Before the F3 there was the Pacific Highway – a wondrously snaking road that originally crossed the Hawkesbury at Peats’ ferry. And what a marvellous way to cross a mighty river – slowly. Just imagine the queues at either end these days! Well the ferry ended in c1945 (although there are substantial remains at each end) and the replacement bridge is still in use. (Let’s not forget the rail bridges downstream, either, and the remnants of the original rail route.) Alas the F3 did away with the old and swept in the new, but it’s still interesting to reflect on how we got where we are now, and the options that were spurned.
So why replace the old road? Traffic – too much of it. I do remember the traffic jams at the Hawkesbury crossing and at Wyong. Endless jams. And my father’s car boiling over in summer. One time we stopped at a creek on the old highway and topped up with pure river water, bellbirds tinkling around us. I also remember my father dodging the 20cent toll. Doesn’t seem like a lot now but “toll dodging” (usually by joining or exiting the “freeway” at Mount White) remained a popular sport for years, until the toll was lifted.
Ozroads: Sydney-Newcastle Freeway
Following World War II, it was glaringly obvious that the existing route between Sydney and Newcastle, not even 20 years old by that time, was completely inadequate for the amount of traffic it carried. By 1960, traffic across the 3-lane Peats Ferry Bridge had reached a daily average of 6,600 vehicles, rising to over 18,000 per day in holiday times. The existing two-lane, winding alignment was unsuitable to carry this amount of traffic, let alone any future increase, and there was considerable local-through traffic conflict through the busy town centres of Gosford, Wyong, Swansea and Belmont.
Interesting that the government of the day considered a private toll-road at the time but was pressured by its own bureaucrats to fund it publicly, even if a small toll was still required. It would have brought forward the idea of a “public-private partneship” by some years, had it gone ahead. Of course money for infrastructure was always – and remains – the main issue in a country so big in area yet small in population.
Ozroads: Sydney-Newcastle Freeway
the DMR was always against letting the private sector construct such an important project and the commissioner of the time, Howard Sherrard, threatened to resign when the government decided it would take Solomon up on his offer. This caused the government to abandon the private sector idea, and announce in January 1962 that it had accepted a proposal from the DMR for the construction of a four-lane expressway that would not only connect Sydney and Newcastle but form part of an improved route to the north and north-west of the state. In 1965, the proposal was refined to include a new route across Mooney Mooney Creek downstream from the Pacific Hwy crossing that would render the existing Peats Ridge route redundant. However, it was recognised that construction would not be possible until at least the mid-1970′s due to financial restrictions.
Although there’s a lot more that interests me about the F3, I’ll also link to this history of Peats Ridge Road and allow you to read the details. If you ever drive this road (which proceeds northwards from Calga to almost Ourimbah) you’ll be struck by its mostly excellent construction, its width and general feeling of over-engineering for the current task. And of you are old enough to remember when it was a national highway you’ll understand why! Personally I remember stopping at the Oak roadhouse at Peats Ridge (now a strip of shops including a cafe with some memorabilia to look over) on a number of occasions, including when it must have been quite fresh and new. (There’s another roadhouse at the old road on the southern side of the Hawkesbury, near Brooklyn – unused and strangely moth-balled but well worth a look-see.)
Ozroads: Former NH1 Peats Ridge Rd
Peats Ridge Road itself was constructed purposely by the DMR to take the National Highway 1 shield (then National Route 1) as the main route between Sydney & Newcastle. However, it was not given the NH1 shield until the arrival of federal funding via the National Highway system in 1974. Prior to this, the route was signposted as either ‘Newcastle via Peats Ridge’ or ‘Sydney via Peats Ridge’.
Peats Ridge Rd carried the steadily increasing expressway traffic for 22 years (12 years as NH1) until the 7km shorter expressway route between Calga and Somersby opened to traffic. Some of the original route was retained, the 7km between Somersby and Ourimbah was duplicated and incorporated into the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway. National Highway 1 was removed from Peats Ridge Rd in December 1986
Before the F3 there was the Pacific Highway – a wondrously snaking road that originally crossed the Hawkesbury at Peats’ ferry. And what a marvellous way to cross a mighty river – slowly. Just imagine the queues at either end these days! Well the ferry ended in c1945 (although there are substantial remains at each end) and the replacement bridge is still in use. (Let’s not forget the rail bridges downstream, either, and the remnants of the original rail route.) Alas the F3 did away with the old and swept in the new, but it’s still interesting to reflect on how we got where we are now, and the options that were spurned.
So why replace the old road? Traffic – too much of it. I do remember the traffic jams at the Hawkesbury crossing and at Wyong. Endless jams. And my father’s car boiling over in summer. One time we stopped at a creek on the old highway and topped up with pure river water, bellbirds tinkling around us. I also remember my father dodging the 20cent toll. Doesn’t seem like a lot now but “toll dodging” (usually by joining or exiting the “freeway” at Mount White) remained a popular sport for years, until the toll was lifted.
Ozroads: Sydney-Newcastle Freeway
Following World War II, it was glaringly obvious that the existing route between Sydney and Newcastle, not even 20 years old by that time, was completely inadequate for the amount of traffic it carried. By 1960, traffic across the 3-lane Peats Ferry Bridge had reached a daily average of 6,600 vehicles, rising to over 18,000 per day in holiday times. The existing two-lane, winding alignment was unsuitable to carry this amount of traffic, let alone any future increase, and there was considerable local-through traffic conflict through the busy town centres of Gosford, Wyong, Swansea and Belmont.
Interesting that the government of the day considered a private toll-road at the time but was pressured by its own bureaucrats to fund it publicly, even if a small toll was still required. It would have brought forward the idea of a “public-private partneship” by some years, had it gone ahead. Of course money for infrastructure was always – and remains – the main issue in a country so big in area yet small in population.
Ozroads: Sydney-Newcastle Freeway
the DMR was always against letting the private sector construct such an important project and the commissioner of the time, Howard Sherrard, threatened to resign when the government decided it would take Solomon up on his offer. This caused the government to abandon the private sector idea, and announce in January 1962 that it had accepted a proposal from the DMR for the construction of a four-lane expressway that would not only connect Sydney and Newcastle but form part of an improved route to the north and north-west of the state. In 1965, the proposal was refined to include a new route across Mooney Mooney Creek downstream from the Pacific Hwy crossing that would render the existing Peats Ridge route redundant. However, it was recognised that construction would not be possible until at least the mid-1970′s due to financial restrictions.
Although there’s a lot more that interests me about the F3, I’ll also link to this history of Peats Ridge Road and allow you to read the details. If you ever drive this road (which proceeds northwards from Calga to almost Ourimbah) you’ll be struck by its mostly excellent construction, its width and general feeling of over-engineering for the current task. And of you are old enough to remember when it was a national highway you’ll understand why! Personally I remember stopping at the Oak roadhouse at Peats Ridge (now a strip of shops including a cafe with some memorabilia to look over) on a number of occasions, including when it must have been quite fresh and new. (There’s another roadhouse at the old road on the southern side of the Hawkesbury, near Brooklyn – unused and strangely moth-balled but well worth a look-see.)
Ozroads: Former NH1 Peats Ridge Rd
Peats Ridge Road itself was constructed purposely by the DMR to take the National Highway 1 shield (then National Route 1) as the main route between Sydney & Newcastle. However, it was not given the NH1 shield until the arrival of federal funding via the National Highway system in 1974. Prior to this, the route was signposted as either ‘Newcastle via Peats Ridge’ or ‘Sydney via Peats Ridge’.
Peats Ridge Rd carried the steadily increasing expressway traffic for 22 years (12 years as NH1) until the 7km shorter expressway route between Calga and Somersby opened to traffic. Some of the original route was retained, the 7km between Somersby and Ourimbah was duplicated and incorporated into the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway. National Highway 1 was removed from Peats Ridge Rd in December 1986
How about Sydney to Gosford? It’s about 100km, depending on where you start!
It used to be that what is now called Sydney (NSW, Australia) and the Central Coast of NSW were primarily disconnected by what we now call the Hawkesbury River. The local Aboriginal people used canoes, but the colonising English preferred larger boats. As time went by some roads were hacked through the bush, but it remained a difficult land journey until recent times. A vehicle punt or 2 made the crossing easier, followed by a succession of bridges built from about the mid-1800s. One bridge carried the railway, which largely eroded the previously sea-borne passenger and freight trade. Local ports carried fewer and fewer passengers and less cargo. When the roads improved from 2 lanes to 4 or more the end was nigh. It’s now easy – if slightly time consuming (a mere 30 minute trip from the northern edge of Sydney to the Gosford end – perhaps too easy, to get from Sydney to the Central Coast.
Having not made the journey by bike (push bike, I mean) for over 10 years, I decided to ride from Brookvale to Gosford one Saturday last year. I keep promising that I’ll do it again, but haven’t. An alternative is just to get to Brooklyn and return, and I’ve done that a few times from both Sydney and Gosford (about 40km each way). Half the trip from Sydney is just awful – cars, trucks, more cars – and the rest is tree-lined, majestic, beautiful and annoyingly frequented by death-wish motorcyclists scrambling ’round corners. I really mean death-wish. The scenic, if twisty road is lined by white crosses. Each representing a fallen rider who met their match on this road. Still, each to their own – we all take our risks in different ways. Just don’t take me with you!
What fascinated me last time around was the change in the road. When the old road was bypassed by the freeway the traffic declined and local trade slumbered. Now the surviving cafes are booming, with trade literally zooming past their doors every weekend. I imagine it dies down during the week, but what a change over the last 20 years or so. Almost makes me want to open a roadside cafe… but not like the “ghost cafe”, real 50′s roadside diner built for passing trade on the old road at Brooklyn – but long since bypassed.
Try the main shops at Brooklyn for food, there’s plenty to choose from, or closer to Mooney there’s a small petrol station and cafe with a pleasant, if small park attached.
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