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Solitary Islands Way is a road in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, located north of the city of Coffs Harbour. It links the towns of Woolgoolga and Corindi Beach to the Pacific Highway. It consists of a mix of newly constructed roads, pre-existing Council-owned roads and former sections of the highway that were bypassed by new alignments in 2013 and 2017.
Solitary Islands Way | |
|---|---|
  South end North end | |
| Coordinates |
|
| General information | |
| Type | Road |
| Length | 36 km (22 mi)[1] |
| Gazetted | 1 May 2014[2] Korora to Arrawarra 22 December 2017[3] Arrawarra to Dirty Creek |
| Maintained by | Coffs Harbour City Council[4] |
| Former route number |  (A1) (mid 2013–December 2013) (National Route 1) (until mid 2013)Korora to Arrawarra (A1) (2013–2017) (National Route 1) (until 2013)Arrawarra to Dirty Creek |
| Major junctions | |
| South end | Pacific Highway Korora, New South Wales |
| North end | Pacific Highway Dirty Creek, New South Wales |
| Location(s) | |
| Region | Mid North Coast |
| LGA(s) | Coffs Harbour |
| Major suburbs | Moonee Beach, Woolgoolga, Corindi Beach |
| Highway system | |
Solitary Islands Way is a 36.4-kilometre (22.6 mi) road stretching from Korora just north of Coffs Harbour to Dirty Creek near Halfway Creek. It passes through the towns of Moonee Beach, Woolgoolga and Corindi Beach.[1] The section between Korora and Woolgoolga runs largely parallel and adjacent to the Pacific Highway.
The following sections of the road were previously part of the Pacific Highway and were bypassed by new alignments:[2][3][4]
- between the southern end near Coachmans Close and Split Solitary Road at Korora
- between Woopi Drive and Arrawarra interchange via Woolgoolga
- between Tasman Street and Range Road interchange via Corindi Beach
Additionally, three sections of the road that were not previously Pacific Highway had other previous names:[2][3]
- Hoys Road: between Moonee Beach Road and south of Bucca Road at Moonee Beach
- Graham Drive: between Emerald Heights Drive and Hearnes Lake Road at Sandy Beach
- Eggins Drive: between Arrawarra Beach Road and Gateway Lifestyle Lorikeet Holiday Park access at Arrawarra[5]
As part of the Pacific Highway Upgrade, the section between Coffs Harbour and Halfway Creek was progressively upgraded in the 2010s. The environmental assessment for the Sapphire to Woolgoolga upgrade of the highway in 2008 proposed a local access strategy, which involved the construction of new roads adjacent to the highway, using and upgrading existing Council-owned roads, or using the existing highway alignment as local access roads.[6]
In February 2013, the Coffs Harbour City Council voted to name the new local access road as Solitary Islands Way.[7] The Woolgoolga bypass of the highway opened to traffic on 16 December 2013,[8] and the rest of the Sapphire to Woolgoolga upgrade was completed in July 2014.[9] Solitary Islands Way was gazetted on 1 May 2014 as a 26.7 km (16.6 mi) local access road based on the local access strategy proposed in 2008, and consisted of:[2][4]
- new roads parallel to the Pacific Highway, with some sections along former alignments of the highway
- Hoys Road at Moonee Beach, upgraded and renamed to Solitary Islands Way
- Graham Drive at Sandy Beach, renamed to Solitary Islands Way
- bypassed section of the highway within Woolgoolga, including a section of Clarence Street
- former alignment of the highway south of Split Solitary Road at Sapphire Beach
In October 2017, the Pacific Highway was bypassed between Arrawarra and Dirty Creek (Range Road) via Corindi Beach, as part of the Woolgoolga to Halfway Creek upgrade.[10][11] The bypassed section of the highway and the existing Eggins Drive at Arrawarra were renamed Solitary Islands Way on 22 December 2017, extending the road northwards from Arrawarra to Dirty Creek.[3]
In October 2020, Coffs Harbour City Council approved Woolgoolga's first set of traffic lights at the intersection of Solitary Islands Way and Centenary Drive, near Woolgoolga High School and the planned West Woolgoolga Sports Complex. The cost of the signalised intersection is estimated to be A$5.26 million.[12] Construction is expected to begin in the second half of 2021.[13]
| LGA | Location | km[1] | mi | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coffs Harbour | Korora | 0 | 0.0 | Pacific Highway (A1) (south) – Coffs Harbour, Newcastle, Sydney | Continues to Pacific Highway (south) |
| Sapphire Beach | 2.2 | 1.4 | Pacific Highway (A1) (north) – Tweed Heads, Gold Coast, Brisbane Pacific Highway (A1) (south) – Coffs Harbour, Newcastle, Sydney | Entry and exit for Pacific Highway southbound only Solitary Islands Way continues to the west | |
| Split Solitary Road – Sapphire Beach | |||||
| 2.3 | 1.4 | Pacific Highway (A1) (north) – Tweed Heads, Gold Coast, Brisbane Pacific Highway (A1) (south) – Coffs Harbour, Newcastle, Sydney | Entry and exit for Pacific Highway northbound only Solitary Islands Way continues to the north | ||
| Gaudrons Road | |||||
| Moonee Beach | 5.1 | 3.2 | Pacific Highway (A1) (north) – Tweed Heads, Gold Coast, Brisbane Pacific Highway (A1) (south) – Coffs Harbour, Newcastle, Sydney | Entry and exit for Pacific Highway northbound only | |
| Moonee Beach Road – Moonee Beach | To entry and exit for Pacific Highway southbound | ||||
| 7.7 | 4.8 | Killara Drive | Solitary Islands Way continues to the southeast | ||
| 7.9 | 4.9 | Tiki Road | Solitary Islands Way continues to the northeast | ||
| Emerald Beach | 11.0 | 6.8 | Pacific Highway (A1) (south) – Coffs Harbour, Newcastle, Sydney | To Settlers Road Exit for Pacific Highway southbound only | |
| Brothers Drive | |||||
| 11.2 | 7.0 | Pacific Highway (A1) (south) – Coffs Harbour, Newcastle, Sydney | Entry for Pacific Highway southbound only | ||
| Fiddaman Road – Emerald Beach | |||||
| 12.4 | 7.7 | Pacific Highway (A1) (north) – Tweed Heads, Gold Coast, Brisbane | Exit for Pacific Highway southbound only Solitary Islands Way continues to the north | ||
| Sandy Beach | 12.7 | 7.9 | Pacific Highway (A1) (north) – Tweed Heads, Gold Coast, Brisbane Pacific Highway (A1) (south) – Coffs Harbour, Newcastle, Sydney | Entry and exit for Pacific Highway northbound only | |
| Emerald Heights Drive | |||||
| 14.0 | 8.7 | Diamond Head Drive – Sandy Beach | |||
| 15.8 | 9.8 | Pacific Highway (A1) (north) – Tweed Heads, Gold Coast, Brisbane Pacific Highway (A1) (south) – Coffs Harbour, Newcastle, Sydney | Entry and exit for Pacific Highway northbound only | ||
| Woolgoolga | 16.1 | 10.0 | Pacific Highway (A1) (south) – Coffs Harbour, Newcastle, Sydney | Southbound entry for Pacific Highway southbound only | |
| 16.2 | 10.1 | Hearnes Lakes Road | Northbound to southbound u-turn to (south) | ||
| 16.7 | 10.4 | Pacific Highway (A1) (north) – Tweed Heads, Gold Coast, Brisbane | Exit for Pacific Highway southbound only | ||
| Woopi Drive | |||||
| Arrawarra | 24.4 | 15.2 | Pacific Highway (A1) (north) – Tweed Heads, Gold Coast, Brisbane Pacific Highway (A1) (south) – Coffs Harbour, Newcastle, Sydney | ||
| Dirty Creek | 36.4 | 22.6 | Pacific Highway (A1) (north) – Tweed Heads, Gold Coast, Brisbane Pacific Highway (A1) (south) – Coffs Harbour, Newcastle, Sydney | Entry and exit for Pacific Highway southbound only | |
| Range Road | To entry and exit for Pacific Highway northbound | ||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| |||||
- Big River Way - bypassed section of Pacific Highway and the site of the Grafton bus crash
- Macleay Valley Way - bypassed section of Pacific Highway and the site of the Kempsey bus crash
- Giinagay Way - bypassed section of Pacific Highway at Nambucca Heads and Urunga
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