Hume Highway Hume Freeway / Hume Motorway New South Wales–Victoria |
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Type | Motorway |
Length | 840 km (522 mi) |
Opened | 1817 |
Route number(s) |
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Former route number |
see Former route allocations |
NE end | |
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SW end | |
Major suburbs / towns | Goulburn, Yass, Tarcutta, Albury, Wodonga, Wangaratta, Benalla, Seymour, Craigieburn |
The Hume Highway, inclusive of the sections now known as the Hume Freeway and Hume Motorway, is one of Australia's major inter-city national highways, running for 840 kilometres (520 mi) between Melbourne in the southwest and Sydney in the northeast. Upgrading of the route from Sydney's outskirts to Melbourne's outskirts to dual carriageway was completed on 7 August 2013.
From north to south, the road is called the Hume Highway in metropolitan Sydney, the Hume Motorway between Prestons and Berrima, the Hume Highway elsewhere in New South Wales and the Hume Freeway in Victoria. It is part of the Auslink National Network and is a vital link for road freight to transport goods to and from the two cities as well as serving Albury-Wodonga and Canberra.
The main alternative route between Sydney and Melbourne is the Princes Highway/Princes Freeway/Princes Motorway route (A1/M1) which follows the coast for most of its length. Other inland alternate routes include the Olympic Highway route (A41) between Albury and Sydney via Cowra and Bathurst, and also the Federal Highway / Monaro Highway route (M23/A23/B23) via Canberra which links with the Hume Highway near Goulburn and the Princes Highway in East Gippsland.