Victoria has the highest density of roads of any state in Australia. Unlike Australia's other mainland states, which have vast areas with virtually no residents, Victoria has population centres spread out over most of the state, with only the far north-west and the Victorian Alps without significant settlements. Population centres are linked by high quality highways and freeways. The state capital, Melbourne, has the most extensive freeway network of any city in Australia.
VicRoads is responsible for road planning, motor vehicle registration, and driver licensing in Victoria. The Victorian government has set up a framework for the integration of transport facilities in the State. Two private companies operate toll roads in the state.
Roads in Victoria are shared by a multitude of modes of transport, ranging from trucks to bicycles, public buses, trams, taxis as well as private cars of all types. Road safety is a primary concern of road authorities, including the police and government. Victoria was the first jurisdiction in the world to introduce compulsory seat belt legislation. Other measures introduced are drunk driving laws and speed cameras. Victorian road laws are constantly reviewed. The number of road fatalities has declined over the past decade in line with the rest of the country.[1]
History
Melbourne was founded in 1835. In 1837, Robert Hoddle laid out a road plan for the new town, which is commonly referred to as the Hoddle Grid. His plan covers the area from Flinders Street to Queen Victoria Market, and from Spencer Street to Spring Street. Since then the grid has been extended, as the town stretched out along the tram and rail lines, often with stretches of open country in between.
Victoria has the highest density of highways of any state in Australia. Unlike Australia's other mainland states, where vast areas are very sparsely inhabited, Victoria has population centres spread out over most of the state, with only the far north-west and the Victorian Alps without permanent settlement. Highways connect these population centres.
Highways generally radiate from Melbourne and other major cities and rural centres with secondary roads connecting the highways to each other. These highways provide links for state and interstate freight, personal travel and tourism, and most routes have higher traffic than most other states. Highways such as Hume Highway, Western 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 are generally sealed and of reasonable to high quality.
In the 1950s and 1960s, private ownership of cars increased, and newer suburbs were created beyond the tram and rail networks. This eventually led to congestion on the road network between the suburbs and the CBD.
As Melbourne extended, planners and politicians decided that the roads could no longer cope. The 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan called for construction of an extensive network of freeways. The Victorian government were advised by American highway planners and it sent its road engineers to the United States. The resulting network is the most extensive in Australia.
Unlike many American cities, Melbourne had an extensive public transport network and opposition to the plan grew, arguing that money is better spent on public transport upgrades, particularly to areas of Melbourne poorly served by public transport such as the outer east. This led to clashes including the showdown in 1977, over the plan to build the F19 freeway through Collingwood and Fitzroy. In the fiercest battle, groups of protesters such as the Carlton Association barricaded Alexandra Parade.[2] Although the resulting Eastern Freeway was finally built, many road projects were shelved and freeway construction was suspended until the mid-1990s. One notable exception was the Monash Freeway, which was constructed under the John CainLabor government. The party had a policy of no new freeways, but the road was desperately needed to link the existing Mulgrave and South-Eastern freeways. The result was a multi-lane highway with traffic lights at several major intersection. This created traffic congestion, the road being dubbed Melbourne's longest carpark. It was eventually upgraded to freeway standard, and incorporated into the Monash Freeway.
Freeway construction resumed in the 1990s, with the construction of the Western Ring Road, CityLink and others. Most of these freeways are expected eventually to join in a continuous and extensive network. Most recently, the M11 Peninsula Link was opened in 2013, to join the 2 halves of the unfinished Mornington Peninsula Freeway.
Impact of road transport in Melbourne
Where they were built, population growth followed, as Melburnians moved away from the crowded inner and middle suburbs to cheaper outer suburbs; for example, Monash Freeway and Mornington Peninsula Freeway led to explosive growth of population in the south east and the Mornington Peninsula. The completion of Western Ring Road spurred housing growth in the western suburbs.
Safety
Notable multiple fatality incidents
23 March 2007 – Burnley Tunnel – 3 deaths, 3 injuries – 10 car pile-up, 400 evacuated
17 January 2010 – Mill Park, Melbourne – 5 deaths, 1 injured – 1 car split a tree in half
2010 it was announced by the State Government that trucks would be banned from the right-hand lane along a 38-kilometre section of the Princes Freeway between Geelong and Melbourne. Suggestions of a ban began in 2005 but increased after the fatal 2007 Burnley Tunnel fire that killed three people.[3] The ban was put into place from 1 July 2010 between Kororoit Creek Road, Altona, and Avalon Road, Lara and covers all heavy vehicles weighing more than 4.5 tonnes, except buses and caravans.[4] A fine of $358 applies to those breaking the rules, the ban being a trial before a full roll-out on the other major roads in the state.[5]
Names and numbering
Victorian cities, towns, settlements and road network.
Victorian highway naming is straightforward. Most highways are 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 that radiate westwards and northwards from Melbourne. Notable exceptions include some interstate highways and some metropolitan highways, for example, Hume Highway.
The Victorian road numbering system for freeways and arterial roads consists of a letter and a number. The letter is determined by the quality and function of the route, the system contains four 'levels' of roads: M roads, A roads, B roads and C roads:[6]
M Roads provide consistently high quality road conditions and are always divided dual or more carriageways. M roads are the primary transport links between Melbourne and other capital cities or provincial centres. For example, the Eastern Freeway and EastLink make up the route with the official designation of the M3.
A Roads serve the same purpose and provide the same high quality road conditions as M roads, the only difference being that A roads are single carriageways. A Roads also carry less traffic than M roads. For example, the Princes Highway west of Geelong is route number A1.
B Roads are sealed roads wide enough to accommodate two lanes of traffic with good line markings, provide adequate shoulders and high quality and visibility signage. B roads are the primary transport links for regions not connected by either M or A roads, as well as major tourist routes, such as the Great Ocean Road (route number B100).
C Roads are generally sealed two-lane roads with shoulders and serve as links between population centres and the major road network. For example, the Mount Dandenong Tourist Road is route number C415.
The spokes generally incorporate 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 other numbers that indicate general alignment.
Essentially, for freeways and arterial roads, of which VicRoads is the coordinating authority, the letter drawn from the quality and purpose of the route is added to the number as determined by the ring and spoke system[citation needed] to give a highway number that reflects the quality and alignment of the road.
Legislation and governance
The prime transport statute in Victoria is the Transport Integration Act 2010. The Act establishes and sets the charters of the state agencies charged with integrating and coordinating the state's transport system and, as part of that activity, providing roads, managing network access and providing registration and licensing services. The Act establishes the Department of Transport as the agency responsible for the overall integration and planning of Victoria's transport system. In addition, the Act creates Victoria's key road agency, the Roads Corporation or VicRoads.
An important road regulation statute is the Road Management Act 2004,[7] which regulates the management of Victoria's road network. The key statute that regulates Victoria's road safety is the Road Safety Act 1986.[8]
Responsibility for road maintenance in Victoria is distributed. VicRoads maintains main roads, including secondary roads, while local government councils maintain local roads. There are also private roads. The federal government takes its own interest in national highways, and other roads of national interest, such as those that impact foreign trade.
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.
Highways in Australia are generally high capacity roads managed by state and territory government agencies, though Australia's federal government contributes funding for important links between capital cities and major regional centres. Prior to European settlement, the earliest needs for trade and travel were met by narrow bush tracks, used by tribes of Indigenous Australians. The formal construction of roads began in 1788, after the founding of the colony of New South Wales, and a network of three major roads across the colony emerged by the 1820s. Similar road networks were established in the other colonies of Australia. Road construction programs in the early 19th century were generally underfunded, as they were dependent on government budgets, loans, and tolls; while there was a huge increase in road usage, due to the Australian gold rushes. Local government authorities, often known as Road Boards, were therefore established to be primarily responsible for funding and undertaking road construction and maintenance. The early 1900s saw both the increasingly widespread use of motorised transportation, and the creation of state road authorities in each state, between 1913 and 1926. These authorities managed each state's road network, with the main arterial roads controlled and maintained by the state, and other roads remaining the responsibility of local governments. The federal government became involved in road funding in the 1920s, distributing funding to the states. The depression of the 1930s slowed the funding and development of the major road network until the onset on World War II. Supply roads leading to the north of the country were considered vital, resulting in the construction of Barkly, Stuart, and Eyre Highways.
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.
Nepean Highway is a major highway in Victoria, running south from St Kilda Junction in inner-southern Melbourne to Portsea, tracing close to the eastern shore of Port Phillip for the majority of its length. It is the primary road route from central Melbourne through Melbourne's southern suburbs. This name covers a few consecutive roads and is not widely known to most drivers except for its central section, as the entire allocation is still best known by the names of its constituent parts: St Kilda Road, Brighton Road and Nepean Highway proper, and Point Nepean Road. This article will deal with the entire length of the corridor for sake of completion, as well to avoid confusion between declarations.
Melton Highway links Melbourne's outer north-western suburbs of Melton and Taylors Lakes, connecting the Western Freeway and Calder Freeway to provide a more-direct route between Ballarat and Melbourne and Essendon airports; it has a Victorian route designation of C754.
The West Gate Freeway is a major freeway in Melbourne, the busiest urban freeway and the busiest road in Australia, carrying upwards of 200,000 vehicles per day. It links Geelong and Melbourne's western suburbs to central Melbourne and beyond. It is also a link between Melbourne and the west and linking industrial and residential areas west of the Yarra River with the city and port areas. The West Gate Bridge is a part of the freeway.
The Monash Freeway is a major urban freeway in Victoria, Australia, linking Melbourne's CBD to its south-eastern suburbs and beyond to the Gippsland region. It carries up to 180,000 vehicles per day and is one of Australia's busiest freeways. The entire stretch of the Monash Freeway bears the designation M1.
The Eastern Freeway is an urban freeway in eastern Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. It is one of the most important freeways in terms of commuting to the city, connecting Alexandra Parade and Hoddle Street in the inner suburbs, with EastLink tollway farther east. It consists of between three and six lanes in each direction, also an inbound transit lane reserved for vehicles with two or more occupants during peak hours.
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.
Princes Freeway is a 159-kilometre (99 mi) Australian freeway, divided into two sections, both located in Victoria, Australia. The freeway links Melbourne to Geelong in the west, and to Morwell in the east. It continues beyond these extremities as the Princes Highway towards Adelaide to the west and Sydney to the northeast. The freeway bears the designation M1.
The Mornington Peninsula Freeway is a freeway in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, that provides a link from south-eastern suburban Melbourne to the Mornington Peninsula. Whilst the entire freeway from Dingley Village to Rosebud is declared by VicRoads as the Mornington Peninsula Freeway, the section between EastLink in Carrum Downs and Moorooduc Highway in Moorooduc is locally and commonly known as Peninsula Link. The entire freeway corridor bears the designation M11.
The Western Highway is the Victorian part of the principal route linking the Australian cities of Melbourne and Adelaide, with a length of approximately 258 kilometres (160 mi) of single carriageway, then 161 kilometres (100 mi) of dual carriageway known as the Western Freeway. It is a part of the National Highway network and designated routes A8 and M8. The western end continues into South Australia as the Dukes Highway, the next section of the Melbourne–Adelaide National Highway. The Western Freeway joins Melbourne's freeway network via the Western Ring Road, in the western suburbs of Melbourne.
Frankston Freeway is a short freeway in southern Melbourne initially designed as a bypass of central Frankston and later incorporated a freeway-style upgrade to Wells Road in the 1970s, now acting as a link from suburban Melbourne to Frankston's eastern suburbs.
Moorooduc Highway is a 16 km highway which runs from Frankston to Tuerong and, together with the Mornington Peninsula Freeway, was part of the main route from Melbourne to the Mornington Peninsula until the completion of Peninsula Link in 2013. This name is not widely known to most drivers, as the entire allocation is still best known as by the names of its constituent parts: McMahons Road, Frankston–Flinders Road, and Moorooduc Road.
Transport in Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia, consists of several interlinking modes. Melbourne is a hub for intercity, intracity and regional travel. Road-based transport accounts for most trips across many parts of the city, facilitated by Australia's largest freeway network. Public transport, including the world's largest tram network, trains and buses, also forms a key part of the transport system. Other dominant modes include walking, cycling and commercial-passenger vehicle services such as taxis.
Greensborough Highway is a highway in the north-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, and is an important route for north-east Melbourne. This name is not widely known to most drivers, as the entire allocation is still best known as by the names of its constituent parts: Lower Heidelberg Road, Rosanna Road, Lower Plenty Road, Greensborough Road and Greensborough Bypass. This article will deal with the entire length of the corridor for sake of completion, as well to avoid confusion between declarations.
State (Bell/Springvale) Highway, also known as Bell Street/Springvale Road State Highway, is the longest self-contained urban highway in Melbourne, Australia, linking Tullamarine Freeway and Nepean Highway through Melbourne's north-eastern suburbs. These names are not widely known to most drivers, as the entire allocation is still best known as by the names of its constituent parts : Bell Street, Banksia Street, Manningham Road, Williamsons Road, Doncaster Road, Mitcham Road, Springvale Road and Edithvale Road. This article will deal with the entire length of the corridor for sake of completeness, as well to avoid confusion between declarations.
The M80 Ring Road is a partially complete urban freeway ring road around Melbourne, Australia. This article will deal with the entire length of the corridor for sake of completion, as well to avoid confusion between declarations.
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