Brooker Highway

Brooker Highway
The Brooker Highway at Claremont Formerly [1]
Length	17 km (11 mi)
Direction	South-North
From	Tasman Highway / Davey Street / Macquarie Street Hobart, Tasmania
via	Glebe, Lutana, Goodwood, Glenorchy, Montrose, Rosetta, Berriedale, Claremont, Austins Ferry
To	Midland Highway, Granton, Hobart
Established	1961
Allocation	Highway 1
Major junctions	Domain Highway Goodwood Road Lyell Highway for full list see Exits

The Brooker Highway is a highway in the State of Tasmania, Australia. Also known as the Northern Outlet, the highway is the major arterial route through Hobart's northern suburbs and is Hobart's major road connection to the cities and towns of Northern Tasmania. It is a part of the National Highway Network and is one of Tasmania's busiest highways.

The Brooker Highway runs approximately 17 km north from the CBD, through the northern suburbs of Hobart, and through the City of Glenorchy, bypassing commercial and industrial centres along the original Main Road. It is a four lane (dual-carriageway) highway, and apart from the Domain Highway junction, only the northern sections of the highway have grade separated junctions. The major at-grade junctions are controlled by traffic light and roundabout intersections.

History

The Domain Highway junction at Cornelian Bay

The original Brooker Avenue was constructed in 1961 as a 2 lane road from the end of Liverpool Street to Elwick Road. In 1965, the Hobart Area Transportation Study was released and entailed large development plans for the Brooker Highway. By 1968 the road had been duplicated and works reached Berriedale. In 1977 the highway was further extended, taking the road to the Claremont Link Road. By 1983 the highway that stands today was complete through to Granton and the Bridgewater bridge.^[2] The Brooker Highway was built as a replacement to the original Midland Highway route between Hobart city and Granton, which passed along Elizabeth Street, New Town Road and Main Road, through the built up areas of New Town, Moonah, Glenorchy, Rosetta, Montrose, Claremont and Berriedale.^[2] This was the first major highway construction in the Hobart City region, and was named the Brooker Highway, after the Minister for Transport at the time of the conception of the project, Edward Brooker (between Davey Street and Cleary's Gates at the top of the ridge, the highway is also known as "Brooker Avenue").

Route description

The highway starts in the Hobart CBD at the junction with Eastern Outlet (Tasman Highway), Davey Street and Macquarie Street. The Tasman Highway heads east over the Tasman Bridge, past the Airport and eventually leads to the east coast of the state, while Davey Street leads towards the Southern Outlet, which in turn heads south towards Kingston and Huonville (Davey and Macquarie are one-way streets - Davey Street flows south-west, and Macquarie Street flows north-east through the CBD).

Apart from the connection to Davey and Macquarie Streets, the major intersection with streets in the CBD is the three-lane roundabout at the north-east end of Liverpool Street. Because it was built in close proximity to the main railway station at the time, the roundabout was, and continues to be, called the "Railway Roundabout". The sunken garden in the centre of the roundabout functions as a pedestrian thoroughfare, with under-road tunnels connecting to the two sides of Liverpool Street, the original site of the railway station to the north-east, and to the Domain and the suburb of The Glebe to the north-west. The roundabout was originally just an un-controlled intersection, but with the gradual increase in traffic, particularly from the eastern shore of the Derwent, it was often in grid-lock at peak travel times. Traffic lights were introduced and alleviated the situation, and later construction of the direct links from the Tasman Bridge to Davey and Macquarie Streets further relieved the pressure. Other streets from the CBD provide access to the highway, but for much of its length to the city boundary at Risdon Road it is limited access road.

The highway at Hobart

Through the City of Glenorchy the highway has large multi-lane intersections, at Risdon Road, Elwick Road and Derwent Park Road. The highway is in a reasonable condition for its age, and experiences congestion for only a few hours a day.

Trees line the middle nature strip for several kilometres, and fencing prevents pedestrian access at various points. The Highway makes its way past The Domain, Cornelian Bay Hockey Grounds, Rugby Park, The Royal Hobart Showgrounds, Tattersalls Park and the Derwent Entertainment Centre. At the northern end (at Granton) it connects to the Midland Highway (which heads north towards Launceston) and the Lyell Highway (which takes motorists towards the west coast).

Recent history

In April 2007, the Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources announced plans to replace the sub-standard rusted light poles between Risdon Road and Clearys Gates Road.^[3] These are over 40 years old and were the first lights on the Highway, which sparked some concern from the Hobart City Council. They argue that the light poles are in good condition and are a significant feature of the Brooker Highway entrance to Hobart. While the Hobart City Council supports the replacement, they have written to Infrastructure Minister Jim Cox asking him to consider retaining the ornate arms on modern pole bases.^[3]

The Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources proposes to re-align the Elwick Road and Goodwood Road exits, reducing confusion and the number of traffic lights. The nearby Goodwood roundabout will also be replaced with traffic lights.^[4] The Tasmanian Government has also revealed they are currently planning to upgrade the interchange at the Domain Highway to improve access and travel flows for passenger and freight. This includes a capacity expansion to 6 lanes from the Domain Highway to Risdon Road.^[5]

Recently the government came under pressure from the community to improve pedestrian access over the highway at Goodwood and eliminate the stairs primarily for the benefit of the elderly and handicapped.

2010 Emergency Landing Incident

On 4 April 2010 18 year old pilot Patrick Humphries made world headlines ^[6] by using the normally busy highway as an emergency landing strip after experiencing aircraft problems.^[7] Humpries was unhurt from the accident and no vehicles where involved in the incident.^[8]

Exits

Brooker Highway
Southbound interchanges	Distance from Tasman Highway (km)	Distance from Lyell Highway (km)	Northbound interchanges
End Brooker Highway continues as Davey Street to Hobart	0	18.5	Start Brooker Highway from Macquarie Street
Bellerive, Sorell Tasman Highway			Bellerive, Sorell Tasman Highway
No Access	0.2-0.3	18.3-18.2	Hobart Collins Street, Sackville Street
Hobart Liverpool Street (west) (exit only)	0.4	18.1	Hobart Liverpool Street (west) (exit only)
Bellerive Liverpool Street (east)			Hobart Bathurst Street (entry only)
Hobart Bathurst Street (entry only)			Bellerive Liverpool Street (east)
Glebe Edward Street	0.6	17.9	No Access
Hobart Brisbane Street (exit only)	0.7	17.8	Hobart Brisbane Street
Glebe Scott Street, Lillie Street, Davenport Street	0.8-1.0	17.7-17.5	No Access
North Hobart Warwick Street	1.1	17.4	North Hobart Warwick Street
Glebe Shoobridge Street	1.3	17.2	North Hobart Burnett Street
North Hobart Burnett Street
No Access	1.7	16.8	North Hobart Federal Street
Queens Domain Clearys Gates Road	2.4	16.1	No Access
New Town Park Street (exit only)	2.6	15.9	New Town Park Street
Bellerive, Hobart Domain Highway	3.2	15.3	Bellerive, Hobart Domain Highway
New Town Risdon Road	4.1	14.4	New Town Risdon Road
Moonah Bowen Road	4.9	13.6	Moonah Bowen Road
Lutana Ashbolt Crescent			Lutana Ashbolt Crescent
Lutana Bowen Road	5	13.5	No Access
Derwent Park, Lutana Derwent Park Road	5.6	12.9	Derwent Park, Lutana Derwent Park Road
Goodwood Lampton Avenue (east)	6.3	12.2	Derwent Park Lampton Avenue (west)
Derwent Park Lampton Avenue (west)
Derwent Park Howard Road	7.1	11.4	Derwent Park Howard Road
Goodwood Renfrew Court			Goodwood Renfrew Court
Dowsing Point, Bowen Bridge Goodwood Road	7.5	11	Dowsing Point, Bowen Bridge Goodwood Road
Glenorchy Elwick Road	7.6	10.9	Glenorchy Elwick Road
Derwent Entertainment Centre Loyd Road	8	10.5	Derwent Entertainment Centre Loyd Road
Montrose Duncan Street	9.1	9.4	Montrose Duncan Street
Foreshore Road (No Through Road)			Foreshore Road (No Through Road)
Dodson Street (No Through Road)	9.6	8.9	Dodson Street (No Through Road)
Berriedale, Rosetta Main Road	10	8.5	Berriedale, Rosetta Main Road
Berriedale, Collinsvale Berriedale Road (On ramp only)	10.6	7.9	Berriedale, Collinsvale Berriedale Road
Chigwell, Claremont Claremont Link Road	12.4	6.1	Chigwell, Claremont Claremont Link Road
Claremont Abbotsfield Road	13.7	4.8	Claremont Abbotsfield Road
Claremont Hilton Road	15	3.5	Claremont Upper Hilton Road
Start Dual Carriageway	17.2	1.3	End Dual Carriageway
Granton Black Snake Road (On ramp only)	17.9	0.6	Granton Black Snake Road
Granton Main Road (Off ramp only)	18.3	0.2	No Access
New Norfolk, Queenstown Lyell Highway	18.5	0	New Norfolk, Queenstown Lyell Highway
Start Brooker Highway continues from Midland Highway			End Brooker Highway continues as Midland Highway to Bridgewater, Launceston

See also

• Highways in Australia
• List of highways in Tasmania

References

1. ^ Former State Route Numbering System in Tasmania, Ozroads: the Australian Roads Website. Retrieved on 30 January 2008.
2. ^ ^{a b} "Tasmanian Expressways". ozroads.com.au. 2003. http://www.ozroads.com.au/TAS/expressways/expressways.htm. Retrieved 30 April 2007. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Council poles apart on Brooker lights switch". The Mercury. 
4. ^ "Lights to end the roundabout blues". The Mercury. 11 February 2008. http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,23192532-3462,00.html. Retrieved 14 February 2008. ^{[dead link]}
5. ^ "Infrastructure Australia Priorities Welcomed". Tasmanian Government. 19 December 2008. http://www.media.tas.gov.au/release.php?id=25620. Retrieved 24 December 2008. 
6. ^ http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/04/05/teenage-pilot-escapes-unhurt-after-crash-landing-on-motorway-115875-22162919/
7. ^ http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/05/2864256.htm
8. ^ "Plane crashes on city highway". The Sydney Morning Herald. 4 April 2010. http://www.smh.com.au/national/plane-crashes-on-city-highway-20100404-rlb1.html. 

External links

• Tasmanian Expressways
• Route Numbering