History
Since the time of the first track, the route of what is now the Hume Highway has been the main road link between the two biggest cities in Australia — Sydney and Melbourne. Since February 1960 a freeway standard of road has been developed along this route. Where the alignment of the original road is reasonably flat and straight it has been duplicated and retained for traffic in one direction. In some locations the original road has been replaced by a dual carriageway road beside the original road. In other locations the new road deviates from the original by many kilometres.
In Victoria, 100% of the Hume Highway has been upgraded to at least dual carriageway standard and is called the Hume Freeway. In New South Wales, 97% of the highway has been upgraded to at least dual carriageway standard by December 2009, with 283 km between Tarcutta and Berrima being dual carriageway, and 130 km between Berrima and Sydney being a freeway-grade road.
The remaining single carriageway lengths are currently going under a dual carriageway construction facelift, and were duplicated in December 2009 (Except for 20 km bypassing Tarcutta, Holbrook, Woomargama which will be bypassed and duplicated by 2012).
Many of the superseded sections of the Hume Highway are of historical interest as they provide insights into the small historical towns which have since been bypassed. In the past when the highway passed through these towns, many were thriving centres. Many of the superseded sections of the highway still form the main access roads into and through these towns. One section of the Old Hume Highway travels through Yass in southern New South Wales. This section of road is now known as the Yass Valley Way.
Read more about this topic: Old Hume Highway
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—George Orwell (1903–1950)
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