The Peats Ridge Road Expressway: Lost Sydney

There are plenty of abandoned expressways all over the world. Unbeknownst to many, Sydney has its very own abandoned expressway. Peats Ridge Road carried expressway traffic between Sydney and Newcastle from 1964 to 1986, before it was bypassed by a far shorter route. And, well, the old expressway has sat completely abandoned in the years since. The road is still maintained for local traffic, but in every other sense it truly is an abandoned expressway, with much of its original expressway qualities still intact, including two completely unnecessary grade-separated interchanges. Today, we'll uncover the lost history behind Peats Ridge Road, exploring everything from abandoned bridges to cliff cuttings, and even the well-known Mt White Phantom Interchange.

Links:
The 1968 documentary about the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway:

Music attribution:

[AutoShenanigans]

Have you had a good week? Word up homie.

[martinwallace]

I was nearly killed on the old Pacific Highway, around about 1960 or 1961. My family was returning from holidays in an old DeSoto van. In front of us, a big lorry carrying logs broke its axle; the load shifted and came out the back of the truck onto our DeSoto. Had we been in an ordinary car, we would surely have been killed: the logs would have come through the windscreen. As it was, they hit the van's radiator and engine. The hand brake - old style - was forced back, pinning my father to the seat but doing him no real harm. I hit my head on the dashboard - I was 4 or 5 years old at the time - and the shattered window glass caused a few minor cuts. My baby brother, asleep in the rear seat, slept through the whole smash. My mother, too, had just a few minor cuts. We were all picking little pieces of glass out of the corners of our eyes for a few days, though! The lorry went over the side, and down a steep embankment. The driver was thrown out one side, and his young son who was a passenger went out the other. Both got off with a few scratches. Seeing the chaos, the policeman attending was astonished that there were no fatalities. Guardian angels must have worked overtime, but the construction of the expressway was appreciated by us all ... we didn't want to have to rely on miracles another time! 😅

[neilbt]

Spent the first half of the 70s travelling on this road, and all over Sydney and Newcastle, in a truck (before moving over to the west) .Thank you for all these stories that bring back so many memories.

[preston]

The "New" Freeway might officially be called the M1 but it was called the F3 before that n that's what I'll call it for the rest of my days!

[BM-hxyh]

The days of stopping at OAK at Peats Ridge was a part of a trip North

[porkhunts]

I'm now a young 55 year old living in Newcastle. I grew up in Sydney and travelled north to Taree many times to see relatives. Peats ridge hamburgers were always the best part of the trip.

[davidcarter]

You need to get further from Sydney. In rural NSW 100kmh is the normal speed limit on "quiet rural roads" even narrow ones without centrelines or side markings and gravel roads too. The only unusual thing about Peats Ridge Rd is that the divided sections are not 110kmh because that would be normal.

[rhyswoodman]

As a truck driver who goes through the heavy vehicle station I've always wondered about that cutting under the bridge. I did read a few things but you cleared it up for me perfectly. Thanks👍subscribed

[lostathermal]

Shame you had to stop at Ourimbah, you missed another section of "abandoned" freeway through Kangy Angy that runs alongside the M1 for local traffic. It was part of the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway until 1997/98, and in hindsight you should've gotten a Heathbrae's pie for a late lunch because they built one on that very section of road haha.

[ashleyw]

With the road alignment through peats ridge, as you mentioned there was meant to be a freeway that headed to Singleton. The reason for this is the route to Brisbane via the New England highway is what was planned to be upgraded to be the main route north rather than the pacific highway which is now the main route.

Also no mention of the Oak Milkbar at Peats Ridge. It was an institution on that section of road.

[kevinquinn]

As someone who grew up in Newcastle in the 70s & 80s, the highlight of a trip to Sydney was stopping at the OAK Milk Bar at Peats Ridge. I can't believe it didn't get a mention. I always looked forward to a milkshake and a crumbed sausage.

OAK, the local dairy co-operative, had a series of milk bars on the highway north of Sydney where drivers could take a break. In addition to Peats Ridge, there were also OAKs at Freemans Waterhole and Hexham. The one at Freemans Waterhole even had a small native animal zoo with kangaroos, emus and birds. And I seem to remember the one at Hexman had a surf boat on display.

Leaving the OAK out on a video about travelling Peats Ridge road is almost criminal.

[frankbanner]

This presentation has been well researched. I spent a lot of the 70's travelling on this road between Sydney and Newcastle. I have also travelled on the old highway and the new expressway allignment. I also appreciate the other presentations that you have presented on the lost expressway around Sydney.

[ChrisXheis]

Audio mixing felt pretty good this episode. Background music wasn't too loud and your voice came through clear. Keep it up!

[markr]

Thank you. I've ridden Peats Ridge road and Dog Trap road many times on the motorcycle and had no idea of its history.
I always though that interchange with Peats Ridge road and the Old Pacific Hwy was over complicated.

[flamingfrancis]

I was a very regular driver from Wollongong to central coast from 1964 and saw every step of the construction. I was originally referred to as the Calga Freeway and commenced at Calga travelling through to Ourimbah. The reason for the long route was Mooney Mooney Creek which would take the construction of the long multi lane bridge that followed much later around 1986.
I do not drive the trip as often these days but the fastest run I ever had was around 1967....two hours ten minutes on one early Sunday morning.

[peterbuckley]

Came back from Newcastle today and we turned off the freeway at Ourimbah and traveled a fair bit of the old highway just for the fun of it. Our next planned trip is to follow the full length of the old highways from Hornsby to Newcastle.

[michaelhorne]

I grew up on Parklands Rd at Mt Colah. I had a hustle as a kid in the early 60's of selling lemonade to all the folks at a literal standstill, playing cards on the bonnets of their cars, on Peats Ferry Rd/Pacific Highway, trying to get north for the weekend. The difference the F3 made was incredible. And I still occasionally take my bike for a fang along the now very quiet Peats Ridge Road Expressway.

[TC-yxss]

I remember travelling in the old man's 38 Chev going to Sydney to visit relatives.Near the roadworks they had signs telling you to switch of your car radio incase it set of the explosives they were using to blast through the rock.

[TransportContentSydney]

Geoff Marshall and Auto shenanigans on one channel what a great channel

[tinascousin]

Every time I drove down the old southbound carriageway — which, if memory serves me, meant reducing speed to 80km/h I think, on account of it narrowing to two lanes at this particular section and also being a bit too curvy and windy for 110 — I used to look down the gap in that rock and wonder what was originally planned. Way before the internet and OzRoads and YouTube, there were few readily available resources to help average Joe’s like me find the answers to questions like that. And now look at everything we have at our fingertips! Another fantastic video mate - keep it up! :)