List of road routes in New South Wales

Route numbers have been allocated to NSW roads since 1955. National Route 1 ('Highway 1') was one of the best known numbered national routes, likely because of its fame for circumnavigating the continent. The insignia of national routes was a five-sided black and white shield, chosen as it is the shape of the Australian national coat of arms.

To supplement the national route number system, three ring roads were introduced to Sydney in 1964.[1] These were numbered 1, 3 and 5, with relatively (but not proportionately) increasing radii. While they were officially decommissioned in 1974, some old ring road 3 signs remained posted into the 1980s, and ring road 1 signs into the 1990s.

In 1973, a system of freeway numbering was introduced to the state to complement the national routes and ring roads. The shields were replicas of the red, white and blue U.S. Interstate Highway shields, and were numbered F1 to F8:

• F1: Warringah Freeway, and its never-built extensions
• F2: reserved for the Castlereagh Freeway, a corridor similar to today's M2 Hills Motorway
• F3: Sydney–Newcastle Freeway (now Pacific Motorway), and the never-built Lane Cove Valley Expressway and North Western Expressway
• F4: Western part of today's M4 Western Motorway (formerly Western Freeway)
• F5: the freeway section of National Highway 31 (now Hume Motorway)
• F6: Southern Freeway (now Princes Motorway), and its never-built extensions to the Sydney CBD
• F7: reserved for a corridor similar to today's Cahill Expressway, Eastern Distributor and Bondi Junction Bypass
• F8: a section of Wollongong's Northern Distributor (now Memorial Drive)[2]

Most of these routes were replaced with other numbers over the decades, and by the 1990s, only the F1, F3 and F6 were still marked as such, with simpler, green-on-white shields. None of these shields remain, but the F3 and F6 are still usually called by those names.

In 1974, the National Highway network was defined, which in New South Wales included the Hume Highway, Federal Highway, Barton Highway, Sydney-Newcastle Freeway (now Pacific Motorway) and New England Highway.[3] National highways were marked with the same shield as the national routes, except for their green and gold colour and the word 'national' added across the top.

Also in 1974, the three ring roads, 1, 3 and 5, were decommissioned and replaced by new State Routes, which had the same shields as the new freeways but without the red crest. Scores of other State Routes were also designated across New South Wales, marking out urban arterial routes and secondary rural highways. They were allocated as follows:

• 11, 33 and 55: Respectively replaced ring roads 1, 3 and 5. In 1988, state route 77 was commissioned as an additional primary circumferential route.
• 12-76: Greater Sydney. Even numbers were radial while odd numbers were circumferential, roughly increasing in value anticlockwise around the City. Exceptions were State Route 31 (which replaced Metroad 5 when the South Western Motorway was extended easterly; Metroad 5 was a replacement of the metropolitan part of National Highway 31) and state route 60 (which is in Wollongong). Routes 36, 40, 56, 68 and 69 extended beyond the bounds of Greater Sydney. While most State Routes still appear on maps and in street directories, they were haphazardly removed and covered up in Sydney in 1998 and 2004, leaving only routes 29, 31, 40, 44, 54, 56, 60 and 69.
• 78-99: Rural Areas. There was no discernible pattern with these routes. State route 83 was commissioned in 1979 and state route 89 was commissioned in 1980.
• 111, 121-124, 128, 131-133, 135: Greater Newcastle. 111 was added in 1988 following National Highway 1's relocation to the F3 Freeway.
• 151, 153, 155 and 157: Greater Wollongong, in addition to state routes 60, 68, 69 and 88.
• 2: In 2008, Queensland's state route 2 from the Gold Coast was extended a short distance into far northern NSW.

In 1993, Sydney's Metroad system was introduced, with its prominent, blue-on-white hexagonal shields. There were initially six metroads: Metroad 1 replaced National Route 1 within the metropolitan area, Metroad 2 replaced parts of State Routes 28 and 30 (and was subsequently absorbed by the M2 Hills Motorway), Metroad 3 replaced State Route 33 (once Ring Road 3), Metroad 4 replaced the F4 Freeway and the metropolitan part of National Route 32, Metroad 5 replaced part of the metropolitan part of National Highway 31 and Metroad 7 replaced State Route 77. Later, Metroad 6 replaced State Route 45, Metroad 9 replaced the metropolitan part of State Route 69 and Metroad 10 replaced State Route 14 south of Mona Vale. There was never a Metroad 8.

In 2013, the state replaced its entire system of State Routes, National Routes, National Highways and Metroads with an alphanumeric route numbering system.[4] All numbered routes are allocated a letter (M, A or B) in addition to its number, with 'M' routes denoting motorways, 'A' routes denoting routes of national significance, and 'B' routes denoting routes of state significance. Instead of shields, the route numbers are displayed as yellow text on green rectangular background outlined in white. The changeover to alphanumeric routes was announced from March 2013 and signs were updated throughout 2013, either by removing old "shield" coverplates installed on newer signs, or installing new alphanumeric coverplates on old shielded signs. In 2020, the styling of the markers was modified to remove the white border, aligning with all other states except the ACT.[5]

[6]

Route	Component roads	From	To	Length	Notes
B23	Monaro Highway	ACT border	Victoria border	204 km (127 mi)
B51	Kamilaroi Highway	Willow Tree	Narrabri	188 km (117 mi)
B52	Kings Highway	ACT border	Batemans Bay	115 km (71 mi)
B53	Lake Road T C Frith Avenue Five Islands Road Toronto Road Main Road (Fennell Bay) Anzac Parade Cary Street Mount Waring Road Wangi Road Main Road (Dora Creek) Macquarie Street Dora Street Mandalong Road	Wallsend	Morisset	35.2 km (22 mi)
B55	Castlereagh Highway	Marrangaroo	Queensland border	631 km (392 mi)
B56	Oxley Highway	Port Macquarie	Coonabarabran	448 km (278 mi)
B57	The Esplanade Medcalf Street Hillsborough Road Charlestown Road	Speers Point	Charlestown	9.5 km (6 mi)
B58	Riverina Highway	Deniliquin	Victorian border	220 km (137 mi)
B59	Groves Avenue Hawkesbury Valley Way Windsor Street East Market Street Kurrajong Road Bells Line of Road Chifley Road Mort Street Lithgow Street Main Street	Vineyard	Lithgow	89.8 km (56 mi)
B60	Bruxner Highway	Ballina	Tenterfield	185 km (115 mi)
B62	Bangalow-Lismore Road	Ewingsdale	Lismore	39.6 km (25 mi)
B63	Northcott Drive Bridges Road Turton Road Railway Terrace Platt Street Hanbury Street Vine Street Industrial Drive (concurrent with A43) Tourle Street Cormorant Road Teal Street Nelson Bay Road	Kotara	Nelson Bay	59.7 km (37 mi)
B64	Mid-Western Highway	Cowra	Hay	413 km (257 mi)
B65	Princes Highway (Bulli) (superseded route) Memorial Drive Princes Highway (North Wollongong) (superseded route) Bourke Street Corrimal Street Springhill Road Five Islands Road King Street Primbee Bypass Windang Road Shellharbour Road	Bulli Tops	Shellharbour	38.6 km (24 mi)
B68	Cessnock Road John Renshaw Drive	Beresfield	Cessnock	29.4 km (18 mi)
B69	Appin Road	Campbelltown	Bulli Tops	34.1 km (21 mi)
B70	Sparks Road Wallarah Road Main Road	Warnervale	Noraville	14 km (9 mi)
B71	Mitchell Highway	Nyngan	Queensland border	338 km (210 mi)
B72	Snowy Mountains Highway	Steeple Flat	Stony Creek	287 km (178 mi)	Separate eastern and northern sections
B73	Old Hume Highway Bowral Road Mittagong Road Bong Bong Street Kangaloon Road Sheepwash Road Nowra Road Moss Vale Road	Mittagong	Nowra	68.2 km (42 mi)
B74	Wyong Road	Tuggerah	Bateau Bay	11.4 km (7 mi)
B75	Cobb Highway	Wilcannia	Victoria border	598 km (372 mi)
B76	Gwydir Highway Kamilaroi Highway	South Grafton	Bourke	804 km (500 mi)
B78	Waterfall Way	Urunga	Armindale	165 km (103 mi)
B79	Silver City Highway	Curlwaa	Broken Hill	297 km (185 mi)
B81	Lachlan Valley Way Canowindra Road Escort Way Peabody Road Wellington Street EdwardStreet	Yass	Molong	215 km (134 mi)
B82	Freemans Drive Wine Country Drive	Freemans Waterhole	Branxton	50.4 km (31 mi)
B83	Pacific Highway	Wahroonga	Somersby	54.6 km (34 mi)
B84	Golden Highway	Belford	Dubbo	314 km (195 mi)
B85	Goldfields Way	West Wylong	Junee	113 km (70 mi)
B87	Kidman Way	Jerilderie	Bourke	644 km (400 mi)
B88	Picton Road	Picton	Wollongong	45 km (28 mi)
B89	George Booth Drive Main Road Macquarie Road King Street The Esplanade Macquarie Drive (Warners Bay) Bareki Road Macquarie Drive (Croudace Bay) Croudace Bay Road Lewers Street Ross Street Brooks Parade Macquarie Street	West Wallsend	Belmont	22.9 km (14 mi)
B91	Summerland Way	Grafton	Queensland border	199 km (124 mi)
B94	Burley Griffin Way	Bowning	Griffith	289 km (180 mi)
B95	Fossickers Way	Tamworth	Yetman	274 km (170 mi)

• Alpine Way
• Barry Way
• Bathurst-Ilford Road
• Bucketts Way
• Bylong Valley Way
• Escort Way
• Goulburn-Oberon Road
• Henry Lawson Way
• Irrigation Way
• O'Connell Road
• Putty Road
• Thunderbolts Way
• Wombeyan Caves Road
• Yass Valley Way

• Highways in Australia for highways in other states and territories
• Highways in New South Wales for details about officially gazetted highways