Snowy Mountains Highway

Snowy Mountains Highway

Snowy Mountains Highway highlighted in green
General information
TypeHighway
Length287 km (178 mi)[1]
333 km (207 mi) including intervening roadway.[1]
GazettedAugust 1928 (as Main Road 4)[2]
Route number(s) B72 (2013–present)
Former
route number
National Route 18 (1955–2013)
Major junctions
Eastern section
East end Princes Highway
Stony Creek, New South Wales
 Mogilla Road
West end Monaro Highway
Steeple Flat, New South Wales
Western section
East end Monaro Highway
Cooma, New South Wales
 
West end Hume Highway
Mount Adrah, New South Wales
Location(s)
Major settlementsAdelong, Tumut Adaminaby, Cooma
Restrictions
GeneralWithin Kosciuszko National Park, it is recommended that two-wheel drive vehicles carry snow chains during winter.[3]
Highway system
----

Snowy Mountains Highway is a 333-kilometre-long (207 mi)[1] state highway located in New South Wales, Australia. Its two sections connect the New South Wales South Coast to the Monaro region, and the Monaro to the South West Slopes via the Snowy Mountains. The higher altitude regions of this road are subject to snow over the winter months, and the road also provides access to many parts of the Snowy Mountains Scheme. The highway bears the B72 shield along its entire length.

The highway originally bore the name Monaro Highway until 1955, when it received its current name. It originally ran from Tathra to Wagga Wagga but has been shortened to run from Princes Highway to Hume Highway instead. Reservoirs created as a result of dams built in the 1950s and 1960s as part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme required the creation of major realignments to avoid submerged areas. Previous to New South Wales' conversion to alphanumeric route markers, it was signed as National Route 18.

  1. ^ a b c "Snowy Mountains Highway" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  2. ^ "Main Roads Act, 1924-1927". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 110. National Library of Australia. 17 August 1928. pp. 3814–20. Archived from the original on 3 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  3. ^ "Driving in the snow". NSW Government – Office of Environment and Heritage. 19 July 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2013.