Great Alpine Road | |
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Coordinates |
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General information | |
Type | Highway |
Length | 303.7 km (189 mi) [1] |
Gazetted | November 1914 (as Main Road) [2] 1947/48 (as State Highway) [3] |
Route number(s) | B500 (1996–present) |
Former route number |
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Major junctions | |
Northwest end | Wangaratta Road Wangaratta, Victoria |
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Southeast end | Princes Highway Bairnsdale, Victoria |
Location(s) | |
Major settlements | Myrtleford, Ovens, Bright, Harrietville, Mount Hotham, Dinner Plain, Omeo, Swifts Creek, Ensay}, Bruthen |
Highway system | |
The Great Alpine Road is a country tourist road in Victoria, Australia, running from Wangaratta in the north to Bairnsdale in the east, passing through the Victorian Alps. [4] The road was given its current name because it was considered the mountain equivalent to Victoria's world-famous Great Ocean Road in the south-west of the state.[ citation needed ] The road usually remains open during winter; however, vehicles travelling between Harrietville and Omeo are required to carry diamond-pattern [5] snow chains during the declared snow season. [6]
The Great Alpine Road [7] links Wangaratta with Bairnsdale, winding through mountains, valleys and forests, and past rivers, vineyards and farms. At a length of 304 kilometres (189 mi), it is Australia's highest year-round accessible sealed road. The section over Mount Hotham rises to an altitude of 1,840 metres (6,040 ft) AMSL. [8] It is blanketed with snow during winter months and must be cleared on a daily basis. Extreme weather conditions can sometimes still result in the road being closed between Harrietville and Omeo.
The road itself has existed since colonial times in some form, but was unsealed for much of its history; its last portions were sealed between Slatey Cutting and Dinner Plain in the 1996–97 financial year (when the road was renamed the Great Alpine Road), [9] and the 12 km between Dinner Plain and Horsehair Plain in the 1997–98 financial year. [10]
The passing of the Country Roads Act of 1912 [11] through the Parliament of Victoria provided for the establishment of the Country Roads Board (CRB, later VicRoads) and their ability to declare Main Roads, taking responsibility for the management, construction and care of the state's major roads from local municipalities. Bright Road from Myrtleford to Bright, and Harrietville Road from Bright to Harrietville, were declared Main Roads on 16 November 1914. [2]
In 1923, the CRB took responsibility for the Alpine Road between Harrietville and Omeo, and appointed William Benjamin (Bill) Spargo (1888–1959) as supervisor. [12] He lived in a stone cottage at Hotham Heights, which the CRB expanded, at his request, to accommodate up to twenty visiting skiers. From 1925, the premises operated as a guesthouse, Hotham Cottage (Hotham Heights Chalet). This was the forerunner of the Hotham Alpine Resort.
The passing of the Highways and Vehicles Act of 1924 [13] provided for the declaration of State Highways, roads two-thirds financed by the State government through the Country Roads Board. Ovens Highway was declared a State Highway within Victoria in the 1947/48 financial year, [3] from Wangaratta via Myrtleford to Bright (for a total of 47.5 miles), subsuming the original declarations of Bright Road and Harrietville Road as Main Roads; before this declaration, the road was also referred to as (The) Alpine Road. [14] The highway was eventually extended from Bright further along Alpine Road to Harrietville in September 1993. [15]
Ovens Highway and Alpine Road, from Wangaratta to Omeo, along with the southern section of Omeo Highway from Omeo via Bruthen [16] to Bairnsdale, was renamed the Great Alpine Road in late 1996; [9] the southern terminus of Omeo Highway was truncated to Omeo as a result.
Ovens Highway, and the remainder of Alpine Road beyond, was signed as State Route 156 between Wangaratta and Omeo in 1986; Omeo Highway was signed as State Route 195. With Victoria's conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in the late 1990s, and with its recent declaration as Great Alpine Road, its former route numbers were replaced with route B500 in late 1996. [9]
The passing of the Road Management Act 2004 [17] granted the responsibility of overall management and development of Victoria's major arterial roads to VicRoads: in 2004, VicRoads re-declared the road as Great Alpine Road (Arterial #4005), beginning at Wangaratta Road at Wangaratta and ending at Princes Highway in Bairnsdale. [4]
LGA | Location [1] [4] | km [1] | mi | Destinations | Notes |
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Wangaratta | Wangaratta | 0.0 | 0.0 | Wangaratta Road – Wangaratta, Yarrawonga, Wodonga | Northwestern terminus of road and route B500 |
East Wangaratta | 4.2 | 2.6 | Hume Highway – Seymour, Wodonga, Melbourne | ||
Tarrawingee | 11.0 | 6.8 | Beechworth–Wangaratta Road (C315) – Beechworth, Yackandandah | ||
Bowmans Forest | 33.7 | 20.9 | Buckland Gap Road (C524) – Beechworth | ||
Alpine | Gapsted | 39.4 | 24.5 | Snow Road – Milawa, Glenrowan | |
Myrtleford | 44.8 | 27.8 | Myrtleford–Yackandandah Road (C527) – Yackandandah | ||
45.2 | 28.1 | Buffalo River Road (C526) – Lake Buffalo | |||
Ovens | 50.1 | 31.1 | Happy Valley Road (C534) – Mount Beauty | ||
Porepunkah | 69.9 | 43.4 | Mount Buffalo Road (C535) – Mount Buffalo | Roundabout | |
Bright | 75.7 | 47.0 | Anderson Street – Bright, to Morses Creek Road – Wandiligong | ||
Germantown | 81.3 | 50.5 | Tawonga Gap Road (C536) – Mount Beauty | ||
Harrietville | 100.7 | 62.6 | Mill Road – Harrietville | ||
Hotham Heights | 121.0 | 75.2 | Dargo High Plains Road – Dargo, Bairnsdale | Summer season only road | |
Mount Hotham | 132.4 | 82.3 | Davenport Drive – Mount Hotham | ||
Dinner Plain | 142.2 | 88.4 | Horseshoe Circuit – Dinner Plain | ||
Cobungra | 152.5 | 94.8 | Mount Hotham Airport Road – Mount Hotham Airport | ||
East Gippsland | Omeo | 182.7 | 113.5 | Cassilis Road – Cassilis | |
186.3 | 115.8 | Omeo Highway (C543) – Benambra, Tallangatta | |||
Swifts Creek | 211.9 | 131.7 | Cassilis Road – Cassilis | ||
Ensay | 230.9 | 143.5 | Ensay-Doctors Flat Road – Ensay | ||
Bruthen | 281.2 | 174.7 | Bruthen–Nowa Nowa Road (C620) – Buchan, Orbost | ||
Wiseleigh | 284.5 | 176.8 | Sarsfield–Tambo Upper Road (C605) – Swan Reach | ||
Lucknow | 303.7 | 188.7 | Princes Highway (A1) – Lakes Entrance, Orbost, Bairnsdale, Melbourne | Southeastern terminus of road and route B500 at roundabout | |
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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Hume Highway, inclusive of the sections now known as Hume Freeway and Hume Motorway, is one of Australia's major inter-city national highways, running for 840 kilometres (520 mi) between Melbourne in the southwest and Sydney in the northeast. Upgrading of the route from Sydney's outskirts to Melbourne's outskirts to dual carriageway was completed on 7 August 2013.
The Shire of Alpine is a local government area in the Hume region of Victoria, Australia, located in the north-east part of the state. It covers an area of 4,788 square kilometres (1,849 sq mi) and in August 2021 had a population of 13,235.
Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney via Melbourne to Adelaide through the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. It has a length of 1,941 kilometres (1,206 mi) or 1,898 kilometres (1,179 mi) via the former alignments of the highway, although these routes are slower and connections to the bypassed sections of the original route are poor in many cases.
Hamilton Highway is a rural highway through the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, linking Geelong and the town of Hamilton.
The Victorian Alps, also known locally as the High Country, is a large mountain system in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria. Occupying the majority of eastern Victoria, it is the southwestern half of the Australian Alps, the tallest portion of the Great Dividing Range. The Yarra and Dandenong Ranges, both sources of rivers and drinking waters for Melbourne, are branches of the Victorian Alps.
Bright is a town in northeastern Victoria, Australia, 319 metres above sea level at the southeastern end of the Ovens Valley. At the 2021 census, Bright had a population of 2,620. It is located in the Alpine Shire local government area.
Murray Valley Highway is a 663-kilometre (412 mi) rural highway located in Victoria, Australia, between Euston, New South Wales and Corryong, Victoria. The popular tourist route mostly follows the southern bank of the Murray River and effectively acts as the northernmost highway in Victoria. For all but the western end's last three kilometres, the highway is allocated route B400.
The Ovens River, a perennial river of the north-east Murray catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the Alpine and Hume regions of the Australian state of Victoria.
The Magistrates' Court of Victoria is the lowest court in the Australian state of Victoria.
Omeo is a town in Victoria, Australia on the Great Alpine Road, east of Mount Hotham, in the Shire of East Gippsland. At the 2016 census, Omeo had a population of 406. The name is derived from an Aboriginal word for 'mountains' or 'hills'. Omeo is affectionately known as the City of the Alps with many historic buildings remaining in the town. The town is still the commercial hub for the Omeo Region and is a service centre for outlying communities such as Benambra, Cobungra, Cassilis, Swifts Creek, and Ensay.
The Bogong High Plains, part of the Victorian Alps of the Great Dividing Range, are a section of plains located in the Alpine National Park in the Australian state of Victoria and are situated south of Mount Bogong.
Mount Feathertop is the second-highest mountain in the Australian state of Victoria and is part of the Australian Alps and is located within the Alpine National Park. It rises to 1,922 metres (6,306 ft) and is usually covered in snow from June to September. Unlike most mountains in the Australian Alps, Mount Feathertop has steep summit slopes instead of a rounded summit dome. Snow remaining in the summit gullies until late spring gives the appearance of feathers, hence the name.
The County of Bogong is one of the 37 counties of Victoria which are part of the cadastral divisions of Australia, used for land titles. It is located south of the Murray River, east of the Ovens River, and west of the Mitta Mitta River. Mount Bogong is located there, the highest mountain in Victoria. The county was proclaimed in 1871.
The Myrtleford Alpine Saints Football Netball Club, is an Australian rules football and netball club based in the town of Myrtleford, in north east Victoria on the Ovens River. The football and netball squads play in the Ovens & Murray Football League (OMFL).
Omeo Highway is a 163 kilometre rural highway in eastern Victoria, Australia, connecting Tallangatta on Lake Hume in north-east Victoria to Bairnsdale in East Gippsland, over parts of the Victorian Alps.
Kiewa Valley Highway is a rural highway which traverses the Kiewa Valley near the alpine regions of Victoria, Australia, connecting the eastern Wodonga suburb of Bandiana to Mount Beauty, at the foot of Mount Bogong in the Alpine National Park.
Whorouly is a town in northeast Victoria, Australia. Its name is possibly derived from an Aboriginal word meaning a black cockatoo, although another suggestion is that it means "underwater".
The Bundara River, a perennial river of the North-East Murray catchment of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the East Gippsland and Alpine regions of Victoria, Australia.
Mount Hotham Alpine Resort is an Australian alpine resort, is located in the Alpine region of Victoria. Set on the slopes of Mount Hotham, the ski resort comprises an alpine village, situated at an altitude of 1,750 metres (5,740 ft) AHD, making it the second highest resort village in Australia after Charlotte Pass village, in New South Wales.
The Centenary 1000 cycling race was a one-week road bicycle race over seven stages covering 1,102 miles (1,773 km). The race was run in 1934 as part of the celebrations of the Centenary of Victoria. The race was originally conceived along the lines of the Dunlop Grand Prix, won by Hubert Opperman then aged 23, by 1h 20' and the concept for the race was covering 1,000 miles (1,600 km) with prizes exceeding £1,000, including a climb over Mount Hotham.
"Great Alpine Road – Tourism Victoria" . Retrieved 21 July 2011.
"Australian Traveller" . Retrieved 10 February 2009.
"Great Alpine Road – Visit Victoria (official tourism website)" . Retrieved 20 June 2015.
"Sydney – Melbourne Touring". Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
"Victoria's Alpine High Country" . Retrieved 10 February 2009.
"NRMA Motoring Services" . Retrieved 10 February 2009.
"Discover East Gippsland". Archived from the original on 25 April 2009. Retrieved 10 February 2009.