Australian Towns, Cities & Highways: B56

B56 (Pt Wakefield Rd - Barrier Highway) was

The B56, one of the many highways in SA missing out on getting a proper name, links the east and west Mid North region and acts as an alternative route to Sydney from Port Augusta, WA and the NT. Starting at the Port Wakefield Rd (National Highway 1), 23 km south of Port Augusta, the B56 immediately heads due east across the arid flats into the southern Flinders Ranges winding through Horrocks Pass before reaching the sleepy town of Wilmington. From Wilmington, the highway opens up into more open plains mainly consisting of sheep and wheat farms before rising into Orroroo and again across more of the same plains to Peterborough. From Peterborough, the highway heads in a more north-easterly direction before reaching the Barrier Highway at Ucolta.

State: South Australia
Start: Port Wakefield Road (National Highway 1) (23km south-east of Port Augusta)
Principal Towns: Port Augusta, Wilmington, Orroroo, Peterborough
Finish: Barrier Highway (Ucolta)
Length: 125km
Road Standard: All bitumen
Road Quality: Generally good. Moderately windy road through Horrocks Pass otherwise the highway is very open.
Speed Limit (outside built up areas): 110km/hr
Road Continuation: Click here for the Barrier Highway, Click here for the Port Wakefield Road

Photos from the B56 (Click on thumbnail for full sized image):

	Heading south on Port Wakefield Rd approaching the B56 junction with some shoddy patch work with the new route markers (2003).
	Distance sign, heading east on the B56 from Port Wakefield Rd - Southern Flinders Ranges are in the distance (2004).
	Heading east on the B56 amongst Horrocks Pass (2003).
	Looking west on the B56 just outside of Wilmington (2003).
	Heading east on the B56 approaching the B82 junction at Wilmington. Note the old Hwy56 route marker (2003).
	Heading east through Wilmington on the B56/B82 (2003).
	Directional sign heading south approaching the B56 at Willowie - again note the old Hwy56 route markers (2003).
	Looking north-west on the B56/B80 duplex between Orroroo and Peterborough. Another crappy patch job done by Transport SA. Its a wonder why SA adopted the alpha-numeric route numbering when theyre happy to leave this as a result! (2003).
	Heading east on the B56 from Peterborough. And yes, this is the B56, not the A32 (2003).
	Heading west on the B56/B79 duplex from the Barrier Hwy (2003).