What is the Pacific Highway?
The Pacific Highway is the main coastal road between Sydney and Brisbane, running along the New South Wales north coast. It is part of the busy east-coast route known as the M1 and A1 in many sections.
The highway connects major regional centers such as Newcastle, Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Grafton and Ballina before crossing into Queensland near Tweed Heads. It carries a mix of holiday traffic, freight trucks and local commuters.
For decades much of the road was a narrow two-lane highway with a poor safety record. Long sections passed through the middle of towns, and serious crashes were common, especially during holiday periods.
The long upgrade
The New South Wales and federal governments carried out a major program to upgrade the road to a divided four-lane highway. The final major section between Woolgoolga and Ballina was completed in 2020, after decades of work and billions of dollars of spending.
The upgraded road bypasses many towns, including Kempsey, Macksville and Grafton. New bridges were built over large rivers such as the Clarence, Macleay and Richmond, and travel times between Sydney and Brisbane were reduced significantly.
Many travelers still leave the highway to visit coastal attractions such as Port Stephens, the beaches of Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay and the Tweed Coast, which make the north coast one of Australia's favorite road-trip regions.
Did You Know?
The Big Banana in Coffs Harbour is one of the best-known roadside stops along the Pacific Highway route.