Longest Highway In The world

Longest Highway in The Word - Australia's Highway 1

Posted By Isac Oct 07, 2015

Did you ever get information regarding the world's longest national highways? If not, here is the answer Highway 1 in Australia is the longest national highway in the world that circumnavigates the Australian continent while passing through the capitals of all the mainland states. Millions of passengers use the route everyday while travelling towards the work places and other destinations. Extending for over fourteen thousand kilometers, it is even longer than the Trans-Siberian Highway in Russia and the Trans-Canada Highway in the North American state of Canada that run for about eleven thousand and eight thousand kilometers, respectively. Adopted in 1960s by compiling the existing network of state and local roads, it still remains the only route to reach all the states of Australia. Described below are some of the interesting facts about Australia's Highway 1 which, besides adding a great deal to your knowledge, will also serve as a source of pleasure and fascination:

  • Established in 1955, the Highway 1 is the longest highway not only in Australia but also in the world.
  • It takes circumferential route around the Australian continent and measures as long as 14,500 kilometers in its overall length.
  • The world's longest national highway in Oceania passes through a large number of scenic areas that are packed with immense natural beauty and serve as very attractive resorts for the tourists and picnickers.
  • The portion of the Highway 1 from Sydney to Melbourne is named as the Princes Highway in honor of the Prince of Wales from UK who visited Australia in 1920.
  • The Princes Highway starts from Sydney and goes beyond Melbourne to reach Port Augusta in the southern part of the country.
  • At the time of its establishment in 1955, the Highway 1 was marked with the National Route 1 Shield in which black numbers were written on white background shield.
  • In 1974, the segments of this route which were also parts of the National Highway were marked with the National Highway Shield, in which case, gold numbers were written on green shield.
  • Nowadays, you will also find different sections of the road marked with alphanumeric numbers, such as M1, A1, B1, and the like, whereas the usage of particular alphanumeric number depends on the route's quality and importance.
  • Starting from Sydney, it takes circumferential route to ultimately end at the same starting point, while the states that come on the way in sequence are Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin and Brisbane.
  • The leg of the Highway 1, lying between Sydney and Brisbane, is known as the Pacific Highway as it passes along the coast of the Pacific Ocean.
  • Covering practically all the major inhabited parts of Australia, the Highway 1 is very popular with both the interstate and overseas tourists, and its most fascinating attractions include dramatic coastlines, busy holiday resorts, large capital cities, giant karri sands, tropical to temperate forests, deserts, scrublands, and so on.
  • Are you already aware of the fact that Highway 1 has been termed as the "death trap" owing to its extra long stretches which make the drivers extremely fatigued?
  • What add to the troubles of the drivers are the vast distances between the destinations, and scarcity of the rest areas on the way.
  • Among different segments of the road, you can see that single lane route alternates with the double-lane road, which may then turn to the multilane.
  • The multi-lane freeways of the Highway 1 pass through the populous urban and rural areas, while switching to sealed two-laners in the remote parts.
  • Across hundreds of kilometers of the highway, the travelers see no signs of human activity except for a few solitary roadhouses, where the inhabitants serve the exhausted passengers.

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