Lachlan Valley Way is a

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 ...

country road running from

Booligal Booligal is a village in the Riverina area of western New South Wales (NSW), Australia. It is located on the Cobb Highway, on the Lachlan River north of Hay. Booligal is a part of Hay Shire local government area. The name of the village is an ...

to north of Yass. It was named after the

Lachlan River The Lachlan River (Wiradjuri: ''Kalari'', ''Galiyarr'') is an intermittent river that is part of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, located in the Southern Tablelands, Central West, and Riverina regions of New Sou ...

, and follows its southern bank for the majority of its length.

Route

Lachlan Valley Way commences at the intersection with Cobb Highway in Booligal and heads in a north-easterly direction for about to Hillston. It then follows the

Kidman Way Kidman Way is a state rural road in the western Riverina and western region of New South Wales, Australia. The highway services the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area and outback communities and links the Newell Highway with the Sturt, Mid-Weste ...

(B87) to the east and north-east for about before turning off to the east and proceeding a further to Lake Cargelligo. From there it continues to the north and east through Euabalong to

Condobolin Condobolin is a town in the west of the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, on the Lachlan River. At the , Condobolin had a population of 3,185. History Prior to European settlement, the area was inhabited by the Wiradjuri pe ...

. This section of road has three named parts, from west to east. They are Lake Cargelligo-Euabalong Road, Lachlan Valley Way, and Condobolin-Lake Cargelligo Road. From Condobolin the Lachlan Valley Way turns south-east towards

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

, a further . From Forbes it continues south-east through Gooloogong to

Cowra Cowra () is a town in the Central West, New South Wales, Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre and the council seat for the Cowra Shire, with a population of 8,254. Cowra is located approximate ...

, a further . It then turns south through

Boorowa Boorowa () is a farming village in the Hilltops Council, Hilltops Region in the South West Slopes, south west slopes of New South Wales, Australia. It is located in a valley southwest of Sydney around above sea-level. The town is in Hilltops C ...

, to end after another at the Hume Highway north-west of Yass.

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 (later the Department of Main Roads, and eventually

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. 56 was declared along this road from Forbes, via Cowra to Yass (and continuing northwards via Parkes, Dubbo, Gilgandra and Coonamble eventually to Walgett, and southwards via Canberra eventually to the intersection with Queanbeyan-Braidwood Road, today Kings Highway, at

Queanbeyan Queanbeyan ( ) is a city in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia, located adjacent to the Australian Capital Territory in the Southern Tablelands region. Located on the Queanbeyan River, the city is the council seat of the Queanbeyan-Pale ...

), Main Road No. 61 from Condoblin to Forbes (and continuing eastwards via Eugowra and Cudal to the intersection with North-Western Highway, today

Mitchell Highway Mitchell Highway is an outback state highway located in the central and south western regions of Queensland and the northern and central western regions of New South Wales in Australia. The southern part of Mitchell Highway forms part of t ...

, at

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

) and Main Road No. 230 from Lake Cargelligo via Euabalong to Condobolin, on the same day, 8 August 1928. 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 56 and 61 and Main Road 230 on 8 April 1929. The southern end of Trunk Road 56 was truncated at Bowning when the declaration of State Highway 15 (later named Barton Highway subsumed the former alignment on 19 February 1935; and the northern end was truncated to Forbes when the declaration of State Highway 17 (later named

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 ...

) subsumed the former alignment on 16 March 1938. Trunk Road 61 was re-aligned to run between Orange and Condobolin via Parkes on 6 April 1938; its former alignment between Condobolin and Forbes (and continuing east via Eugowra and Cudal to Orange) was replaced by Main Road 377. Main Road 501 was declared between Lake Cargelligo via Hillston to the intersection with State Highway 21 (later named Cobb Highway) in Booligal on 17 May 1939. The route – from Booligal to Bowning, along Trunk Road 56 and Main Roads 230 and 377 and 501 – was named Lachlan Valley Way on 23 September 1970. Main Road 230 had its declaration revoked on 15 March 1996, but the road is still generally known as a part of Lachlan Valley Way despite this. Main Road 501 was divided into two sections between Hillston and Wallanthery, with Main Road 410 (

) subsuming the former alignment and officially splitting Lachlan Valley Way into a western section terminating at Hillston, and an eastern section terminating in Wallanthery, on 12 March 2010. 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, Lachlan Valley Way today retains its declaration as part of Main Road 377, and as Main Roads 56 and 501, from Booligal to Hillston, then from Wallanthery to Lake Cargelligo, then from Condoblin via Forbes, Cowra and Boorowa to Bowning. Lachlan Valley Way was signed State Route 81 between Cowra and Bowning in 1974. With the conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in 2013, this was replaced with route B81.

Major intersections

References

{{Road infrastructure in New South Wales Highways in New South Wales Lachlan Shire

Route

History

Major intersections

See also

References