User:AussieCoinCollector/State Route 40 (New South Wales)

State Route 40 (New South Wales)

State Route 40 was a former state route in New South Wales from 1974 to 2013. In 2013 it was then replaced by A40 and B59. State Route 40 was also the longest state route in the Greater Sydney area, stretching from Sydney in the west to Lithgow in the west and providing an alternative route to the Great Western Highway corridor. It was introduced in 1974 and was split when the Metroad system was introduced. After 1994, the section between Baulkham Hills and Windsor was replaced with Metroad 2 making it one of two split routes in New South Wales along with State Route 69 (New South Wales).

Significance
This route was a significant route however, the importance has become less and has become more of a bypass route than a main route. The western end today, is a major route for those who avoid the slow traffic on the Great Western Highway. There have been calls for a Bells Line Expressway due to the fact that both the Great Western Highway (A32) and Bells Line of Road (B59) cannot handle the amount of vehicles during peak and holiday traffic. However, the NSW government has no plans to upgrade Bells Line of Road. Nevertheless, this is still one of the only 2 roads heading west from Sydney.

Speed Limit
The speed limit of the former State Route 40 varies from 50 km/h in Lithgow and goes up to 100 km/h on Chifley Road close to Lithgow. On the Chifley Road, there is also a wet weather speed limit as well.

Roads
State Route 40 consisted of the following roads:

B59
The following roads have been replaced with B59

In Lithgow
In Lithgow, State Route 40 consisted of Main Street, Lithgow Street and Mort Street. It then continued up on to Chifley Road.

Chifley Road
Chifley Road was a 15.6km scenic road that passed through scenic hill and was a popular tourist drive. More than 3690 vehicles currently use the road every day. This road also crosses the Great Diving Range.

Bells Line of Road
Bells Line of Road is a 59 km major road located in New South Wales, Australia, providing an alternative crossing to the Great Western Highway of the Blue Mountains. The eastern terminus of the road is in, 51 km northwest of Sydney, where the road continues eastward as Kurrajong Road after the town centre, which intersects the Metroad 9. The western terminus of the road is in, in the Blue Mountains, where the road continues as the Chifley Road. Bells Line of Road is also a historic route passing through Bilpin and also the road used to go to the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden.

Kurrajong Road
Kurrajong Road was a connecting road from Richmond to the Metroad 9 junction at Windsor. It was also the eastern end of the western terminus of State Route 40.

A40
The following roads got replaced by A40