Major NSW roads to get name-changes

[AWD Chaser]

http://www.news.com.au/national/majo...-1226482603872

MAJOR NSW roads will have a name-change to standardise the roads system across states.
Roads Minister Duncan Gay announced today that all major motorways will be named under an alpha-numeric system that will cost $20 million to roll out.

All motorways will start with M with a numeral attached, roads of national significance will be named A and roads of state significance will be named B.

From next year, the F3 will be called the M1 Pacific Motorway, the Hume Highway will be renamed A22 and the Bells Line of Road will be called the B59.

Mr Gay said the system will make it easier for tourists to travel interstate.

The opposition has called the re-naming of major roads a “colossal” waste of money.

http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news...-1226482643995

A NSW government plan to rebadge major roads across the state has been labelled a "colossal" $20 million waste of the money by the opposition.

Roads Minister Duncan Gay on Thursday announced NSW would adopt the alpha-numeric signage system used by other states, with a M given to motorways, an A to routes of national significance and a B to routes of state significance.
The changes to more than 60 routes, which will cost $20 million and be rolled out by the end of next year, mean roads such as the F3 north of Sydney would be renamed the M1 Pacific Motorway, and the Newell Highway signposted the A39.
Mr Gay said changing signage to the same system used in Victoria and Queensland was long overdue, and standardisation would make it less confusing for interstate and overseas tourists to navigate around NSW.
Mr Gay acknowledged $20 million was a large amount of money to spend on new signage, but added it was "money well spent".
"This has an economic benefit to the state, in that it allows our goods to move better, it helps our tourism, and it also has a safety outcome," he told reporters.
"Eventually it will help our safety vehicles to be able to find their way quicker."
But the opposition said it was "complete madness", particularly when the government was cutting billions from the education and health budgets.
"The people of NSW want their roads fixed and they want them built, they don't want them simply renamed," acting opposition roads spokeswoman Penny Sharpe told reporters in Sydney.
"Today's announcement is also an announcement about priorities.
"Every school, every hospital, is feeling cuts across this state."
Ms Sharpe dismissed suggestions the tourism industry would benefit from the changes.
"Tourists already seem to get around NSW quite fine on their own," she said.
"Most cars actually have a GPS these days.
"The Hume Highway will still be the Hume Highway, and you can't go up the eastern side of NSW without knowing it is the Pacific Highway. This is waste of time and money."