Main North Road
Main North Road is the major north-south arterial route through the suburbs north of the Adelaide City Centre in the city of Adelaide, South Australia.[3] It continues north through the settled areas of South Australia and is a total of 307 kilometres (191 mi) long, from North Adelaide to 21 kilometres (13 mi) out of Port Augusta.[4]
Main North Road Horrocks Highway | |
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Looking south at Main North Road's southern (city) end. | |
North end South end | |
Coordinates |
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General information | |
Type | Road |
Length | 307 km (191 mi)[1] |
Route number(s) |
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Former route number |
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Major junctions | |
North end | Augusta Highway Winninowie, South Australia |
South end | Prospect Road O'Connell Street North Adelaide |
Location(s) | |
Region | Yorke and Mid North, Barossa Light and Lower North, Northern Adelaide, Eastern Adelaide[2] |
Major suburbs | Wilmington, Gladstone, Clare, Giles Corner, Gawler, Elizabeth, Gepps Cross, Medindie |
It follows the route established in the early years of the colony by explorer John Horrocks and was a major route for farmers and graziers to reach the capital, passing through rich farmland and the Clare Valley wine region. In 2011, the section of road between Gawler and Wilmington in SA's mid-north was renamed the Horrocks Highway.[5]
Route
Main North Road branches from the northern end of O'Connell Street (North Adelaide) and passes through the Adelaide Parklands and the suburbs of Thorngate, Medindie, Medindie Gardens, Nailsworth, Prospect, Sefton Park, Blair Athol and Enfield before reaching the major intersection at Gepps Cross. Here the road forks, with the Port Wakefield Road (A1 - National Highway 1) continuing to the north, and the Main North Road turning northeast and continuing as route A20.
It continues through the outer northern suburbs, passing Mawson Lakes and Salisbury, crossing the Little Para River and passing Elizabeth and Smithfield before entering Gawler. In Gawler, it crosses the South Para and North Para Rivers, and the Barossa Valley Way branches to the east between them. Just north of Gawler, it passes under the Sturt Highway which heads east to the Barossa Valley, Riverland, northern Victoria and New South Wales.
Horrocks Highway
This is where the name Horrocks Highway takes over from the historic name of Main North Road. The environment changes from urban to undulating land, mostly cleared for grain cropping. Several of the towns have grain storage bunkers or silos. It crosses the Light River then crosses and follows the Gilbert River to where the Barrier Highway branches northeast towards Riverton and Burra.
Over the next ridge, it crosses the Wakefield River and enters the southern end of the Clare Valley. The dominant scenery changes from grain crops to grapevines from Auburn to Clare. It returns to grain fields again north of the Hutt River as it passes through the Southern Flinders Ranges. It crosses the Broughton River near Yacka and on to Wilmington at the eastern side of Horrocks Pass. As the Horrocks Highway is in the valley between the southern Flinders Ranges and northern Mount Lofty Ranges, it is in the relatively wetter climate south of Goyder's Line.
Main North Road from Wilmington to Gawler Belt was renamed to Horrocks Highway in 2011 to honour John Horrocks, an early explorer and pioneer in the region.[5] While Main North Road turns west in Wilmington through Horrocks Pass to join the Augusta Highway as route B56, Horrocks Highway continues north beyond Wilmington as route B82 to Quorn.[6]
Commuter route
In the metropolitan area, Main North Road is a major commuter route to the central business district in the Adelaide city centre.
The portion of Main North Road between the city centre and Mawson Lakes is a 15-minute public transport 'Go Zone', with the maximum wait for a bus being 15 minutes during peak times (7:30 am – 6:30 pm weekdays) and 30 minutes on weekends and evenings.[7] Bus routes via Main North Road generally begin with the prefix "22x". The bus service is provided by SouthLink for Adelaide Metro.
Route numbers
From north to south, the route numbers used along the road are:
- B56 from Stirling North, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) south-east of Port Augusta to Wilmington, where route B56 follows Willowie Road to Peterborough;
- B82 from Wilmington through the Clare Valley and the northern fringes of Gawler;
- B19 through Gawler, where B19 follows Barossa Valley Way through the Barossa Valley wine region;
- A20 from the southern fringes of Gawler to Gepps Cross, in the northern suburbs of Adelaide
- A1 from Gepps Cross to North Adelaide.
In late 2010 when the Northern Expressway was completed, National Highway A20 was diverted to the new road as National Highway M20. Main North Road and the southern section of the Gawler Bypass Road were then designated as route A52. In late 2016, the Northern Expressway was designated M2, and the designation of Main North Road was reverted back as route A20 to Gepps Cross.[8]
Major intersections
LGA[9] | Location[1][4] | km[1] | mi | Destinations | Notes |
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Port Augusta | Winninowie | 0.0 | 0.0 | Augusta Highway (A1) – Port Augusta, Snowtown | Northern terminus of road and route B56 |
0.2 | 0.12 | Adelaide–Port Augusta railway line | |||
Mount Remarkable | Wilmington | 20.7 | 12.9 | Horrocks Highway (B82 north) – Quorn | Concurrency of routes B56 and B82 |
23.3 | 14.5 | Willowie Road (B56 east) – Orroroo, Peterborough | |||
Melrose | 50.0 | 31.1 | White Wells Road – Booleroo Centre | ||
Murray Town | 59.4 | 36.9 | Nukunu Yarta Way – Booleroo Centre | ||
62.4 | 38.8 | Germein Gorge Road – Port Germein | |||
Northern Areas | Laura | 90.0 | 55.9 | Possum Park Road – Crystal Brook | |
Gladstone | 100.0 | 62.1 | Wilkins Highway (B79) – Crystal Brook, Jamestown, Hallett | ||
101.6 | 63.1 | Crystal Brook–Broken Hill railway line | |||
Gulnare | 121.9 | 75.7 | Goyder Highway (B64 west) – Crystal Brook | Concurrency of routes B64 and B82 | |
124.0 | 77.1 | Goyder Highway (B64 east) – Spalding, Burra, Renmark | |||
Wakefield | Brinkworth | 150.0 | 93.2 | Condowie Plain Road – Snowtown | |
Clare and Gilbert Valleys | Bungaree | 159.8 | 99.3 | Bungaree Road (north) – Bungaree | |
162.6 | 101.0 | RM Williams Way (B80) – Spalding, Jamestown | |||
168.3 | 104.6 | Bungaree Road (south) – Bungaree | |||
Clare | 174.8 | 108.6 | Blyth Road – Blyth, Lochiel | ||
175.7 | 109.2 | Farrell Flat Road – Hanson, Burra | |||
Auburn | 200.0 | 124.3 | Balaklava Road (B84 west) – Balaklava, Port Wakefield | Concurrency of routes B82 and B84 | |
200.2 | 124.4 | Saddleworth Road (B84 east) – Saddleworth | |||
Wakefield River | 204.9 | 127.3 | Bridge over the river (bridge name unknown) | ||
Clare and Gilbert Valleys | Giles Corner | 224.5 | 139.5 | Barrier Highway (A32) – Burra, Hallett, Broken Hill | Northbound entrance to and southbound exit from Barrier Highway only |
Tarlee | 230.0 | 142.9 | Tarlee Road – Kapunda | ||
Light River | 239.8 | 149.0 | Linwood Bridge | ||
Light | Templers | 253.1 | 157.3 | Owen Road (northwest) – Hamley Bridge, Owen, Balaklava Templers Road (east) – Freeling | |
Gawler Belt | 264.1 | 164.1 | Thiele Highway (B81) – Freeling, Kapunda, Eudunda, Morgan | ||
264.7 | 164.5 | Sturt Highway (A20) – Adelaide, Nuriootpa, Renmark | Southern terminus of route B82, unallocated south | ||
North Para River | 267.0 | 165.9 | Bridge over the river (bridge name unknown) | ||
Gawler | Gawler | 267.6 | 166.3 | Barossa Valley railway line | |
267.9 | 166.5 | Barossa Valley Way (B19) – Lyndoch, Tanunda, Nuriootpa | Route B19 continues south (as Adelaide Road) | ||
South Para River | 268.7 | 167.0 | Bridge over the river (bridge name unknown) | ||
Gawler | Evanston South | 268.8 | 167.0 | Twelfth Street (B77) – Gawler River, Two Wells | |
Evanston-Evanston Park-Evanston South tripoint | 272.4 | 169.3 | Gawler Bypass (A20 north) – Nuriootpa, Renmark | Northeast-bound entrance from and southwest-bound exit to Main North Road only Western terminus of route B19 Route A20 continues southwest along Main North Road | |
Playford | Elizabeth Vale-Hillbank boundary | 286.6 | 178.1 | John Rice Avenue (A9) – Salisbury, Port Adelaide | |
Little Para River | 287.5 | 178.6 | Bridge over the river (bridge name unknown) | ||
Salisbury | Salisbury Park-Salisbury Plain-Salisbury Heights tripoint | 289.1 | 179.6 | The Grove Way (A11 southeast) – Golden Grove Saints Road (northwest) – Salisbury Plain | |
Salisbury South-Salisbury East-Parafield-Para Hills West quadripoint | 292.6 | 181.8 | McIntyre Road (A18 southeast) – Modbury Kings Road (A18 northwest) – Salisbury Downs | ||
Mawson Lakes-Pooraka boundary | 297.6 | 184.9 | Montague Road – Cavan, Modbury | ||
Port Adelaide Enfield | Gepps Cross | 300.0 | 186.4 | Port Wakefield Road (A1 north) – Waterloo Corner, Port Wakefield Grand Junction Road (A16 east, west) – Port Adelaide, Northfield | Southern terminus of route A20 Route A1 continues south along Main North Road |
Prospect-Port Adelaide Enfield boundary | Prospect-Enfield-Sefton Park tripoint | 302.9 | 188.2 | Regency Road – Kilkenny, Greenacres | |
Prospect-Walkerville-Adelaide tripoint | Thorngate-Medindie-North Adelaide tripoint | 305.9 | 190.1 | Fitzroy Terrace (R1 west) – Hindmarsh, Thebarton Robe Terrace (R1 east) – Kent Town, Dulwich | Route A1 north from here, unallocated south |
Adelaide | North Adelaide | 306.3 | 190.3 | O'Connell Street (south) – North Adelaide, Adelaide CBD Prospect Road (north) – Prospect Barton Terrace West (west) – North Adelaide | Southern terminus of road |
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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See also
References
- Google (20 June 2022). "Main North Road" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
- "Location SA Map viewer with regional layers". Government of South Australia. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
- 2003 Adelaide Street Directory, 41st Edition. UBD (A Division of Universal Press Pty Ltd). 2003. ISBN 0-7319-1441-4.
- "Location SA Map viewer with suburb layers". Government of South Australia. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
- "Highways renamed" (PDF). The Flinders News. Rural Press. 31 August 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
- "Highway One gets a change of name". Plains Producer. 19 August 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
- "FAQs: What is a Go Zone?". AdelaideMetro.com.au. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- "Road Route Numbers (Trail Blazer)". Data SA. Government of South Australia. 8 November 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
- "Location SA Map viewer with LGA layers". Government of South Australia. Retrieved 16 June 2022.