Pacific, New England or Newell Hwy?

[RustyTruck Member Find all posts View Profile Close RustyTruck]

G'day all,

I have to be in Wagga mid arvo on the 4th of Jan, travelling from Warrill View near Ipswich. I have always taken the Newell when travelling to Wagga, Dubbo, Canberra etc but heard from a bloke the other day that the Pacific Hwy these days is alot better then it used to be.

Cunninghams gap is still shut and could be for a little while yet, I'm thinking there will be alot of roadworks out to Gundy after the floods.

I'm after peoples opinion on the Pacific Hwy please. I was considering the New England but I think there may be a heap of roadworks on it too.

Thanks a heap.

Cheers,

RT

[RogueAussie Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close RogueAussie]

Re: Pacific, New England or Newell Hwy?

Travelling from Toowoomba to Wagga/Melb in the past I always took the Nuell. The New England is but a detour these days and just adds time to your trip.

I am actually in Newcastle this evening on my way back to Canberra from the Sunshine Coast and Gatton (travelling with an 18 month old so decided to do it over 2 days for a change). The Pacific Hwy is by far the quickest but you want to leave EARLY to avoid as much traffic as you can. It can be ver busy as far as Ballina / Grafton. Also there is a bit of road work and single lane roads still. Once you get down South of Grafton the roads improve (widen) and the run is good ... just watch for the dozens of 'Candy Cars' on the way.

Basically, to Canberra, the Pacific Hwy is by far the best option but then you will have to bypass ACT and head to Yass and on to Wagga which is an extra couple of hours. I don't know what the road conditions are like on the Nuell following the rains though.

[Spurio Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Spurio]

Re: Pacific, New England or Newell Hwy?

you wont get to goondi.

There is still +3m in the main street of chinchilla and all the mid levels areas of the river systems west of Toowoomba and Warwick are reading major flood levels.

Mid sections of the condamine have weeks worth of flooding plus all the Dalby, Warra, Balonne and Warrego rivers are all due to merge.

The Condamine around St George, the macintyre thru goondi and every other river out this way is close to record levels.

The floods are expected to continue well into late January maybe early february 2011 for most of the south western border area.

check these sites.
http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/
http://www.racq.com.au/travel/Maps_and_ ... conditions
http://highload.131940.qld.gov.au/

[kav Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close kav]

Re: Pacific, New England or Newell Hwy?

hi guys ive just done syd-mooloolaba on 23rd dec via new england hwy ,good run no problems i usually travel this route . i have steadfastly refused to travel the pacific hwy since 2003 for good reason . too many f*#$wits who cant drive .well on the 28th dec i returned via the dreaded pacific and was left i no doubt that i will never again travel this route. its dual carriageway to just north of ballina but unfortunately apparently the right hand lane is only for people doing 15kph below the speed limit. the amount of traffic was unpleasant travelling south , but absolutely horrific going north. took 30 - 40 mins to get through ballina going south ,but there was about a 6 km bank up in ballina , macksville and any small town for travellers going north. from ballina to port macquarie its all single lane nightmare then the traffic disapears. if you can get through at warick for peace of mind and state of sanity , dont go pacific hwy . cunninghams gap was open on 23rd no problems .

[the_jem Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close the_jem]

Re: Pacific, New England or Newell Hwy?

Don't know about the other h/ways, but we regularly travel from Grafton to Brisbane on the Pacific. (can't compare as I said, but there are good bits and bad bits about it)

You can bypass Ballina totally by using the Teven exit and cutting thru. It takes a good 15/20mins off your travel.

Getting thru to Grafton is better than it was, though still a bit of a bug bear as it is single carriage for so much of it and the road works is still in progress at times.

[RustyTruck Member Find all posts View Profile Close RustyTruck]

Re: Pacific, New England or Newell Hwy?

Thanks fellers. If I have to take the Pacific I was thinking about leaving Warrill View (near Willowbank Ipswich) about 2am.

I also have a 3 year old travelling with us, but if I could get south of Sydney (around Goulbourn sp) the first day I'd be happy

Either this or I hit the road during the night, not as many roo's on the Pacific?

[RustyTruck Member Find all posts View Profile Close RustyTruck]

Re: Pacific, New England or Newell Hwy?

you wont get to goondi.

There is still +3m in the main street of chinchilla and all the mid levels areas of the river systems west of Toowoomba and Warwick are reading major flood levels.

Mid sections of the condamine have weeks worth of flooding plus all the Dalby, Warra, Balonne and Warrego rivers are all due to merge.

The Condamine around St George, the macintyre thru goondi and every other river out this way is close to record levels.

The floods are expected to continue well into late January maybe early february 2011 for most of the south western border area.

check these sites.
http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/
http://www.racq.com.au/travel/Maps_and_ ... conditions
http://highload.131940.qld.gov.au/

Thanks heap mate.

Just had a look through the sites and there doesnt seem to be any blockages from west of Warwick mate. Do you think the water is over the road out that way towards gundi? I know there is a decent lake out near Inglewood/Yelarbon area.

[the_jem Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close the_jem]

Re: Pacific, New England or Newell Hwy?

too wet for roos atm!!! hahaha :P

seriously - fellas - this CHICK says no probs!! LOL :wink:

take the teven bypass!! save some time...............

[Spurio Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Spurio]

Re: Pacific, New England or Newell Hwy?

The entire township of Condamine is being evacuate, as of 12 noon today. It is expected the entire town will go under late tonight or tomorrow.

In the next few days most of the area south of the Warrego hwy and west of Toowoomba and Warwick are expecting unprecedented flood levels, luckily there are relatively few big towns in between. All the nsw towns along the darling will be getting this water in about 2-3 weeks time and will again be flooded.

For me, waiting in traffic on the pacific hwy around ballina for a few minutes is not an issue when you may be isolated for at least a week out west.

If you do come out west, carry enough supplies and drinking water for a couple of days in case you get stuck.

[RustyTruck Member Find all posts View Profile Close RustyTruck]

Re: Pacific, New England or Newell Hwy?

The entire township of Condamine is being evacuate, as of 12 noon today. It is expected the entire town will go under late tonight or tomorrow.

In the next few days most of the area south of the Warrego hwy and west of Toowoomba and Warwick are expecting unprecedented flood levels, luckily there are relatively few big towns in between. All the nsw towns along the darling will be getting this water in about 2-3 weeks time and will again be flooded.

For me, waiting in traffic on the pacific hwy around ballina for a few minutes is not an issue when you may be isolated for at least a week out west.

If you do come out west, carry enough supplies and drinking water for a couple of days in case you get stuck.

Thanks heap mate, really appreciate your advice. I'll be hitting the Pacific for sure.

Wondering if we will get much in Wagga over the coming weeks.

Once again, thanks mate.

[Bear Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bear]

Re: Pacific, New England or Newell Hwy?

G'day all,

I have to be in Wagga mid arvo on the 4th of Jan, travelling from Warrill View near Ipswich. I have always taken the Newell when travelling to Wagga, Dubbo, Canberra etc but heard from a bloke the other day that the Pacific Hwy these days is alot better then it used to be.

Cunninghams gap is still shut and could be for a little while yet, I'm thinking there will be alot of roadworks out to Gundy after the floods.

I'm after peoples opinion on the Pacific Hwy please. I was considering the New England but I think there may be a heap of roadworks on it too.

Thanks a heap.

Cheers,

RT

We traveled Sydney - Toowoomba via the New England highway on 29 December. Having heard reports of problems around Warwick we phoned ahead to the local police station before setting out - they assured me there were only slight delays. As it turned out, there were no problems and no real delays, just a couple of ks of slow moving around Allora where the tar has washed off the road. Also, quite a few more trucks than usual - no doubt due to the Newel highway being in all sorts of trouble. However, there are plenty of dual lane overtaking opportunities on the New England - its a pretty drive too.

I am not a fan of the Pacific highway at the best of times (too much traffic, too many slow spots and a lot very ordinary drivers) - although it is much improved. I also expect there will be LONG delays on the Newel (our usual route) for some time to come - even after all the water is dried up.

If you do decide to go the New England, you will indeed need to come through Toowoomba - as you say, the Cunningham is closed.

Safe travels!

Bear

[Spurio Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Spurio]

Re: Pacific, New England or Newell Hwy?

You should be right, the murrumbidgee goes through wagga, the darling is sourced from NW NSW and QLD, the water levels in Wagga were high about a month or so ago but should be right now. the murray/murrumbidgee rivers are sourced from SE corner catchments of NSW and merges downstream with the darling river at wentworth.

Most of the previous flood waters are around walgett at the moment. This q will run down the same route in a few weeks.

I totally agree the pacific hwy is terrible, only getting worse in holidays. They close down all the overtaking lanes to keep traffic flowing and with kids in the car there is no where to make random urgent kid stops.

Possible suggestion route:

One lane on Cunningham gap is open, head to warwick, glen innes and tamworth on new england hwy.

head across on the oxley hwy to coonabarabran, then down newell hwy dubbo, parkes, west wyalong and wagga

another option:

There are a number of cut across from the pacific to new england hwy that are really nice drives if you have the time.

ballina-casino-tenterfield
grafton-washpool-glen innes
grafton-ebor-armidale
wauchope-walcha
stroud-gloucester-nowendoc (walcha or tamworth)
singleton-putty-windsor
bathurst-crookwell-goulburn

Most of these drives are in the vicinity of +3hrs

try the NSW roads info site:
http://livetraffic.rta.nsw.gov.au/

[RustyTruck Member Find all posts View Profile Close RustyTruck]

Re: Pacific, New England or Newell Hwy?

Thanks Bear/Spurio, appreciate your info/advice.

Spurio, I was thinking about heading down to Tamworth then cutting across as I really dont want to go through Sydney or the Putty Rd to Richmond if I dont have to.

I should get another update on the phone about the Gap today or tomorrow. Plan to hit the Gap bloody early if I go that way, dont feel like riding the clutch in stop/start traffic up this side of the Gap :evil:

http://www.murrayriver.com.au/river-man ... ommission/

After looking at the Map above am I right in saying that south of Moree/Narabri wont get any of the runoff from up north?

Learn something new everyday ay, thanks mate.

[Spurio Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Spurio]

Re: Pacific, New England or Newell Hwy?

No worries mate,

The gap was opened up to one lane yesterday under stop/go control but is open.

I would stick to the new england at least until Tamworth then cut across. All the border rivers (balonne, moonie, weir, macintyre, dumaresq, severn and all the sub-systems north of Moree are expected to be over major flood level, as of this morning many have already begun to rise.

Provided there is no more rain the Namoi (tamworth catchment) should be right.

Apparently a petrol tanker has just rolled and blown up 10kms north of Ballina on tintenbar hill.

[RustyTruck Member Find all posts View Profile Close RustyTruck]

Re: Pacific, New England or Newell Hwy?

No worries mate,

The gap was opened up to one lane yesterday under stop/go control but is open.

I would stick to the new england at least until Tamworth then cut across. All the border rivers (balonne, moonie, weir, macintyre, dumaresq, severn and all the sub-systems north of Moree are expected to be over major flood level, as of this morning many have already begun to rise.

Provided there is no more rain the Namoi (tamworth catchment) should be right.

Apparently a petrol tanker has just rolled and blown up 10kms north of Ballina on tintenbar hill.

No worries, thanks mate. Hoping the road works isnt too bad.

Not good about tha tanker rollover. Really want to stay away from the Pacific if I can help it.