Brooker Highway

The Brooker Highway (sometimes referred to as the Northern Outlet) is a highway in the State of Tasmania, Australia. As one of Hobart's 3 major radials, the highway connects traffic from the Hobart city centre with the northern suburbs and is the major road connection to the cities and towns of Northern Tasmania. With an AADT of 48,000, the highway is one of the busiest in Tasmania. The Brooker Highway has recently been declared part of the National Highway.

The Brooker Highway runs approximately 17 km (11 mi) north from the CBD, through the northern suburbs of Hobart, and through the City of Glenorchy, bypassing commercial and industrial centres along the original Main Road. It is primarily a four lane (dual-carriageway) highway, and apart from the Domain Highway junction, only the northern sections of the highway have grade separated junctions. The remainder of the junctions are regulated by traffic light and roundabout intersections.

While the highway is substantially less congested than in other states during peak hours, it is more congested off-peak than roads in Queensland, Western Australia, and almost as congested as those in New South Wales. It is thus a busy road by any Australian standard. The Brooker Highway is currently below the acceptable levels of service and congestion issues are expected to worsen significantly over the next 20 years with the Highway already approaching its designed capacity. A current proposal to convert the Southern Railway Line for use as a Light rail system has the potential to alleviate the Brooker Highway's traffic problems.