Department of Main Roads (New South Wales)

The Department of Main Roads (DMR) was an agency of the New South Wales Government, responsible for planning, constructing and maintaining major road infrastructure. The DMR directly managed highways and major roads and provided funding to local councils for regional and local roads. The agency was merged with other agencies to form the Roads & Traffic Authority in 1989.

Department of Main Roads

DMR logo used from circa 1980 to 1989
Agency overview
FormedDecember 1932
Preceding Agency
  • New South Wales Main Roads
Dissolved15 January 1989
Superseding agency
TypeGovernment Department
JurisdictionNew South Wales
HeadquartersSydney
Employees8,050 (1988)
Annual budget$1 billion (1988)
Minister responsible
Agency executive
  • Bernard Fisk, Commissioner of Main Roads
Key document
  • Transport (Division of Functions) Act of 1932

History
See also: Transport for NSW

The Ministry of Transport was established in December 1932 by way of the Transport (Division of Functions) Act of 1932, following the dismissal of the Lang Government and the subsequent state election.[1][2] The ministry consisted of three departments, including the Department of Main Roads and the Department of Road Transport & Tramways.[3][4] The departments were established as the incoming Stevens Government and its Minister for Transport Michael Bruxner sought to reorganise the management of the road network in NSW. The new department essentially resumed the functions that had been held by the NSW Main Roads Board from 1925 until March 1932, when they were transferred to the Department of Transport by the Lang Government.[5][6]

The Transport (Division of Functions) Act of 1932 provided for the appointment of a Commissioner of Main Roads who held the powers necessary to manage the major highways of the state. Hugh Hamilton Newell was appointed as the first Commissioner.[7] The new Department also took over the management of the newly constructed Sydney Harbour Bridge from the Public Works Department.[8]

DMR date plaque on the Inglewood Bridge over the Lachlan River near Gunning

In 1976 the responsibilities for managing traffic, including the operation of the traffic signal system, were transferred to the DMR from the Department of Motor Transport, which was a successor of Department of Road Transport and Tramways. Many specialist traffic management staff and traffic signal maintenance crews also became part of the DMR at this time.[5][9]

Pursuant to the Transport Administration Act 1988, the DMR merged with the Traffic Authority of New South Wales and the Department of Motor Transport to form the Roads & Traffic Authority on 16 January 1989.[10]

New South Wales Road Classification

When formed, the DMR was responsible for managing 26,321 km of the major roads in NSW.[8][9] These were formally classified as:

  • State Highways
  • Trunk Roads
  • Main Roads
  • Secondary Roads
  • Developmental Roads

By 1972 this network had grown to 43,292 km and by then also included some additional classifications:[8]

  • Freeways
  • Tourist Roads
  • Unclassified roads in the remote western parts of the State

Local roads continued to managed by local councils.

Organisation

The Department of Main Roads was headed by a Commissioner who was a statutory appointment by the Minister for Roads. The department employed salaried staff who carried out planning, management and administrative tasks and day labour staff who undertook road and bridge works.

For much of its existence the DMR undertook a significant proportion of its road and bridge construction and all its maintenance activities using its own labour force. It also operated major mechanical workshops, asphalt plants, spray sealing crews, road linemarking teams and materials testing laboratories.

In 1932 the Department had a total employment of 2,425. By 1970, as tasks expanded, this number had grown to 11,497. In the later 1970s and through the 1980s successive waves of internal re-organisation led to more work being let out to contract with the total employment number dropping to 8,700 by the time the Department ceased to exist in 1989.[8]

List of Commissioners of Main Roads
No. Commissioner Took Office Left Office
1 Hugh Hamilton Newell[11][12][13] 29 Dec 1932 15 Mar 1941 (Died while holding office)
2 David Craig[14][15][16] 17 Mar 1941 1 Aug 1946 (Died while holding office)
3 Alfred Toyer[17][18] 2 Aug 1946 18 Aug 1953 (Died while holding office)
4 Howard Sherrard[19][20][21] 19 Aug 1953 19 Apr 1962
5 John Shaw 20 Apr 1962 25 Aug 1967
6 Russell Thomas 26 Aug 1967 25 Aug 1974
7 Andrew Schmidt[22] 26 Aug 1974 12 Jan 1976
8 Brian Sexton 13 Jan 1976 17 Nov 1981 (Died while holding office)
9 Bruce Loder 18 Nov 1981 2 Nov 1986
10 Bernard Fisk 3 Nov 1986 15 Jan 1989

National Affiliations

The Department of Main Roads became a member of Conference of State Road Authorities (COSRA) when that organisation was formed in 1934 and then, from 1959, the National Association of Australian State Road Authorities (NAASRA). When NAASRA was transformed into Austroads in 1989 the DMR’s successor the Roads & Traffic Authority became a foundation member.

Publication

From 1929 until 1984, Main Roads was the DMR's inhouse journal that was published quarterly.[23][24]

References
  • Aitkin, Don (1969). The Colonel: A political biography of Sir Michael Bruxner. Australian National University Press. ISBN 9780708100288.
  • Terry, Michael (1945). Bulldozer: the War Role of the Department of Main Roads, New South Wales. Frank Johnson, Sydney.

Notes
  1. "Transport (Division of Functions) Act, Act No. 31, 1932" (PDF). NSW Legislation. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  2. "AGY-3819 Ministry of Transport [I] (1932-1975) Ministry of Transport and Highways (1975-1978) Ministry of Transport [II] (1978-1990)". NSW State Archives & Records. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  3. "AGY-2 Department of Main Roads". NSW State Archives & Records. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  4. "AGY-537 Department of Road Transport and Tramways". NSW State Archives & Records. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  5. Broomham, Rosemary (2001). Vital Connections: a history of NSW roads from 1788. Alexandria NSW: Hale and Iremonger and Roads & Traffic Authority. p. 121. ISBN 0868067032.
  6. Gibbons, Robert Peter (1978). Transport administration and planning in Sydney : co-ordinative influences in a multi-organisational policy field. University of Sydney. pp. 89–90.
  7. Aitkin, Don (1969). The colonel: a political biography of Sir Michael Bruxner (PDF). ANU Press. ISBN 9780708100288.
  8. New South Wales Department of Main Roads (1976). The Roadmakers. Sydney: Department of Main Roads. ISBN 0724004394.
  9. Kass, Terry (2006). Roads Thematic History Second Edition (PDF). Roads & Maritime Services. p. 77.
  10. Legislation, Roads & Traffic Authority annual report for year ended 30 June 1989 page 52
  11. Mayall, R. M., "Newell, Hugh Hamilton (1878–1941)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 29 April 2020
  12. Department of Main Roads (1941). Annual Report 1941. Department of Main Roads. pp. 5–6.
  13. Department of Main Roads (1942). Annual Report 1942. Department of Main Roads. p. 3.
  14. Department of Main Roads (1938). Annual Report 1938. Department of Main Roads. p. 1.
  15. Department of Main Roads (1946). Annual Report 1946. Department of Main Roads. pp. 4–5.
  16. Department of Main Roads (1946). Main Roads December 1946. Department of Main Roads. p. 2.
  17. Department of Main Roads (1953). Annual Report 1953. Department of Main Roads. pp. 5–6.
  18. Department of Main Roads (1953). Main Roads September 1953. Department of Main Roads. p. 1.
  19. Freestone, Robert, "Sherrard, Howard Macoun (1897–1984)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 29 April 2020
  20. Department of Main Roads (1953). Main Roads December 1953. Department of Main Roads. p. 46.
  21. Department of Main Roads (1962). Main Roads June 1962. Department of Main Roads. p. 108.
  22. Department of Main Roads (1978). Annual Report 1978. Department of Main Roads. p. 14.
  23. Foreward Main Roads September 1929 page 1
  24. Main Roads catalogue entry National Library of Australia

 Australian Roads portal

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