Bells Line of Road

Bells Line of Road is a 59-kilometre (37 mi)[1] major road located in New South Wales, Australia, providing an alternative crossing of the Blue Mountains to the Great Western Highway. The eastern terminus of the road is in Richmond, 51 km northwest of Sydney, where the road continues eastward as Kurrajong Road, which intersects the A9. The western terminus of the road is in Bell, in the Blue Mountains, where the road continues as the Chifley Road.

Bells Line of Road

New South Wales
Mount Tomah, Australia
Bells Line of Road is located in New South Wales
West end
West end
East end
East end
Coordinates
General information
TypeRoad
Length58.6 km (36 mi)[1]
GazettedAugust 1928[2]
Route number(s) B59 (2013–present)
Former
route number		 State Route 40 (1974–2013)
Major junctions
West end Chifley Road
Bell, New South Wales
 Darling Causeway
East end Kurrajong Road
Richmond, Sydney
Location(s)
Major suburbsMount Tomah, Berambing, Bilpin, Kurrajong Heights, Kurmond

The route, part of the traditional Aboriginal pathway network, was shown to Archibald Bell, Jr. by Darug men Emery and Cogy in 1823.[3][4] Subsequently, he was accompanied by the Government Assistant Surveyor and the route marked was known as Bell's Line, to be later cleared to become the second road across the Blue Mountains. Due to its condition and the gradients around Mount Tomah it was rarely used before World War II. The road was improved between 1939 and 1943, as an alternative to the Great Western Highway for the war effort. At the same time that it was improved, the road from Bell via Scenic Hill to Lithgow was built, so that the Darling Causeway (the conjoining road connecting Bell and Mount Victoria) carries relatively little traffic, but is a significant tourist route.

Today, the route is still used as an alternative route across the Blue Mountains and is also a popular tourist drive.

Route

The eastern terminus of Bells Line of Road as an identified route began at the edge of the town of Richmond, but now officially begins at the Richmond Bridge across the Hawkesbury River. West of the Hawkesbury River it passes through the town of North Richmond and the village of Kurmond, before bypassing Kurrajong. At Bellbird Hill it then proceeds to climb onto the Bell Range of the Blue Mountains, passing through Kurrajong Heights. When on the range, it proceeds through the fruit-growing areas of Bilpin and Berambing, before climbing and descending Mount Tomah, passing by the Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens. After Mount Tomah it proceeds through the Blue Mountains National Park passing Mount Bell and Mount Charles and passing close to Pierces Pass and Mount Banks. Eight kilometres (5.0 mi) before Bell is the turn off to the villages of Mount Wilson and Mount Irvine. At the village of Bell, Bells Line of Road turns south to run along the crest of the Darling Causeway to Mount Victoria, passing the site of the now-demolished Hartley Vale railway station. From Bell the majority of traffic uses Chifley Road, which goes west to Lithgow[1] and Great Western Highway.

The route has numerous sections of steep and winding road. The steepest section is at Bellbird Hill, where the road rises around 450 metres (1,480 ft) from the Hawkesbury Valley to the Bell Range. The road is steep with a grade of 1:8 and has several tight bends. Other steep sections include the east and west ascents of Mount Tomah and Mount Bell as well as "The Glen" on the west side of Kurrajong Heights.

Alternative routes

The next trafficable road north of Bells Line of Road that crosses the Blue Mountains is the Bylong Valley Way, which forms a more direct route between the Central West region and the Hunter Region, including the port of Newcastle, NSW.

History

The passing of the Main Roads Act of 1924[5] 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 (later the Department of Main Roads, and eventually Transport for NSW). Main Road No. 184 was declared along this road on 8 August 1928, from Richmond, via Bilpin to Bell (and continuing southwards along Darling Causeway to the intersection with Great Western Highway at Mount Victoria, and continuing eastwards via Windsor along Windsor Road to Parramatta);[2] with the passing of the Main Roads (Amendment) Act of 1929[6] to provide for additional declarations of State Highways and Trunk Roads, this was amended to Main Road 184 on 8 April 1929.

The passing of the Roads Act of 1993[7] updated road classifications and the way they could be declared within New South Wales. Under this act, Bells Line of Road retains its declaration as part of Main Road 184.[8]

The route was allocated part of State Route 40 in 1974. With the conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in 2013, this was replaced with route B59.[9]

Lowered speed limits

In November 2007, the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) announced plans to lower the speed limits along much of Bells Line of Road. Within a week, sufficient opposition was expressed that the changes were put on hold.[10] In October 2008, the same changes were again announced, with the RTA claiming that there had been community consultation, but numerous users of the road, including politicians and councillors based west of the Blue Mountains, claimed to have been unaware of any consultation.[11][12] As a result of the changes, the maximum speed limit east of Bell is now 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph).

Junctions
LGALocationkm[1]miDestinationsNotes
HawkesburyRichmond0.00.0 Kurrajong Road (B59 east) – Richmond, Windsor, SydneyEastern terminus of road, route B59 continues east along Kurrajong Road
Old Kurrajong Road (north) – Richmond
Yarramundi Lane (south) – Agnes Banks
Hawkesbury River0.70.43Bridge (no known official name)
HawkesburyNorth Richmond1.40.87Terrace Road (north) – Freemans Reach
Grose Vale Road (south) – Grose Vale, Grose Wold
2.11.3Crooked Lane – Tennyson
Kurmond5.63.5Kurmond Road – Kurmond
Kurrajong7.34.5Comleroy Road – East Kurrajong
7.54.7Old Bells Line of Road – Kurrajong
Blue MountainsMount Wilson51.231.8Mount Wilson Road – Mount Wilson, Mount IrvineUncontrolled T intersection
Bell58.436.3Main Western railway line
58.636.4Darling Causeway (south) – Mount Victoria, Springwood
Chifley Road (B59 west) – LithgowWestern terminus of road, route B59 continues west along Chifley Road
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
  •       Route transition

Future

For many years, road-lobby groups have been pushing for what they call a "superhighway" across the Blue Mountains. They claim that the poor roads across the Blue Mountains are impeding economic growth west of the Mountains.

In 2002, road-lobby groups secured $2 million in funding for a feasibility study into building a freeway following Bells Line of Road. The proposed freeway would have linked to the M2 Hills Motorway in Sydney and connected to the Great Western Highway west of Lithgow via a route across the Newnes Plateau. The study report, published in November 2004 concluded that, while feasible to build from an engineering perspective, it would not be economically feasible and would have massive impact on adjacent national parks and local communities.[13]

The Great Western Highway has been the main route across the Blue Mountains since its construction in 1815, but after the above studies found that a freeway would be too expensive to build along the route of Bell's Line of Road, the idea was abandoned. However Roads and Maritime Services' 2017 road corridor improvement program [14] provides for a somewhat more modest program of upgradings. It is also revisiting studies last undertaken in the 1960s to extend the planned Castlereagh Freeway (subsequently partly-built as the M2) to connect with Bell's Line of Road at Kurrajong Heights. If this project were to be implemented it would force major improvements to be undertaken to the route followed by Bell's Line of Road, due to the traffic volumes that would be generated by a freeway. Conversely, a freeway could not be justified without a major capacity increase on the Bell's Line of Road route.

See also

References
  1. Google (19 August 2022). "Bells Line of Road" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  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. "Magistrate for the Ensuing Week, Alexander Berry, Esquire". The Sydney Gazette And New South Wales Advertiser. Vol. Twenty–First, no. 1038. New South Wales, Australia. 9 October 1823. p. 2.
  4. "Hawkesbury Valley". Greater Blue Mountains Drive. Archived from the original on 30 May 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  5. 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
  6. State of New South Wales, An Act to amend the Main Roads Act, 1924-1927; to confer certain further powers upon the Main Roads Board; 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
  7. 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
  8. 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.
  9. "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.
  10. "RTA puts Bells Line speed limit changes on hold". ABC News. Australia. 13 November 2007.
  11. "Second attempt at speed zones". Lithgow Mercury. 14 October 2008. Archived from the original on 16 October 2008.
  12. Turner, Russell (MP) (22 October 2008). Bells Line of Road Speed Limit (Speech). Hansard. Parliament of New South Wales. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011.
  13. "Bells Line of Road Corridor Study". Roads & Traffic Authority. November 2004. Archived from the original on 2 January 2009.
  14. Bells Line of Road corridor improvement program Roads & Maritime 21 December 2017
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