Olympic Highway

The Olympic Highway is a rural road in the central western and south-eastern Riverina regions of New South Wales, Australia. The 318-kilometre (198 mi) highway services rural communities and links the Hume Highway with the Mid-Western Highway and provides part of an alternate road link between Sydney and Albury via Bathurst and Cowra as well as servicing Wagga Wagga, linking with the Sturt Highway.[1]

For the Olympic Highway in the U.S. state of Washington, see U.S. Route 101 in Washington.
For the Highway in the South Korea, see 88 Olympic Expressway.

Olympic Highway

New South Wales
Advance directional sign in Wagga Wagga, on the Olympic Highway heading south from Cootamundra
Map of south-eastern Australia with Olympic Highway highlighted in green
General information
TypeHighway
Length318 km (198 mi)
Route number(s) A41
Former
route number		 National Route 41
Major junctions
Northeast end Mid-Western Highway (A41), Cowra
  Sturt Highway (A20)
Southwest end Hume Highway (M31), Table Top
Location(s)
Major settlementsYoung, Cootamundra, Wagga Wagga, Culcairn
Highway system

Initially a series of trunk routes, the road was named the Olympic Way on 5 July 1963, in honour of part of the path that the Olympic Torch took on its journey from Cowra to Albury for the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. It was renamed as the Olympic Highway in 1996,[1] and the route between Wagga Wagga and Cowra was used for torch relay for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Despite its name, the road is not an official highway as classified by NSW Roads & Maritime Services, yet considered a rural road.[2]

The Olympic Highway carries the A41 shield for its entire length, the majority of which is a single carriageway and also includes wider sections within urban areas and some passing lanes. Where the road passes through suburban areas it accommodates both parking and pedestrian needs of the town shopping centre and highway through traffic. A 2-kilometre (1.2 mi) section of the highway through Wagga Wagga is a four-lane divided urban road where the highway is concurrent with the Sturt Highway.[2]

Route

The highway runs generally north–south, roughly aligned to sections of the Sydney–Melbourne and the Blayney–Demondrille railway lines. The Olympic Highway approximately parallels the Hume Highway to the east and the Newell Highway to the west. The Olympic shares a short concurrency with the Sturt Highway in Wagga Wagga.[2]

At its northern terminus in Cowra, the Olympic Highway adjoins the Mid-Western Highway that, from the northeast carries the A41 shield from Bathurst and, from the west carries the State Route B64 shield to Grenfell; and the Lachlan Valley Way that generally runs northwest–southwest between Forbes and Boorowa and beyond. The Olympic Highway heads generally south by west through Koorawatha, Young, Cootamundra, Junee, Wagga Wagga, and Culcairn towards its southern terminus via a trumpet interchange with the Hume Highway located 18 kilometres (11 mi) north of Albury at Table Top.[1][2][3]

The only major river crossing is the Murrumbidgee River, crossed between Boorooma and Wagga via the Gobbagombalin Bridge, at 1.4 kilometres (0.87 mi) long believed to be the longest continuous-span viaduct in New South Wales, situated about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) northwest of the Wagga CBD and opened on 26 July 1997.[4] Prior to the completion of the "Gobba" Bridge, the Olympic Highway followed a route that took it through the Wagga central business district via the Hampden Bridge, a wooden Allan Truss bridge that was opened in 1895 and eventually demolished in 2014.[5]

Major intersections
LGALocationkm[6]miDestinationsNotes
CowraCowra00.0 Mid-Western Highway (A41 east / B64 west) – Grenfell, Forbes, Bathurst, CanowindraNorthern highway terminus
HilltopsKoorawatha25.615.9Greenethorpe–Koorawatha Road west / Prince Street south – Greenethorpe
Young67.341.8Iandra Avenue to Henry Lawson Way – Grenfell, Forbes
69.142.9Lovell Street to Murringo Road east / to Boorowa Street west – Murringo, BoorowaRoundabout
Wombat83.451.8Harden–Wombat Road – Murrumburrah, Harden
Cootamundra-GundagaiWallendbeen91.156.6 Burley Griffin Way (B94) – Harden, Yass, Temora, GriffithRoundabout
JuneeJunee171106Wantabadgery Road – Gundagai
171.1106.3Broadway Street to Junee–Coolamon Road – Coolamon, TemoraRoundabout
172107Kemp Street to Junee–Harefield Road – Harefield
Old Junee179111 Goldfields Way (B85)  – Temora, West Wyalong
Wagga WaggaWagga Wagga206128Coolamon Road – Coolamon, ArdlethanRoundabout
Murrumbidgee River211131Gobbagombalin Bridge
Wagga WaggaWagga Wagga213132 Sturt Highway (A20) east – GundagaiSturt Highway (A20) eastern concurrency terminus
215134 Sturt Highway (A20) west – NarranderaSturt Highway (A20) western concurrency terminus
LockhartThe Rock241150Urana Street – Lockhart, Collingullie, Mangoplah
Greater HumeCulcairn288179Balfour Street east to Culcairn–Holbrook Road / Mellville Street south – Holbrook
288.1179.0Balfour Street west to Culcairn Road / Railway Parade north – WalbundrieRoundabout
Gerogery307191Main Street to Gregory Road – Jindera, Burrumbuttock
AlburyTable Top318198 Hume Highway (M31) – Albury, Melbourne, GundagaiSouthern highway terminus; trumpet interchange
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
  • Olympic Highway, Route A41, links Albury to Cowra
  • Sturt and Olympic Highway Intersection at Wagga Wagga

See also

References
  1. "Olympic Highway National Route 41". Ozroads. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
  2. "Albury to Cowra Corridor Strategy" (PDF). Roads & Traffic Authority (PDF). Government of New South Wales. December 2010. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-921766-92-3. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  3. Rands, Paul (7 December 2013). "Mid Western Highway & Olympic Highway (A41)". Road Photos & Information: New South Wales. Expressway: The Australian Highway Site. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  4. "Wagga's Gobbagombalin bridge proves its worth". The Daily Advertiser. 9 December 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  5. Owen, Brodie (20 August 2014). "Hampden Bridge erased from Wagga's landscape". The Daily Advertiser. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  6. Google (4 June 2014). "Olympic Highway" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 4 June 2014.

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