The highways in Victoria are the highest density in any state in Australia. Unlike Australia's other mainland states where vast areas are very sparsely inhabited "outback", population centres spread out over most of the state, with only the far north-west and the Victorian Alps lacking permanent settlement. Highways have therefore been built to service the population centres.
The highways generally radiate from Melbourne and other major cities and rural centres with secondary roads interconnecting the highways to each other.
Most routes have higher traffic than most other states. Highways such as Hume Highway, Western Highway, South Gippsland Highway and Princes Highway have some of the heaviest traffic in Australia.
Many of the highways are built to freeway standard ("M" freeways), while most others are generally sealed and of reasonable quality.
Numbering
editVictorian highway naming is straightforward. Most are generally named after the geographical regions and features, cities, towns and settlements along the way. Some are even more straightforward e.g. Western and Northern highways which radiate westwards and northwards from Melbourne. Notable exceptions include some interstate highways and some metropolitan highways.
The numbering system is based on "ring and spoke" system. The 'ring' highways (highways that circle Victoria) numbers are given in the multiple of hundreds e.g. Henty Highway (200), Murray Valley Highway (400) and Great Alpine Road (500) make the outermost ring. Midland Highway (300) and Maroondah Highway (300) is the inner ring.
The spokes generally inherit their original National Route numbers. Otherwise, east-west aligned highways are given even numbers and north-south are given odd numbers. Highways and primary roads are given numbers in multiple of tens. Other roads are given numbers which indicate their general alignment.
Freeways
editRoute Marker | Roads |
---|---|
M1 | Geelong Ring Road Princes Freeway (west) West Gate Freeway CityLink (southern link) Monash Freeway Princes Freeway (east) |
M2 | Tullamarine Freeway CityLink (western link) |
M3 | Eastern Freeway Eastlink Frankston Freeway |
M8 | Western Freeway |
M11 | Mornington Peninsula Freeway |
M31 | Hume Freeway |
M39 | Goulburn Valley Freeway |
M79 | Calder Freeway |
M80 | Western Ring Road Metropolitan Ring Road North East Link |
M420 | South Gippsland Freeway |
Primary highways
editRoute Marker | Roads |
---|---|
A1 | Princes Highway |
A8 | Western Highway |
A10 | Princes Highway |
A20 | Sturt Highway |
A39 | Goulburn Valley Highway |
A79 | Calder Highway |
A200 | Henty Highway |
A300 | Midland Highway |
A420 | Bass Highway |
A440 | South Gippsland Highway |
A780 | Western Port Highway |
Secondary highways
editRoute Marker | Roads |
---|---|
B12 | Mallee Highway |
B23 | Monaro Highway |
B75 | Northern Highway |
B100 | Great Ocean Road Surf Coast Highway |
B110 | Bellarine Highway Nepean Highway |
B120 | Hopkins Highway |
B140 | Hamilton Highway |
B160 | Glenelg Highway |
B180 | Pyrenees Highway |
B200 | Henty Highway |
B220 | Sunraysia Highway |
B240 | Wimmera Highway |
B260 | Loddon Valley Highway |
B280 | McIvor Highway |
B300 | Goulburn Valley Highway Maroondah Highway Melba Highway Midland Highway |
B320 | Maroondah Highway |
B340 | Goulburn Valley Highway Maroondah Highway |
B360 | Maroondah Highway |
B380 | Warburton Highway |
B400 | Murray Valley Highway |
B420 | Phillip Island Road |
B460 | Bass Highway Strzelecki Highway |
B500 | Great Alpine Road |
Tertiary highways
editRoute Marker | Roads |
---|---|
C119 | Skenes Creek Rd |
C141 |
|
C155 | Colac–Lavers Hill Rd |
C157 | Lighthouse Rd |
C159 | Beech Forest–Lavers Hill Rd |
C162 | Timboon–Port Campbell Rd |
C166 | Princetown Rd |
C234 | Borung Highway |
C239 | Borung Highway |
C412 | Burwood Highway |
C444 | Wilsons Promontory Rd |
C482 | Hyland Highway |
C524 | Buckland Gap Rd |
C531 | Kiewa Valley Highway |
C536 | Tawonga Gap Rd |
C543 | Omeo Highway |
C605 | Swan Reach Rd |
C704 | Bacchus Marsh Rd |
C754 | Melton Highway |
C777
C784 |
Moorooduc Highway |
Urban highways
editRoute Marker | Roads |
---|---|
State Route 8 | Western Highway |
State Route 9 | Dandenong Valley Highway |
State Route 10 | State (Lower Dandenong/Cheltenham) Highway |
State Route 15 | Warrigal Highway |
State Route 21 | Chandler Highway |
State Route 26 | Burwood Highway |
State Route 27 | Plenty Valley Highway |
State Route 28 | Mountain Highway |
State Route 29 | Hoddle Highway |
State Route 34 | Maroondah Highway |
State Route 40 | State (Bell/Springvale) Highway |
State Route 55 | Hume Highway |
In addition, several metropolitan roads have been given highway designation, mainly in Melbourne. For details see List of highways in Melbourne
See also
edit- Highways in Australia for highways in other states and territories
- List of highways in Australia for roads named as highways, but not necessarily classified as highways
- Road transport in Victoria