Pyrenees Highway Maroona-Glenthompson Road, Mortlake-Ararat Road | |
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Pyrenees Highway at Elmhurst | |
Coordinates | |
General information | |
Type | Highway |
Length | 205 km (127 mi) [1] |
Opened | 1938 |
Route number(s) | B180 (1998–present) |
Former route number | State Route 122 (1986–1998) (Ararat–Elphinstone) |
Major junctions | |
West end | Glenelg Highway Glenthompson, Victoria |
East end | Calder Freeway Elphinstone, Victoria |
Location(s) | |
Major settlements | Willaura, Ararat, Amphitheatre, Avoca, Maryborough, Newstead, Castlemaine, Chewton |
Highway system | |
Pyrenees Highway is a rural highway in western Victoria, Australia, linking Glenelg Highway in Glenthompson to Calder Highway in Elphinstone. It intersects with the region's major road freight route, Western Highway in Ararat, in addition to Midland Highway in Castlemaine and Sunraysia Highway in Avoca. It was named after the Pyrenees ranges the highway runs through. This name covers many consecutive roads which are not widely known to most drivers except for the easternmost section, as the entire allocation is best known by the name of its last constituent part: Maroona-Glenthompson Road, Mortlake-Ararat Road and Pyrenees Highway proper. This article will deal with the entire length of the corridor for sake of completion, as well to avoid confusion between declarations.
In 1855, the Victorian Parliament passed the Chinese Immigration Act 1855, severely limiting the number of Chinese passengers permitted on an arriving vessel. To evade the new law, ship's captains landed many Chinese in the south-east of South Australia, from where the new arrivals travelled more than 400 km across country to the Victorian goldfields, along tracks including what is now the Pyrenees Highway. [2] [3]
Construction of a replacement Glenmona Bridge as a wrought-iron lattice-girder deck-truss bridge over Bet Bet Creek at Bung Bong was completed in 1871, and still stands, minus the deck, today; it replaced a timber structure from 1857 which was washed away by severe floods in 1870. It is the third-oldest of its type in Victoria, is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register, [4] and stands just to the south of the modern-day bridge used today by the highway.
The passing of the Highways and Vehicles Act of 1924 [5] through the Parliament of Victoria provided for the declaration of State Highways, roads two-thirds financed by the State government through the Country Roads Board (later VicRoads). The Pyrenees Highway was declared a State Highway in August 1938, [6] cobbled together from roads between the Calder Highway at Castlemaine, via Maryborough and Avoca to Ararat (for a total of 92.5 miles); before this declaration, these roads were referred to as Castlemaine-Maryborough Road, Maryborough-Avoca Road and Avoca-Ararat Road. [7] With the deviation of the Calder Highway past Castlemaine declared in the 1959/60 financial year, [8] the previous alignment of the Calder Highway between Castlemaine and Elphinstone was also added to the Pyrenees Highway. Its western end was later extended from Ararat to Glenthompson in the 2000s.
Pyrenees Highway was signed as State Route 122 between Ararat and Elphinstone in 1986; with Victoria's conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in the late 1990s, this was replaced by route B180, extended to Glenthompson at the same time the highway was extended.
The passing of the Road Management Act 2004 [9] granted the responsibility of overall management and development of Victoria's major arterial roads to VicRoads: in 2004, VicRoads re-declared the road as Maroona-Glenthompson Road (Arterial #5109) from Glenelg Highway in Glenthompson to Maroona, [10] as Mortlake-Ararat Road (Arterial #5100) between Maroona and Ararat, [11] and in 2011 as Pyrenees Highway (Arterial #6740) between Western Highway in Ararat and Calder Freeway at Elphinstone; [12] while the road south of Ararat is signed solely as B180, it is still usually referred to as part of the Pyrenees Highway.
Ararat is a city in south-west Victoria, Australia, about 198 kilometres (120 mi) west of Melbourne, on the Western Highway on the eastern slopes of the Ararat Hills and Cemetery Creek valley between Victoria's Western District and the Wimmera. Its urban population according to 2016 census is 8,297 and services the region of 11,752 residents across the Rural City's boundaries. It is also the home of the 2018/19 GMGA Golf Championship Final.
Calder Highway is a rural highway in Australia, linking Mildura and the Victoria/New South Wales border to Bendigo, in North Central Victoria. South of Bendigo, where the former highway has been upgraded to freeway-standard, Calder Freeway links to Melbourne, subsuming former alignments of Calder Highway; the Victorian Government completed the conversion to freeway standard from Melbourne to Bendigo on 20 April 2009.
Mallee Highway is a highway in south-eastern South Australia and north-western Victoria, running mostly across the Mallee plains. It forms part of the shortest route between Adelaide and Sydney.
Hamilton Highway is a rural highway in western Victoria, Australia, linking Geelong and the town of Hamilton, through the localities of Inverleigh, Cressy, Lismore, Derrinallum, Darlington, Mortlake, and Penshurst. Glenelg Highway links Hamilton across the South Australian border to Mount Gambier, making Hamilton Highway a popular alternative Melbourne-Mount Gambier route.
Avoca is a town in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia, 71 kilometres (44 mi) north west of Ballarat. It is one of two main towns in the Pyrenees Shire, the other being Beaufort to the south.
The Loddon Valley Highway runs roughly north-west from Bendigo to Kerang on the Murray Valley Highway. It constitutes part of the direct route from Melbourne to the popular Murray River holiday areas around Swan Hill.
The Northern Highway is a secondary highway in northern Victoria. Along with the M/A79 Calder Highway and the M/A39 Goulburn Valley Highway, it provides primary arterial links in the region. In conjunction with the B280 McIvor Highway, the B75 Northern Highway provides an important link between Melbourne and Bendigo.
The Sunraysia Highway is a 344 kilometres (214 mi) arterial north-south route in western Victoria. The highway extends north a length of 331 km starting from the Western Freeway near Ballarat to the Calder Highway near Ouyen. It is the north-west arterial road, linking Ballarat and Ouyen, and acts as a secondary route to the Calder Highway), the primary route between Melbourne and Mildura.
Goulburn Valley Highway is a highway located in Victoria, Australia. The section north of the Hume Freeway is part of the Melbourne to Brisbane National Highway and is the main link between these two cities as well as a major link between Victoria and inland New South Wales. It is also the most direct route between Melbourne and the major regional centre of Shepparton in Victoria.
The Murray Valley Highway is a 663-kilometre (412 mi) state highway located in Victoria and New South Wales, Australia. 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 route is designated as B400.
Bellarine Highway is a main arterial highway that runs east from Geelong in Victoria along the Bellarine Peninsula to Queenscliff. The highway also provides the main route to Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove, localities along the southern coast of the peninsula.
Adelaide Lead is a district in Victoria, Australia, site of a former settlement, located on Old Avoca Road, south-west of Maryborough, west of the Paddy Ranges State Park, in the Shire of Central Goldfields. Located on the northern slopes of the Central Highlands, 225 metres above sea level, the area is naturally characterised by Box-Ironbark forest. Remnants of aboriginal settlement include rock wells beside the Possum Gully Road.
The Midland Highway is a major rural highway linking major towns in Victoria, beginning from Geelong and winds through country Victoria in a large arc through the cities of Ballarat, Bendigo and Shepparton, eventually reaching Mansfield at the foothills of the Victorian Alps.
Hopkins Highway is a short highway in south-western Victoria, Australia, serving to link the Hamilton Highway at Mortlake with the Princes Highway at the port city of Warrnambool.
Glenelg Highway is a rural highway in south-eastern Australia, linking Mount Gambier with Ballarat. Most of the highway is located within the Western part of the state of Victoria; except for a short, 15 km stretch from the South Australia/Victoria state border near Ardno to Glenburnie is located in South Australia. Some maps identify the South Australian stretch as Casterton Road. Major towns along its route include Casterton, Coleraine and Hamilton.
Bung Bong is a township in Victoria between the rural towns of Avoca and Maryborough. The township is divided, with the Western section in the Pyrenees Shire and the Eastern section in Shire of Central Goldfields. The Bet Bet Creek runs towards the north through the middle of the township and then into the Loddon River. Bung Bong is located on the Pyrenees Highway.
Warrigal Road is a major inner urban road in southeastern Melbourne, Australia. On weekdays, it is heavily trafficked as it runs through many major suburbs along its route, traversing some of Melbourne's eastern and south-eastern suburbs. These suburbs include Chadstone, Oakleigh, and Cheltenham. The Chadstone Shopping Centre can be accessed directly from Warrigal Road at its eastern entrance.
Henty Highway is a rural highway in western Victoria, Australia. It is primarily a north-south route, consisting of a mix of dual-lane, single-carriageway country highway and four-lane arterial road within some of the larger towns along the route. It was named in honour of Edward Henty, a British colonist regarded as the first permanent European settler of the Port Phillip District, in the town eventually named Portland.
Wimmera Highway is a 345 kilometre highway that connects the towns of Marong, Victoria and Naracoorte, South Australia, through the major junctions of Sunraysia Highway, Henty Highway and Western Highway.
Ben Nevis railway station is an abandoned station on the Avoca railway line, a railway line running from Ararat to Avoca and onto Maryborough in the Australian state of Victoria. It also acted as the terminus of the abandoned Navarre railway line to Navarre, a community in the Wimmera region of Victoria, which was closed in 1954.
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