List of road routes in New South Wales

Route numbers have been allocated to NSW roads since 1955. National Route 1 ('Highway 1') was one of the best known numbered national routes, likely because of its fame for circumnavigating the continent. The insignia of national routes was a five-sided black and white shield, chosen as it is the shape of the Australian national coat of arms.

To supplement the national route number system, three ring roads were introduced to Sydney in 1964.[1] These were numbered 1, 3 and 5, with relatively (but not proportionately) increasing radii. While they were officially decommissioned in 1974, some old ring road 3 signs remained posted into the 1980s, and ring road 1 signs into the 1990s.

In 1973, a system of freeway numbering was introduced to the state to complement the national routes and ring roads. The shields were replicas of the red, white and blue U.S. Interstate Highway shields, and were numbered F1 to F8:

• : Warringah Freeway, and its never-built extensions
• : reserved for the Castlereagh Freeway, a corridor similar to today's M2 Hills Motorway but not signed
• : Sydney–Newcastle Freeway (now Pacific Motorway), and the never-built Lane Cove Valley Expressway and North Western Expressway, not signed anywhere except here where the sign still remains in 2020
• : Western part of today's M4 Western Motorway (formerly Western Freeway)
• : the freeway section of National Highway 31 (now Hume Motorway)
• : Southern Freeway (now Princes Motorway), Captain Cook Bridge and its never-built extensions to the Sydney CBD
• : reserved for a corridor along the alignment of the Cahill Expressway, Eastern Distributor and Bondi Junction Bypass but not signed
• : a section of Wollongong's Northern Distributor (now Memorial Drive)[2]

Most of these routes were replaced with other numbers over the decades, and by the 1990s, only the F1, F3 and F6 were still marked as such, with simpler, green-on-white shields. None of these shields remain, but the F3 and F6 are still usually called by those names until 2013.

In 1974, the National Highway network was defined, which in New South Wales included the Hume Highway (Now Hume Motorway North of Berrima), Federal Highway, Barton Highway, Sydney-Newcastle Freeway (now Pacific Motorway) and New England Highway.[3] National highways were marked with the same shield as the national routes, except for their green and gold colour and the word 'national' added across the top.

Also in 1974, the three ring roads, 1, 3 and 5, were decommissioned and replaced by new State Routes, which had the same shields as the new freeways but without the red crest. Scores of other State Routes were also designated across New South Wales, marking out urban arterial routes and secondary rural highways. They were allocated as follows:

• 11, 33 and 55: Respectively replaced ring roads 1, 3 and 5. In 1988, state route 77 was commissioned as an additional primary circumferential route.
• 12-76: Greater Sydney. Even numbers were radial while odd numbers were circumferential, roughly increasing in value anticlockwise around the City. Exceptions were State Route 31 (which replaced Metroad 5 when the South Western Motorway was extended easterly; Metroad 5 was a replacement of the metropolitan part of National Highway 31) and state route 60 (which is in Wollongong). Routes 36, 40, 56, 68 and 69 extended beyond the bounds of Greater Sydney. While most State Routes still appear on maps and in street directories, they were haphazardly removed and covered up in Sydney in 1998 and 2004, leaving only routes 29, 31, 40, 44, 54, 56, 60 and 69.
• 78-99: Rural Areas. There was no discernible pattern with these routes. State route 83 was commissioned in 1979 and state route 89 was commissioned in 1980.
• 111, 121-124, 128, 131-133, 135: Greater Newcastle. 111 was added in 1988 following National Highway 1's relocation to the F3 Freeway.
• 151, 153, 155 and 157: Greater Wollongong, in addition to state routes 60, 68, 69 and 88.
• 2: In 2008, Queensland's State route 2 from the Gold Coast was extended a short distance into far northern NSW and remains the only official state route today in 2020.

In 1993, Sydney's Metroad system was introduced, with its prominent, blue-on-white hexagonal shields. There were initially six metroads: Metroad 1 replaced National Route 1 within the metropolitan area, Metroad 2 replaced parts of State Routes 28 and 30 (and was subsequently absorbed by the M2 Hills Motorway), Metroad 3 replaced State Route 33 (once Ring Road 3), Metroad 4 replaced the F4 Freeway and the metropolitan part of National Route 32, Metroad 5 replaced part of the metropolitan part of National Highway 31 and Metroad 7 replaced State Route 77. Later, Metroad 6 replaced State Route 45, Metroad 9 replaced the metropolitan part of State Route 69 and Metroad 10 replaced State Route 14 south of Mona Vale. There was never a Metroad 8. Many theories have been made that it was reserved for the Westlink M7 or the Cross City Tunnel but it was never confirmed.

In 2013, the state replaced its entire system of National Routes, National Highways and Metroads with an alphanumeric route numbering system.[4] All numbered routes are allocated a letter (M, A or B) in addition to its number, with 'M' routes denoting motorways, 'A' routes denoting routes of national significance, and 'B' routes denoting routes of state significance. Instead of shields, the route numbers are displayed as yellow text on green rectangular background outlined in white. Now all old routes have changed except for 1 (State Route 2 to be with QLD) The changeover to alphanumeric routes was announced from March 2013 and signs were updated between May and December 2013, either by removing old "shield" coverplates installed on newer signs, or installing new alphanumeric coverplates on old shielded signs.[5] In 2020, the styling of the markers was modified to remove the white border, aligning with all other states and territories except the ACT.[6]