PRINCES HIGHWAY
Former Alignment: Yallah to Dunmore
The current alignment of the Princes Highway between Yallah and Dunmore has been in use since May 1931. Prior to that, the highway travelled a circuitous route via Albion Park and Shellharbour. This original routing reflected the importance of Shellharbour as a port in the 1800s, the time when the roads were established. A popular alternative to the highway in the 1920s was to reach Kiama via Jamberoo, also much longer than the current route.
The current alignment was constructed as one of the first items on the Main Roads Board's list of improvements to the Princes Highway. The new alignment paralleled the railway and telegraph lines, thus earning the nickname "Telegraph Line Road".
The original alignment can now be traced by following todays roads: Illawarra Highway, Tongarra Road, Pioneer Drive (including the rail crossing that was closed in 2001), Urana Way, Meroo Close, Wattle Rd and Shellharbour Road. These road names were sourced from the 1999 Wollongong UBD so some roads may have changed since, especially in the Shellharbour area.
Photos of the Illawarra Highway, Tongarra Road and Shellharbour Road sections of the old highway can be found on the NR48, SR157 and SR151 pages respectively.