Barton Highway is a short (54 km) north-south highway connecting Canberra to the Hume Hwy at Yass, and is part of the National Highway system being one of the 'Canberra Connectors' which connect Canberra to Melbourne and Sydney via the Hume Hwy.
It was proclaimed a state highway in 1935 to service the new Australian Capital Territory being constructed. Previously it had been a trunk road servicing the farms in the area and providing a longer distance link to Boorowa, Cowra, Forbes and Dubbo. In August 1954, State Highway No. 15 was named "Barton Highway" to honour Australia's first Prime Minister, Edmund Barton. Full sealing of the highway was completed in 1960.
The Barton Highway was given the National Route 25 shield in 1956 (four years before its full sealing was completed) and in November 1974 became National Highway 25, legislated as part of the National Highway system as a "Canberra Connector".
The route is all dual carriageway in the ACT, constructed during the 1990's, but is single carriageway through NSW except for a 6km section known as the 'Barton Connector' which joins NH25 to the Hume Hwy on the Yass Bypass. This connector was opened in May 1995 (commenced in April 1993) and replaced a 1km section of single carriageway highway that met the Old Hume Hwy near Cooma Cottage. This old section of the Barton Highway is now known as Kirketon Rd.
Planning for construction of dual carriageways in NSW has been talked about but nothing concrete has been promised as yet.
Inside the Australian Capital Territory, the first section of dual carriageway was opened to traffic in June 1980 bypassing Hall, a village right on the ACT/NSW border. The original alignment of Barton Highway is Victoria Street, a two-lane street that passes right through the centre of the village. Duplication of the highway generally continued southwards through the late 1980s and 1990s, reaching the newly-opened Gungahlin Drive in 1998. A grade-separated interchange was then constructed at this intersection in 2002, as part of the duplication of the final stretch of Barton Highway (Ellenborough St to Federal Hwy).
It’s considered the most deadly highway in Australia and has been a hot spot for countless accidents. It is supported by the frightening statistics of over 110 crashes, 11 fatalities and some 100 injured since 2001.
