Mitchell Highway is an

outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than Australian bush, the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastli ...

state highway located in the central and south western regions of

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and the northern and central western regions of

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 ...

in Australia. The southern part of Mitchell Highway forms part of the National Highway A32 B71 corridor, which stretches from

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 ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

via

Dubbo Dubbo (; ) is a city in the Orana (New South Wales), Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the ...

. Mitchell Highway also forms part of the shortest route between Sydney and , via and

Mount Isa Mount Isa ( ) is a city in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) is one of the most productive mines in world history, based on co ...

, making it an important road link for the transport of passengers and

freight In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in ...

for regional New South Wales and Queensland. The highway is a part of route Alternative A2 between Augathella and Charleville, route A71 and B71 between Charleville and Nyngan, and part of route A32 between Nyngan and Bathurst. In New South Wales, the highway's south-eastern terminus is at its junction with Great Western and Mid-Western Highways, and it links with Golden, Newell, Oxley, Barrier and

Kamilaroi The Gamilaroi, also known as Gomeroi, Kamilaroi, Kamillaroi and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people whose lands extend from New South Wales to southern Queensland. They form one of the four largest Indigenous Australians, Indi ...

Highways. In Queensland, the highway links with Balonne and Warrego Highways and its northern terminus is at its junction with

Landsborough Highway Landsborough Highway is a highway in western Queensland, Australia, running in the northwest–southeast direction from Morven to Cloncurry. The Landsborough Highway runs through vast tracts of land that was once occupied by William Landsboro ...

Route

Mitchell Highway lies west of 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 ...

and in New South Wales runs generally northwest–southeast and in Queensland, runs generally north–south in the central western and southwest parts of that state. From its northern terminus at a junction with the Landsborough Highway near Augathella, Mitchell Highway heads south as route Alternative A2 through Charleville, meeting Warrego Highway heading east as Alternative A2. As route A71, the highway continues south through , meeting with Balonne Highway, and then further south to the state border between Queensland and New South Wales (called Barringun Road), where it changes to route B71. Nervertire

Approximately north of it crosses the

Darling River The Darling River (or River Darling; Paakantyi: ''Baaka'' or ''Barka''), is the third-longest river in Australia, measuring from its source in northern New South Wales to its confluence with the Murray River at Wentworth. Including its long ...

before heading into Bourke where it forms junctions with Kamilaroi Highway heading east and Kidman Way heading south. From this point Mitchell Highway generally heads southeast through to Nyngan, meeting with Barrier Highway, and continues south as route A32. At the highway meets Oxley Highway, before passing through and then heads generally east to the major rural centre of Dubbo, where it meets Newell Highway, before it crosses the

Macquarie River The Macquarie River or Wambuul is part of the Macquarie–Barwon River (New South Wales), Barwon catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is one of the main inland rivers in New South Wales, Australia. The river rises in the central highl ...

and heads south towards , crossing the Macquarie River again. At , the highway generally starts to head east towards , where an alternative route diverts many heavy vehicles away from the city centre; the portion of Mitchell Highway that passes through Orange city centre is known locally as Summer Street. The southern terminus of Mitchell Highway is at a

roundabout A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are types of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junct ...

in Bathurst, at the junction of Mid-Western Highway to , and Great Western Highway to Sydney via the Blue Mountains.

History

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. North-Western Highway was declared (as Main Road No. 7) on 8 August 1928, from the interchange with

Great Western Highway Great Western Highway is a state highway in New South Wales, Australia. From east to west, the highway links Sydney with Bathurst, New South Wales, Bathurst, on the state's Central Tablelands. The highway also has local road names between the ...

and Mid-Western Highway in Bathurst, via Orange, Dubbo, Nyngan, and Bourke, to the border with Queensland; 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 7 on 8 April 1929. On 9 October 1936 the name was changed to Mitchell Highway, in honour of Lieutenant Colonel Sir Thomas Mitchell, who was Surveyor-General of New South Wales in the 1820s and explored much of inland New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. 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, Mitchell Highway today retains its declaration as Highway 71, from the state border with Queensland at Barringun to the intersection with Great Western and Mid-Western Highways at Bathurst. Mitchel Highway was signed National Route 71 between Augathella and Nygan, and National Route 32 between Nyngan and Bathurst, in 1955. With both states' conversion to their newer alphanumeric systems in 2004 and 2013, its former route numbers were updated to Alternative A2 between Augathella and Charleville and A71 between Charleville and the state border within Queensland in 2004, and B71 between the state border and Nyngan and A32 between Nyngan and Bathurst within New South Wales in 2013.

Truck explosion

On 5 September 2014, a truck travelling on Mitchell Highway rolled off a road bridge at Angellala Creek approximately 30 km south of Charleville (). The truck was carrying 52 tonnes of

ammonium nitrate Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a white crystalline salt consisting of ions of ammonium and nitrate. It is highly soluble in water and hygroscopic as a solid, but does not form hydrates. It is predominantly us ...

which exploded. The blast destroyed the two road bridges and severely damaged the adjacent rail bridge. The blast was so powerful that the truck was disintegrated and the dangers posed by the remaining ammonium nitrate necessitated a 2 km exclusion zone around the site for a number of days. The large crater formed by the blast closed the highway necessitating detours of up to 600 km. The Department of Transport and Mains Road was allowed to commence work at the site on 13 September and by 23 September had constructed a temporary side track around the blast site suitable for cars, buses and light trucks. By 7 October, the side track had been upgraded to support road trains, ending the need to detour. In April 2015, the $10 million tender to reconstruct the highway and bridges were awarded and the construction work took place between June and November 2015. In early 2016, a competition was held to decide a new name for the bridge.

Major intersections

References

External links