User:Downsize43/sandbox/Toowoomba Athol Road basis
Toowoomba Athol Road | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Type | Road |
| Length | 17.1 km (11 mi) |
| Route number(s) |
|
| Former route number |  Gore Highway |
| Major junctions | |
| NE end |  Toowoomba Connection Road, Newtown, Queensland (Toowoomba) |
| SW end | Gore Highway, Athol, Queensland |
| Location(s) | |
| Major suburbs | Harristown, Drayton, Westbrook |
The Toowoomba Athol Road is a 17.1 km (10.6 mi) former section of the Gore Highway that runs south-west from the city of Toowoomba in Queensland, Australia. With the opening of the Toowoomba Bypass in 2019 the Gore Highway was redirected to part of it, and the bypassed section of the highway was renamed Toowoomba Athol Road and assigned the route number A139.
Route description[edit]
The road commences at an intersection with the Toowoomba Connection Road (A21) on the midpoint of the Toowoomba suburbs of Newtown and Harristown. It runs south-west through the residential suburb of Harristown and the rural suburbs of Drayton and Westbrook to the rural locality of Athol, where it ends at an intersection with the Gore Highway. There are no major intersections on this road.
History[edit]
In 1849 government surveyor James Charles Burnett prepared a design for the town of Drayton and chose a site 3–4 miles (4.8–6.4 km) to the north-east for suburban allotments of 27–40 acres (11–16 ha). Located where two swampy creeks converged as the headwaters of Gowrie Creek, this area was known as The Swamp/s or the Drayton Swamp, and later as Toowoomba. When preparing the detailed survey of Drayton in 1850, Burnett added a cemetery to the north of the village, midway between Drayton town and the Drayton Swamp suburban allotments, on slightly elevated land close to the road connecting the two settlements.[1] This road, later named Anzac Avenue, is now part of Toowoomba Athol Road.
The Toowoomba Bypass was completed in September 2019 and bypasses the urban area of Toowoomba and provides a better crossing of the Great Dividing Range. The Warrego Highway (A2) was rerouted via the bypass between Helidon Spa (in the east) and an interchange at Charlton (in the west). The Gore Highway (A39) was rerouted via the bypass between Charlton and Athol, and the original section of Gore Highway from Toowoomba to Athol was renamed Toowoomba Athol Road (A139).[2]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Drayton and Toowoomba Cemetery (entry 602718)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
- ^ "Toowoomba Bypass". Department of Transport and Main Roads. Retrieved 5 August 2020.