Cunningham Highway

Cunningham Highway Queensland
Cunningham Highway (green and black)
Type	Highway
Length	327 km (203 mi)
Route number(s)	National Route 42 (Goondiwindi-Warwick) National Highway 15 (Warwick-Blackstone, Ipswich) National Highway A15 (Blackstone-Riverview)
West end	Newell Highway Leichhardt Highway Barwon Highway Goondiwindi, Queensland NSW/Qld Border
	New England Highway New England Highway Boonah-Fassifern Road
East end	Ipswich Motorway Warrego Highway Ipswich, Queensland
Major settlements	Yelarbon, Inglewood, Warwick
Highways in Australia National Highway • Freeways in Australia Highways in Queensland

The Cunningham Highway is a 327-kilometre (203 mi)national highway located in south-eastern Queensland, Australia. The highway links the Darling Downs region with the urbanised outskirts of Ipswich via Cunninghams Gap.

The Cunningham carries the National Highway 15 shield between Ipswich and north of Warwick at its junction with the New England Highway where both the Cunningham and the New England head south concurrently to Warwick. Thereafter, the Cunningham carries the National Highway 42 shield to its south-western terminus with the Leichhardt Highway at Goondiwindi. The majority of the Cunningham Highway is a single carriageway and freeway standard and 6-lane arterial road standard towards its north-eastern terminus, near Ipswich.

The highway is named in honour of the explorer and botanist Allan Cunningham who followed a route close to where the modern day highway runs. In 1828 after discovering the route Cunningham sent a report to Governor Ralph Darling emphasising the economic benefits that a link between the coast and pastoral lands of the Darling Downs would provide. The first road between the coast and the Darling Downs was Spicers Gap Road developed in 1859, which crossed the range at Spicer's Gap and was suitable for the drays used at that time. Although Cunningham's Gap was known at that time, it was considered too steep a route for drays. With the opening of the Southern railway line between Toowoomba and Warwick in 1871, passenger and goods transport switched to the railways and Spicers Gap Road fell into disuse and was not maintained well due to the cost.

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