Main North Road

Main North Road South Australia
Looking south at Main North Road's southern (city) end. According to signage, this section is not a part of the National Highway.
North end South end
Coordinates
General information
Type	Road
Length	307 km (191 mi)
Route number(s)	B56 (Winninowie-Wilmington) B82 (Wilmington-Giles Corner) A32 (Giles Corner-Gawler) A52 (Gawler-Gepps Cross) A1 (Gepps Cross-North Adelaide)
Former route number	National Route 56 (Stirling North-Wilmington) National Route 32 (Giles Corner-Gawler) National Highway A20 (Gawler-Gepps Cross) National Highway 1 (Gepps Cross-North Adelaide)
Major junctions
North end	Augusta Highway, Winninowie near Port Augusta, South Australia
	Horrocks Highway Wilmington-Ucolta Road Goyder Highway Gulnare-Spalding Road Clare-Peterborough Road Robe Terrace North Adelaide, South Australia
South end	Barton Terrace and O'Connell Street, North Adelaide
Location(s)
Major suburbs	Wilmington, Gladstone, Clare, Giles Corner, Gawler, Elizabeth

Main North Road is the major north-south arterial route through the suburbs north of the Adelaide City Centre in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. It continues north through the settled areas of South Australia and is a total of 307 kilometres (191 mi) long, from North Adelaide to 21 kilometres (13 mi) out of Port Augusta. It follows the route established in the early years of the colony by explorer John Horrocks and was a major route for farmers and graziers to reach the capital, passing through rich farmland and the Clare Valley wine region. In 2011, the section of road between Gawler to Wilmington was renamed Horrocks Highway.

Horrocks Highway

Main North Road from Gawler to Wilmington was renamed to the Horrocks Highway in 2011 to honour John Horrocks, an early explorer and pioneer in the region. However while Main North Road turns west in Wilmington through Horrocks Pass to join the Augusta Highway as route B56, route B82 carries the name Horrocks Highway north to Quorn.

Route description

Main North Road branches from the northern end of O'Connell Street (North Adelaide) and passes through the Adelaide Parklands and the suburbs of Thorngate, Medindie, Medindie Gardens, Nailsworth, Prospect, Sefton Park, Blair Athol and Enfield before reaching the major intersection at Gepps Cross. Here the road forks, with the Port Wakefield Road (A1 - National Highway 1) continuing to the north, and the Main North Road turning northeast and continuing as route A52.

It continues through the outer northern suburbs, passing Mawson Lakes and Salisbury, crossing the Little Para River and passing Elizabeth and Smithfield before entering Gawler. In Gawler, it crosses the South Para and North Para Rivers, and the Barossa Valley Way branches to the east between them. Just north of Gawler, it passes under the Sturt Highway which heads east to the Barossa Valley, Riverland, northern Victoria and New South Wales.

This is where the name Horrocks Highway takes over from the historic name of Main North Road. The environment changes from the urban environment to undulating land, mostly cleared for grain cropping. Several of the towns have grain storage bunkers or silos. It crosses the Light River then crosses and follows the Gilbert River to where the Barrier Highway branches northeast towards Riverton and Burra.

Over the next ridge, it crosses the Wakefield River and enters the southern end of the Clare Valley. The dominant scenery changes from grain crops to grapevines from Auburn to Clare, then returns to grain fields again north of the Hutt River as it passes through the Southern Flinders Ranges. It crosses the Broughton River near Yacka and on to Wilmington at the eastern side of Horrocks Pass. As the Horrocks Highway is in the valley between the southern Flinders Ranges and northern Mount Lofty Ranges, it is in the relatively wetter climate south of Goyder's Line.

At Wilmington, Main North Road diverges from the Horrocks Highway. Main North Road turns northwest from Wilmington to pass through Horrocks Pass to Winninowie where it meets the Augusta Highway 21 kilometres (13 mi) south of Port Augusta. The Horrocks Highway continues northwards from Wilmington to Quorn.

Commuter route

In the metropolitan area, the road is a major commuter route to the central business district in the Adelaide city centre.

The portion of Main North Road between the city centre and Mawson Lakes is a 15-minute public transport 'Go Zone', with the maximum wait for a bus being 15 minutes during peak times (7:30 am – 6:30 pm weekdays) and 30 minutes on weekends and evenings. Bus routes via Main North Road generally begin with the prefix "22x". The bus service is provided by SouthLink for Adelaide Metro.

Route numbers

From North Adelaide, the route numbers used along the road are:

• A1 to Gepps Cross, where it becomes National Highway A1 (part of the national Highway 1) and continues as Port Wakefield Road to Perth
• A52 to Gawler, where it becomes National Highway A20 Gawler Bypass Road and Sturt Highway to Sydney. (At the end of the Northern Expressway National Highway M20)
• A32 to Giles Corner where it continues as the Barrier Highway to Broken Hill
• B82 through the Clare Valley and beyond to Wilmington.
• B56 to Stirling North, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) south-east of Port Augusta.

In late 2010 when the Northern Expressway was completed, National Highway A20 was diverted to the new road as National Highway M20. Main North Road and the southern section of the Gawler Bypass Road were then designated as State Route A52.

LGA	Location	km	mi	Destinations	Notes
Port Augusta	Winninowie	0	0	Augusta Highway (National Highway A1), 21 kilometres (13 mi) south of Port Augusta	As
Mount Remarkable	Wilmington	20	12	Horrocks Highway (B82) – Quorn	west, south
		23	14	Wilmington-Ucolta Road (B56) – Orroroo	and concurrent for 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) south of Wilmington
	Murray Town	59	37	Nukunu Yarta Way – Booleroo Centre
		62	39	Germein Gorge Road – Port Germein
Northern Areas	Laura	90	56	Possum Park Road – Crystal Brook
	Gladstone	100	60	Wilkins Highway (B79) – Crystal Brook, Jamestown, Hallett
	Gulnare	122	76	Goyder Highway (B64) – Crystal Brook / Goyder Highway (B64) – Spalding, Burra, Morgan, Renmark	concurrent for 2 kilometres (1.2 mi)
Wakefield	Brinkworth	150	90	Condowie Plain Road – Snowtown
Clare and Gilbert Valleys	Bungaree	163	101	RM Williams Way (B80) – Spalding, Jamestown
	Clare	175	109	Blyth Road – Blyth / Farrell Flat Road – Burra
	Auburn	200	120	Saddleworth Road (B84) – Saddleworth / Balaklava Road (B84) – Balaklava, Port Wakefield	concurrent for 200 metres (660 ft) in the town
	Giles Corner	225	140	Barrier Highway (A32) – Burra, Hallett, Broken Hill	north, south
	Tarlee	230	140	Tarlee Road – Kapunda
Light	Templers	253	157	Templers Road – Freeling / Owen Road – Hamley Bridge, Owen, Balaklava
	Gawler Belt	264	164	Thiele Highway (B81) – Freeling, Kapunda, Eudunda, Morgan
		265	165	Sturt Highway (A20) – Nuriootpa, Renmark, Adelaide	north, south
Gawler	Gawler	268	167	Barossa Valley Way (B19) – Lyndoch, Tanunda, Nuriootpa
Playford	Elizabeth Vale	287	178	John Rice Avenue – Salisbury, Port Adelaide
Salisbury	Salisbury South, Salisbury East, Parafield, Para Hills West	293	182	Kings Road / McIntyre Road
Port Adelaide Enfield	Gepps Cross	300	190	Grand Junction Road (A16)	north, south
Prospect	Prospect, Enfield, Sefton Park	303	188	Regency Road
City of Prospect, Town of Walkerville, City of Adelaide	Thorngate, Medindie, North Adelaide	306	190	City Ring Route, Adelaide (A21)
Adelaide	North Adelaide	307	191	Continues as O'Connell Street
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Route transition

See also

• Highways in Australia
• List of highways in South Australia
• Highway 1 (Australia)
• Highway 1 (South Australia)