Bruxner Highway, and its former western alignment as Bruxner Way, are a

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...

and rural road respectively, located in

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 ...

, Australia. The route forms an east–west link across the

Northern Tablelands The Northern Tablelands, also known as the New England Tableland, is a plateau and a region of the Great Dividing Range in northern New South Wales, Australia. It includes the New England Range, the narrow highlands area of the New England regio ...

in northern New South Wales, close to the border with

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 ...

, to the

Northern Rivers Northern Rivers is the most northeasterly Regions of New South Wales, region of the Australian state of New South Wales, located between north of the state capital, Sydney, and encompasses the catchments and fertile valleys of the Clarence Ri ...

coast. It was named after

Michael Bruxner Lieutenant Colonel Sir Michael Frederick Bruxner (25 March 1882 – 28 March 1970) was an Australian politician and soldier, serving for many years as leader of the Country Party (and its predecessors) in New South Wales. Born in the north ...

, NSW Minister for Transport from 1932 to 1941.

Route

Bruxner Way commences at the intersection with

Newell Highway Newell Highway is a National Highway (Australia), national highway in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. It provides the major road link between southeastern Queensland and Victoria (state), Victoria via central NSW and as such carries large amo ...

Boggabilla Boggabilla is a small town in the far north of inland New South Wales, Australia in Moree Plains Shire. At the , the town had a population of 529, of which 43.5% identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. The name Boggabilla ...

and heads in a south-easterly direction, tracking close to the southern bank of the

Macintyre River The Macintyre River, a perennial river that forms part of the Border Rivers group, is part of the Barwon catchment of the Murray-Darling basin, located in the Northern Tablelands and North West Slopes regions of New South Wales, and the So ...

until it reaches Yetman, then heads east where it reaches the turn-off to

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

(just across the border in Queensland), then continues in an easterly direction, tracking close to the southern bank of the

Dumaresq River The Dumaresq River ( Indigenous ) is a perennial stream of the Macintyre catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Northern Tablelands and North West Slopes regions of New South Wales and the Darling Downs region of Que ...

and Tenterfield Creek until it eventually terminates at an intersection with

New England Highway New England Highway is an long highway in Australia running from Yarraman, Queensland, Yarraman, north of Toowoomba, Queensland, at its northern end to Hexham, New South Wales, Hexham at Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle, New South Wales, ...

just north of

Tenterfield Tenterfield is a regional town in New South Wales, Australia, situated at the junction of the New England and Bruxner highways, along the Northern Tablelands, within the New England, New South Wales, New England region. At the , Tenterfield ha ...

. Bruxner Highway commences at the intersection with Newell Highway in central Tenterfield and continues in an easterly direction through

Tabulam Tabulam is a rural village in the far north-east of New South Wales, Australia, 800 kilometres from the state capital, Sydney. Tabulam is located on the Bruxner Highway (Highway 44) between Tenterfield and Casino and on the Clarence River. Ac ...

until it reaches

Casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

, where it meets Summerland Way. The highway continues east through Lismore and Alstonville until eventually terminating at an interchange with Pacific Highway in West Ballina. The speed limits along Bruxner Highway are mostly 100 km/h with 80 km/h on windy sections and 50 km/h in urban areas. The speed limit is 60 km/h through the Lismore urban area with a high volume of traffic. There is a speed camera in the 80 km/h section near the Lismore City and Ballina Shire boundary.

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 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 ...

(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 ...

). Main Road No. 63 was declared from Yetman to Boggabilla (and continuing northwards to the state border with Queensland at Goondiwindi, and southwards via Warialda and Bingara to the intersection with Great Northern Highway, today

, at Tamworth, Main Road No. 64 was declared from the intersection with North Coast Highway (today Pacific Highway) at Ballina, via Lismore and Casino to the intersection with Great Northern Highway at

, and Main Road No. 138 was declared from Tenterfield via Bonshaw to the state border with Queensland at Texas. With the passing of the ''Main Roads (Amendment) Act of 1929'' to provide for additional declarations of State Highways and Trunk Roads, these were amended to Trunk Roads 63 and 64 and Main Road 138 on 8 April 1929. Main Road 138 was later extended westwards from Texas to meet Trunk Road 63 at Yetman, with a branch to the state border with Queensland at Texas, on 22 January 1935. The Department of Main Roads, which had succeeded the MRB in 1932, declared State Highway 16 on 16 March 1938, from the intersection with Pacific Highway at Ballina via Lismore, Casino, Tabluam, Tenterfield, Bonshaw, Yetman and Boggabilla to the state border with Queensland at Goondiwindi, subsuming Trunk Road 64, and most of Main Road 138 from Yetman to Tenterfield; the southern end of Trunk Road 63 was truncated to meet Bruxner Highway at Yetman, and Main Road 138 was truncated from the bridge over the Dumaresq River at Texas to the intersection with Bruxner Highway, as a result. State Highway 16 was named Bruxner Highway on 2 November 1959, in honour of Sir Michael Bruxner, member for

and

from 1920 to 1962, leader of the New South Wales Country Party for almost all that period and Deputy Premier and Minister for Transport from 1932 to 1941. The passing of the ''Roads Act of 1993'' through the

updated road classifications and the way they could be declared within New South Wales. Under this act, the declaration of Highway 16 from West Ballina was truncated at Tenterfield, and Main Road 462 was declared along the former alignment from Tenterfield via Bonshaw and Yetman to Boggabilla, on 23 April 2010. Main Road 462 was named Bruxner Way in 2011, however much of the road still shows signage as Bruxner Highway, and few signs have been replaced stating its new identity. Bruxner Highway today retains its declaration as Highway 16, from the intersection with New England Highway in Tenterfield to the intersection with Pacific Highway in West Ballina. Bruxner Highway was signed National Route 44 in 1974, between Ballina and Tenterfield. It was intended that National Route 44 continued to Boggabilla to meet with Newell Highway, however this part of the highway was never signed as National Route 44. With the conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in 2013, this was replaced with route B60 between Ballina and Tenterfield.

Upgrades

At Alstonville, a 6.5km-long bypass was completed in 2010 at the cost of $44 million. There is a proposal for a fully duplicated highway from the interchange with Pacific Highway to Lismore Airport.

Major intersections

References

External links