Australian Towns, Cities & Highways: Port Wakefield Road

Port Wakefield Road (National Highway 1) was

Port Wakefield Road, also known as National Highway 1 is an important link in the National Highway as it connects Adelaide to Port Augusta as motorists travelling from Victoria and parts of NSW to Northern Territory or Western Australia will require to drive along it at some stage. The highway starts in Adelaide and heads north across the rich agricultural Adelaide Plains, bypassing Two Wells before reaching the service station town of Port Wakefield. From Port Wakefield, the highway continues north across the head of Yorke Peninsula into the mildly undulating, treeless mid north region, again bypassing the former crime town of Snowtown and further north, Crystal Brook. The highway then heads north-west as it crosses the last set of hills where the motorist is confronted with Port Pirie and its lead smelter's smoke stacks which provide a prominent feature on the western horizon. Further north from Port Pirie, the highway passes through arid, flat saltbush country ,with however, a unique mountain range to the east which parallels the highway for the remainder of the journey to the busy railway and industrial city of Port Augusta. Certainly an interesting journey, not so much for the acute scenery but mainly for the unusual and different country that the highway passes through.
The highway has also had several changes over time affecting its route, with the significant alterations including the Two Wells/Virginia bypass (1960's), the Two Wells-Port Wakefield duplication (1991) and the Crystal Brook bypass (1991).

State: South Australia
Name Origin: Port Wakefield Road is named appropriately after the important junction town of Port Wakefield. However, originally, the Port Wakefield Road only traversed from Adelaide to Port Wakefield, and not any further north. In some jurisdictions, the road north of Port Wakefield is still only called "National Highway 1" despite being renamed to the A1. Some even refer to the Adelaide-Port Augusta stretch to even be the Princes Highway (which would seem a logical choice, but isn't correct). However the Royal Automobile Association of South Australia (RAASA) has self proclaimed this northern stretch to be a continuation of Port Wakefield Road, to which I agree, until a more appropriate highway name is gazetted. Note that in one of the photos below, even Transport SA (those who maintain highway signs in South Australia) has even caught on.
Start: Adelaide (Gepps Cross - A1/A20/A16 junction - 9km north of the CBD)
Principal Towns: Adelaide, Two Wells *, Port Wakefield, Snowtown *, Crystal Brook *, Port Pirie *, Port Germein *, Stirling North, Port Augusta
Finish: Stirling North (Port Wakefield Road (A1)/B83 junction, 7km east of Port Augusta)
Length: 302km
Road Standard: All bitumen.
Road Quality: Good - dual carriageway from Adelaide to Port Wakefield (93km). North of Port Wakefield, the surface is good to excellent with (now) numerous overtaking lanes through to Port Augusta. Very busy road, although the journey is quite flat - only mild terrain to traverse with little slowing down as most towns have been subsequently bypassed over the last 20 years.
Speed Limit (outside built up areas): 110km/hr
Road Continuation: Click here for the Eyre Highway
* - denotes towns bypassed by Port Wakefield Road

Photos from the Port Wakefield Road (Click on thumbnail for full sized image):

Approaching the start of the Port Wakefield Road (A1) heading east on Grand Junction Road, Gepps Cross (2004).

Heading south on Port Wakefield Road between Two Wells and Port Wakefield (2003).

Distance and kilometre signs (D=Dublin) together heading south on Port Wakefield Road, Windsor (2003).

Heading north on Port Wakefield Road approaching the B85 junction, Port Wakefield (2003).

Distance sign, looking north from the above junction, Port Wakefield (2003).

Looking south-west along Port Wakefield Road approaching the B64 junction near Crystal Brook (2003).

Looking north-east along Port Wakefield Road from the B64 junction (2003).

Looking south on Port Wakefield Road between Port Pirie and Crystal Brook (2003).

Port Wakefield Road looking north at the Pt Pirie turnoff junction with the Port Pirie lead smelter in the background (2003).

And again, this time looking east approaching Port Wakefield Rd and the southern Flinders Ranges in the background (2003).

Port Wakefield Road, looking south approaching the B56 junction between Port Augusta and Port Pirie. Ugly, ugly coverplating of the A1 (2003).

Distance sign heading north along Port Wakefield Road just north of the B56 junction (2003).

Distance sign at the end of the Port Wakefield Road (heading south) at Stirling North (2003).

	Approaching the start of the Port Wakefield Road (A1) heading east on Grand Junction Road, Gepps Cross (2004).
	Heading south on Port Wakefield Road between Two Wells and Port Wakefield (2003).
	Distance and kilometre signs (D=Dublin) together heading south on Port Wakefield Road, Windsor (2003).
	Heading north on Port Wakefield Road approaching the B85 junction, Port Wakefield (2003).
	Distance sign, looking north from the above junction, Port Wakefield (2003).
	Looking south-west along Port Wakefield Road approaching the B64 junction near Crystal Brook (2003).
	Looking north-east along Port Wakefield Road from the B64 junction (2003).
	Looking south on Port Wakefield Road between Port Pirie and Crystal Brook (2003).
	Port Wakefield Road looking north at the Pt Pirie turnoff junction with the Port Pirie lead smelter in the background (2003).
	And again, this time looking east approaching Port Wakefield Rd and the southern Flinders Ranges in the background (2003).
	Port Wakefield Road, looking south approaching the B56 junction between Port Augusta and Port Pirie. Ugly, ugly coverplating of the A1 (2003).
	Distance sign heading north along Port Wakefield Road just north of the B56 junction (2003).
	Distance sign at the end of the Port Wakefield Road (heading south) at Stirling North (2003).