Camden Valley Way

Camden Valley Way is a 23-kilometre (14 mi)^[1] arterial road between the southwestern fringes of suburban Sydney and the historic town of Camden. It is a former alignment of Hume Highway.

Camden Valley Way Old Hume Highway New South Wales
Northeast end Southwest end
Coordinates	33.957736°S 150.887073°E / -33.957736; 150.887073 (Northeast end) 34.055500°S 150.693540°E / -34.055500; 150.693540 (Southwest end)
General information
Type	Road
Length	23.1 km (14 mi)[1]
Gazetted	August 1928 (as Main Road 2)[2] June 1974 (as Main Road 178)[3]
Route number(s)	A28 (2013–present) (Prestons–Casula)
Former route number	State Route 89 (1980–2013) National Highway 31 (1974–1980) National Route 31 (1954–1974)
Major junctions
Northeast end	Hume Highway Casula, Sydney
	Campbelltown Road Hume Motorway Bringelly Road The Northern Road
Southwest end	Murray Street Camden, Sydney
Location(s)
Major suburbs	Prestons, Leppington, Gledswood Hills, Narellan

Route

Camden Valley Way follows the Old Hume Highway alignment between the localities of Casula and Camden, commencing at the intersection with Hume Highway and Campbelltown Road at Casula and heading west as a four-lane, dual-carriageway road, meeting Hume Motorway at an interchange at Prestons, then intersecting with Bringelly and Cowpasture Roads at Horningsea Park and heading in a southwesterly direction, through Leppington and Gledswood, meeting The Northern and Narellan Roads at Narellan, before eventually terminating at the intersection with Murray Street in Camden; Cawdor Road continues south towards Remembrance Drive along the Old Hume Highway alignment. The Remembrance Drive is also another former part of the Hume Highway near Camden South.

The road had become an important arterial road serving the fast-growing Sydney’s South West Growth Centre. Since 2015, the road north of The Northern Road is dual carriageway and has four lanes (two lanes in each direction) with a median strip.^[4][5]

Camden Bypass

Camden Valley Way was bypassed by Camden Bypass between Narellan Road and Remembrance Driveway. The highlight of the Camden Bypass is the Macarthur Bridge, a 26-span, 1.03-kilometre-long (3,380 ft) concrete structure that carries the Camden Bypass across the Nepean River and its flood plain. The bridge was built between 1971 and 1973, originally to carry Hume Highway traffic, on a flood-free alignment around Camden.^[6] This bypass was in turn bypassed in December 1980 when the section of what was then called the South Western Freeway (F5) from Campbelltown to Yerrinbool was opened. It has grown in importance as a major arterial road linking the Hume^{[broken anchor]}, Westlink M7 and M5 Motorways in Prestons with Camden.^[5]

History

Within New South Wales, the passing of the Main Roads Act of 1924^[7] through the Parliament of New South Wales provided for the declaration of Main Roads, roads partially funded by the State government through the Main Roads Board (MRB). Main Road No. 2 was declared along Great South Road on 8 August 1928, heading southwest from the intersection with Campbelltown Road at Casula through Narellan to Camden (and continuing northeast through Liverpool and Bankstown to the intersection with Great Western Highway at Ashfield, and continuing southwest through Picton, Mittagong, Goulburn, Yass and Gundagai to Albury).^[2] With the passing of the Main Roads (Amendment) Act of 1929^[8] to provide for additional declarations of State Highways and Trunk Roads, this was amended to State Highway 2 on 8 April 1929. Great South Road was renamed Hume Highway later in 1928.^[9]

The western end of Main Road 178 (declared along Narellan Road), previously terminating at the intersection with Hume Highway at Narellan, was extended further west along it to terminate in Camden on 5 June 1974,^[3] resulting from the opening of Camden Bypass and the re-alignment of State Highway 2 (Hume Highway) along it. When the remaining section of South Western Freeway from Narellan Road in Macarthur to Yanderra opened in late 1980, the now-bypassed section of Hume Highway was renamed Camden Valley Way on 1 October 1982.^[10] Main Road 620 was declared along Camden Valley Way between Narellan and Prestons (and continuing south along Camden Bypass and through Picton and Bargo to Yanderra), when State Highway 2 was re-aligned again along South Western Freeway, on 24 October 1984.^[11]

The passing of the Roads Act of 1993^[12] updated road classifications and the way they could be declared within New South Wales. Under this act, Camden Valley Way retains its declaration as part of Main Roads 178 (Narellan to Camden) and 620 (Casula to Narellan).^[13]

As part of Hume Highway, the route was allocated National Route 31 in 1954 for its entire length. When the Camden Bypass opened, this was diverted along it, leaving the section between Narellan and Camden unallocated. The Whitlam government introduced the federal National Roads Act 1974,^[14] where roads declared as a National Highway were still the responsibility of the states for road construction and maintenance, but were fully compensated by the Federal government for money spent on approved projects.^[14]: S7 As an important interstate link between the capitals of New South Wales and Victoria, the Hume Highway was declared a National Highway in 1974, and the section between Casula and Narellan was re-designated National Highway 31. When the remaining section of South Western Freeway between Macarthur and Yanderra was open in late 1980, National Highway 31 was re-allocated along it; the former alignment between Prestons and Camden was allocated State Route 89. Camden Valley Way was allocated part of Metroad 5 between the interchange with South Western Freeway and Hume Highway in 1992, then replaced by Metroad 7 when Casula bypass was opened in 1994. With the conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in 2013, Metroad 7 was replaced by route A28, while State Route 89 was abolished.^[15]

Major intersections

LGA	Location	km[1]	mi	Destinations	Notes
Liverpool–Campbelltown boundary	Casula–Glenfield boundary	0.0	0.0	Campbelltown Road – Bardia, Campbelltown	Crossroads intersection Northeastern terminus of road
				York Street – Casula	Eastbound entrance and exit only
Liverpool	Casula–Prestons–Edmondson Park tripoint	1.0	0.62	Hume Motorway (M31) – Kingsgrove, Mittagong, Goulburn	No southbound entrance to or exit from Hume Motorway
				Westlink M7 (M7 north) – Eastern Creek, Rooty Hill, Seven Hills	Northbound entrance and southbound exit only
	Edmondson Park–Horningsea Park–Leppington tripoint	4.6	2.9	Bringelly Road (west) – Bringelly Cowpasture Road (north) – Hoxton Park, Abbotsbury
Camden	Harrington Park–Narellan boundary	18.2	11.3	The Northern Road (A9 north) – Luddenham, Kingsgrove, Windsor Narellan Road (A9 south) – Campbelltown
	Camden	23.1	14.4	Murray Street – Camden South
				Cawdor Road – Cawdor, Razorback	Southwestern terminus of road
Incomplete access        Tolled       Route transition

See also

Australian Roads portal

• Highways in Australia
• List of highways in New South Wales

References

1. "Camden Valley Way" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
2. "Main Roads Act, 1924-1927". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 110. National Library of Australia. 17 August 1928. pp. 3814–20. Archived from the original on 3 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
3. "Main Roads Act, 1924". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 81. National Library of Australia. 5 July 1974. p. 2569. Archived from the original on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
4. "South West Growth Centre". www.gcc.nsw.gov.au. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009.
5. "Camden Valley Way upgrade". Roads & Maritime Services. Government of New South Wales. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
6. "State Route 89". Ozroads. Retrieved 13 September 2021.^{[self-published source]}
7. State of New South Wales, An Act to provide for the better construction, maintenance, and financing of main roads; to provide for developmental roads; to constitute a Main Roads Board Archived 11 August 2022 at the Wayback Machine 10 November 1924
8. State of New South Wales, An Act to amend the Main Roads Act, 1924-1927; to confer certain further powers upon the MRB; to amend the Local Government Act, 1919, and certain other Acts; to validate certain payments and other matters; and for purposes connected therewith. Archived 12 August 2022 at the Wayback Machine 8 April 1929
9. "Country Roads Board Victoria. Sixteenth Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1929". Country Roads Board. Melbourne: Victorian Government Library Service. 19 November 1929. p. 29.
10. "Municipality of Camden, Local Government Act, 1919". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 133. National Library of Australia. 1 October 1982. p. 4642. Archived from the original on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
11. "Main Roads Act, 1924". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 154. National Library of Australia. 2 November 1984. p. 4108. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
12. State of New South Wales, An Act to make provision with respect to the roads of New South Wales; to repeal the State Roads Act 1986, the Crown and Other Roads Act 1990 and certain other enactments; and for other purposes. Archived 11 August 2022 at the Wayback Machine 10 November 1924
13. Transport for NSW (August 2022). "Schedule of Classified Roads and Unclassified Regional Roads" (PDF). Government of New South Wales. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
14. National Roads Act 1974 (Cth)
15. "Road number and name changes in Sydney" (PDF). Roads and Maritime Services. Transport for NSW - Roads and Maritime. 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2020.