Summerland Way

Summerland Way starts south of the Queensland border to Woodenbong, then heads in a southerly direction through Kyolge, Casino, and Whiporie to eventually reach Grafton on the Clarence River.

Summerland Way crossed the river over the original Grafton Bridge, but now does so over the Balun Bindarray Bridge since its opening in 2019.^[3][4]

The passing of the Main Roads Act of 1924^[5] through the Parliament of New South Wales provided for the declaration of Main Roads, roads partially funded by the State government through the Main Roads Board (MRB, later Transport for NSW). Great Northern Highway was declared (as Main Road No. 9) from near Woodenbong to the state border with Queensland (and continuing southwest via Tenterfield, Glen Innes, Tamworth, Singleton, Newcastle, Gosford, Peat's Ferry and Hornsby to North Sydney),^[2] Main Road No. 140 was declared from the intersection with Great Northern Highway near Woodenbong, via Kyogle to the intersection with Tenterfield-Lismore Road (today Bruxner Highway) at Casino,^[2] and Main Road No. 151 was declared from Casino via Myrtle Creek to the intersection with Gwydir Highway at South Grafton,^[2] on the same day, 8 August 1928. With the passing of the Main Roads (Amendment) Act of 1929^[6] to provide for additional declarations of State Highways and Trunk Roads, these were amended to State Highway 9 and Main Roads 140 and 151 on 8 April 1929. Great Northern Highway was renamed New England Highway through New South Wales on 14 March 1933^[7][8] (continuing southwest via Tenterfield, Glen Innes, Tamworth and Singleton to Hexham). The southern end of Main Road 151 was later extended from South Grafton via Glenreagh to the jetty at Coffs Harbour on 16 March 1938.^[9] Trunk Road 83 was declared on 20 July 1949, from the intersection with New England Highway near Woodenbong, via Kyogle, Casino, Myrtle Creek and Grafton to the intersection with Gwydir Highway in South Grafton, subsuming Main Road 140 and the alignment of Main Road 151 between Casino and South Grafton; Main Road 151 was truncated at South Grafton as a result.^[10]

New England Highway was re-routed through Warwick and Cunninghams Gap in Queensland on 11 August 1954.^[11][12] Against the wishes of the Beaudesert Shire Council and the Woodenbong Chamber of Commerce,^[13] the former alignment of New England Highway from Tenterfield through Beaudesert to Brisbane was re-declared Mount Lindesay Highway,^[11][12] after Mount Lindesay, the residue of a solidified magma core, that is part of the Mount Warning volcanic area and is situated in the western extreme of Border Ranges National Park. The Department of Main Roads (which had succeeded the MRB in 1932), declared the New South Wales section as State Highway 24, from Woodenbong to the state border with Queensland (and continuing southwest via Legume to Tenterfield).^[11]

Trunk Road 83 was officially named Summerland Way on 10 April 1974.^[14]

The New South Wales section of Mount Lindesay Highway, which still included unsealed portions, was eventually de-gazetted as a highway by the Department of Main Roads on 23 December 1981^[15] due to very low traffic volumes, it was renamed Mount Lindesay Road and re-declared as Main Road 622.^[15] Summerland Way was consequently extended north 9.4 km along the alignment of the former highway to meet the Queensland end of Mount Lindesay Highway at the state border, and the eastern end of Mount Lindesay Road was truncated at the intersection with Summerland Way just east of Woodenbong.^[15]

The passing of the Roads Act of 1993^[16] updated road classifications and the way they could be declared within New South Wales. Under this act, when Pacific Highway's Grafton bypass opened in May 2020, Summerland Way (as Main Road 83) was officially extended south along the old alignment of Pacific Highway on 5 July 2022,^[17] although the road is known locally and sign-posted as Big River Way. Summerland Way today, as part of Main Road 83, still retains this declaration.^[18]

In 1996, the Federal Government committed $20 million toward upgrading the Summerland Way. A $7 million contract to realign 1.2 km at Dourrigan's Gap, approximately 16 km north of Kyogle, was awarded, with work starting in February 2002 and expected to take 12 months to complete.^[19]

Summerland Way was signed State Route 91 across its entire length in 1974. With the conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in 2013, this was replaced with route B91.^[20]

European settlement along the Clarence River had reached the area where Grafton now stands in the 1830s, with a store and shipyard being established at South Grafton in 1839. By the early 1840s there was a wharf, a store and an inn on the northern bank of the river.^[21]

Prior to 1861, when a punt service began operating on the river, the only way to cross was by rowboat. A steam-driven vehicular ferry began operating in the mid-1860s.^[21] This increased the need for a reliable road to areas north of Grafton.

By 1905 the Casino to North Grafton section of the North Coast railway line had been completed, but there was no rail connection to the south until 1915, when the North Coast railway line reached South Grafton and services were connected by a rail ferry that transported railcars across the river.^[22]

In 1932, a bridge across the Clarence River with a unique design of two storeys with the railway running underneath the road, known as Grafton Bridge, was opened.^[21] This led to a further increase in motor vehicle traffic to the north, and to a need for road improvements.

In December 2019, the New Grafton Bridge (now Balun Bindarray Bridge) opened and runs parallel to the original bridge. Summerland Way was permanently rerouted via Villers Street, Pound Street and Shirley Adams Way over the Balun Bindarray Bridge, and no longer runs along Prince, Fitzroy, Craig and Bent Streets.^[3] The new route bypasses the Grafton city centre and avoids the low 3.5m clearance rail bridge over Prince Street. When the Pacific Highway through Grafton was bypassed in May 2020, the B91 route (but not Summerland Way) was further extended along the old Pacific Highway (now Big River Way) and interchange with Pacific Highway at Glenugie.^[4]

In 1928, Great Northern Highway was declared, although part of it had not yet been built. Construction of the “missing link” between Woodenbong and Mount Lindesay was completed in 1929, and a section west of Woodenbong was reconstructed by 1934.^[23]

In 1935 the Summerland Way was constructed between Casino and the recently completed highway. During World War II the road was improved as an inland, flood-free route to Brisbane which avoided the problems associated with the Clarence River and its two ferry crossings.^[24]

In the 1830s a huge property, known as “Richmond Head”, was established in the upper Richmond River valley. The area around what is now Kyogle was settled throughout the 1840s and 1850s, but the name “Kyogle” was not used before 1899. In the 1860s cedar cutters arrived and for the next thirty years tree felling and sawmilling were the district's most important industries.^[24] These industries made roads to where they worked, substantially contributing to the road network of the district.

Road access from Casino was facilitated by the opening of the bridge at Casino in 1876. The road was the only means of travel to Casino until 1910, when the railway reached Kyogle.^[24]

European settlement along the Richmond River had reached the area where Casino now stands in the early 1850s, when a village known as “The Falls” was established on the northern side. In 1876 a bridge across the Richmond River to the settlement was completed, enabling road access from Grafton in the south and on to Kyogle in the north. The road was the only means of travel to Grafton until 1905, when the railway reached the town.^[25]

• Highways in Australia
• List of highways in New South Wales