Macquarie Pass is an eight-kilometre-long section of the

Illawarra Highway Illawarra Highway is a short state highway in New South Wales, Australia. It connects Wollongong to the Southern Highlands and links Princes Highway and Hume Highway. It is named after the geographical area it crosses, the Illawarra region. ...

passing through

Macquarie Pass National Park Macquarie Pass National Park is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, 90 km southwest of Sydney. It is located around the pass of the same name, which is on the Illawarra Highway and part of the Illawarra escarpment. Macquarie Pa ...

. It was opened in 1898, though had been used by the

Wodi Wodi WODI (1230 AM) was a sports talk formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Brookneal, Virginia, serving Brookneal and Altavista in Virginia. WODI was last owned and operated by JKC Media Ventures LLC. In September 2013, it was reported t ...

tribe. Macquarie Pass links the Southern Highland town of

Robertson Robertson may refer to: People * Robertson (surname) (includes a list of people with this name) * Robertson (given name) * Clan Robertson, a Scottish clan * Robertson, stage name of Belgian magician Étienne-Gaspard Robert (1763–1837) Plac ...

to the coastal town of

Albion Park Albion Park is a suburb situated in the Macquarie Valley in the City of Shellharbour, which is in turn one of the three local government areas that comprise the Wollongong Metropolitan Area, New South Wales, Australia. Although it is surround ...

, descending the

Illawarra Escarpment The Illawarra escarpment, or officially the Illawarra Range, is the fold-created cliffs and plateau-eroded outcrop mountain range west of the Illawarra coastal plain south of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The range enclose ...

via a very narrow

bitumen Bitumen ( , ) is an immensely viscosity, viscous constituent of petroleum. Depending on its exact composition, it can be a sticky, black liquid or an apparently solid mass that behaves as a liquid over very large time scales. In American Engl ...

roadway, which has several single-lane sections and is mostly two lanes with double "no overtaking" lines. It is in the

Shellharbour Shellharbour (also known as Shellharbour Village) is a suburb located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It also gives its name to the local government area, City of Shellharbour, and its central business district, Shellha ...

local government area. This section of roadway is very steep, and contains many

hairpin bends A hairpin turn (also hairpin bend or hairpin corner) is a bend in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to turn about 180° to continue on the road. It is named for its resemblance to a bent metal ha ...

, resulting in buses and trucks needing to reverse on some of the bends. The pass is quite notorious for accidents due to its nature, and drivers and riders are required to be cautious. After heavy rain, the Macquarie Pass can be closed due to flooding on the top half of the pass. Cars and motorcycle riders may opt to use Jamberoo Mountain Road between

and Jamberoo, while trucks are advised to use Mount Ousley Road (

Southern Freeway Princes Motorway is a predominantly dual carriage untolled motorway that links Sydney to Wollongong and further south through the Illawarra region to . Part of the Australian Highway 1 network, the motorway is designated route M1. The m ...

) and Picton Road as an alternative. The road is very popular with motorcyclists on weekends and public holidays. The Shellharbour and Wingecarribee Councils and

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 ...

have therefore published a safety brochure entitled 'Motorcycling Macquarie Pass.'

Caloola Pass proposal

During the 1980s, construction of an alternative roadway was proposed —ascending the Illawarra Escarpment from

(adjacent to Yellow Rock). The proposal was not proceeded with.

Future of Macquarie Pass

While debate continues as to whether the road should be closed to trucks (diverting all trucks bound for the Highlands and

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

north to Mount Ousley), there is pressure from private developers for a new multi-lane highway over the escarpment to connect Shellharbour to the Highlands. However, residents of the Southern Highlands are strongly opposed to this, and neither state nor federal government has acted on the proposal.

References

Highways in New South Wales Wollongong Mountain passes of Australia {{Australia-road-stub

Caloola Pass proposal

Future of Macquarie Pass

See also

References