.
In 1928 construction began on upgrading the old road
and converting it to a modern standard, plus creating
a new route north, utilising some of the abandoned Peat's
Ferry Rd, while improving the horizontal and vertical
alignments. In May 1930 the ferry service across the
Hawkesbury River was re-established to service the new
road until such times that a bridge became necessary.
June 1930 marked the completion of the concrete surfacing
and of the "Great Northern Hwy" as it was
then known.
In May 1931, after pressure from the Queensland Government,
the coastal highway linking Sydney and Brisbane was
named Pacific Hwy.
Within the first few years of the new highway's existence,
traffic volumes rose rapidly and planning for a bridge
to cross the Hawkesbury was begun. An important link
in the system of national defence routes, the Department
of Main Roads overcame staff and material shortages
to open the bridge in May 1945. A plaque on the southern
end of the bridge serves as a monument to the energy
and skill of the workmen.
State Route 83 itself was first signposted in 1979,
replacing Alternative National Route 1 between Calga
and Ourimbah.
The route's southern terminus Pearces Corner - Pacific
Hwy & Pennant Hills Rd at Wahroonga, and SR83's
northern terminus is at the intersection of the Central Coast Hwy & Motorway Link at Doyalson.
|
Formerly 
