The Highways in Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

 are the highest density in any state in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Unlike Australia's other mainland states where vast areas are very sparsely inhabited "outback", there are 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

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 and other major cities and rural centres with secondary roads interconnecting the highways to each other.

Functions of these highways include freight (intra and interstate), personal travel and tourism and most routes have higher traffic than most other states. Highways such as Hume Highway

Hume Highway

The Hume Highway/Hume Freeway is one of Australia's major inter-city highways, running for 880 km between Sydney and Melbourne. It is part of the Auslink National Network and is a vital link for road freight to transport goods to and from the two cities as well as serving Albury-Wodonga and...

, Western Highway

Western Highway, Victoria

The Western Highway is part of the principal route linking the Australian cities of Melbourne and Adelaide with a length of approximately 314 kilometres. It is a part of the National Highway network and designated as National Highway A8...

 and Princes Highway

Princes Highway

The Princes Highway extends from Sydney to Port Augusta via the coast through the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, a distance of 1941 km or 1898 km via the former alignments of the 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

Victorian 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 other numbers which indicate their general alignment.

National Highways

• Western Highway
  Western Highway, Victoria
  The Western Highway is part of the principal route linking the Australian cities of Melbourne and Adelaide with a length of approximately 314 kilometres. It is a part of the National Highway network and designated as National Highway A8...
  
  
• Sturt Highway
  Sturt Highway
  The Sturt Highway is an Australian highway in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. It is part of the Auslink National network and is part of the main highway route between Sydney and Adelaide.-Route:...
  
  
• Hume Freeway
• Goulburn Valley Highway
  Goulburn Valley Highway
  The Goulburn Valley Highway / is a highway located in Victoria, Australia. The section north beyond 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...
  
  

State Highways

• Princes Highway
  Princes Highway
  The Princes Highway extends from Sydney to Port Augusta via the coast through the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, a distance of 1941 km or 1898 km via the former alignments of the highway ....
  
  
• Nepean Highway
  Nepean Highway
  Nepean Highway runs south from the centre of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia to Portsea, along the eastern shore of Port Phillip. It is the primary road route to central Melbourne from Melbourne's southern suburbs.- History :...
  
  
• Mallee Highway
  Mallee Highway
  The Mallee Highway runs east from Tailem Bend in South Australia through cereal-growing farmland at the southern end of the Murray Mallee to Pinnaroo near the border with Victoria, where it crosses route...
  
  
• Monaro Highway
  Monaro Highway
  The Monaro Highway is a state highway in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Victoria, Australia. The Victorian section was formerly known as the Cann Valley Highway until the 1980s....
  
  
• Northern Highway
• Calder Highway
  Calder Highway
  Calder Highway is a Highway linking Ravenswood South in Victoria, to Mildura. North of the Victoria/New South Wales border, the highway continues north to Broken Hill, Tibooburra and the New South Wales/Queensland border as the Silver City Highway, under the standard national route shield as far...
  
  
• Henty Highway
  Henty Highway
  Henty Highway is a 360 kilometre highway in western Victoria, Australia. It's primarily a north-south route, and consists of a mix of 2 laned country highway standard and 4 lane arterial road within some of the larger towns along the route....
  
  
• Midland Highway
• 
  • South Gippsland Highway
    South Gippsland Highway
    The South Gippsland Highway is a partially divided highway in Victoria, Australia which connects the city of Melbourne with the South Gippsland region of Victoria, ending in the town of Sale...
    
    
  • Bass Highway
• Bass Highway
• South Gippsland Highway
  South Gippsland Highway
  The South Gippsland Highway is a partially divided highway in Victoria, Australia which connects the city of Melbourne with the South Gippsland region of Victoria, ending in the town of Sale...
  
  
• Western Port Highway
• Western Port Highway

Major Arterial Roads

• Moorooduc Highway
  Moorooduc Highway
  The Moorooduc Highway is a 19 km highway which runs from Frankston to Mount Martha. It is a dual carriageway with two or three lanes each way and, together with the Mornington Peninsula Freeway, is a main arterial road from Melbourne to the Mornington Peninsula.- History :It originally started...
  
  
• Whitehorse Road
  Maroondah Highway
  Maroondah Highway , is a major east-west thoroughfare in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and a highway servicing the lower alpine region Victoria, Australia.-History:...
  
  
• Surf Coast Highway
  Great Ocean Road
  The Great Ocean Road is a stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Warrnambool. The road was built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932, and is the world's largest war memorial; dedicated to casualties of World War I...
  
  
• 
  • Bellarine Highway
    Bellarine Highway
    The Bellarine Highway runs east from Geelong in Victoria along the Bellarine Peninsula to Queenscliff. Previously assigned State Route 91, it was later designated as B110...
    
    
  • Nepean Highway
    Nepean Highway
    Nepean Highway runs south from the centre of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia to Portsea, along the eastern shore of Port Phillip. It is the primary road route to central Melbourne from Melbourne's southern suburbs.- History :...
    
    
• Hopkins Highway
  Hopkins Highway
  The Hopkins Highway in south-western Victoria, Australia is a short highway serving to link the Hamilton Highway at Mortlake with the Princes Highway at the port city of Warrnambool....
  
  
• Hamilton Highway
  Hamilton Highway
  The Hamilton Highway in western Victoria, Australia runs from the Princes Highway in Geelong west to the town of Hamilton through the towns of Inverleigh, Cressy, Lismore, Derrinallum, Darlington, Mortlake, and Penshurst....
  
  
• Glenelg Highway
  Glenelg Highway
  The Glenelg Highway is a 301 kilometre 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...
  
  
• Pyrenees Highway
  Pyrenees Highway
  Pyrenees Highway in western Victoria, Australia is a 206 kilometre highway serving to link the Calder Highway in Elphinstone with the Glenelg Highway in Glenthompson...
  
  
• Henty Highway
  Henty Highway
  Henty Highway is a 360 kilometre highway in western Victoria, Australia. It's primarily a north-south route, and consists of a mix of 2 laned country highway standard and 4 lane arterial road within some of the larger towns along the route....
  
  
• Sunraysia Highway
  Sunraysia Highway
  The Sunraysia Highway , is a important north-south route in western Victoria. The highway extends north a length of 331 km from the Western Highway near Ballarat to the Calder Highway near Ouyen....
  
  
• Wimmera Highway
  Wimmera Highway
  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.-See also:*Highways in Australia*Highways in Victoria...
  
  
• Loddon Valley Highway
  Loddon Valley Highway
  The Loddon Valley Highway runs roughly north-west from Bendigo to Kerang on the Murray Valley Highway. Previously assigned State Route 141, it was later designated as B260....
  
  
• McIvor Highway
  McIvor Highway
  McIvor Highway is a short Victorian highway linking Bendigo and Heathcote. Together with Hume Freeway and Northern Highway , it provides an alternative route between Melbourne and Bendigo. Previously assigned State Route 141, it was later designated B280...
  
  
• 
  • Goulburn Valley Highway
    Goulburn Valley Highway
    The Goulburn Valley Highway / is a highway located in Victoria, Australia. The section north beyond 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...
    
    
  • Maroondah Highway
    Maroondah Highway
    Maroondah Highway , is a major east-west thoroughfare in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and a highway servicing the lower alpine region Victoria, Australia.-History:...
    
    
  • Melba Highway
    Melba Highway
    The Melba Highway connects the outer eastern suburb of Coldstream, near Lilydale, and the town of Yea, in Victoria's Central Highlands on the Goulburn Valley Highway.-Route:...
    
    
  • Midland Highway
• Maroondah Highway
  Maroondah Highway
  Maroondah Highway , is a major east-west thoroughfare in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and a highway servicing the lower alpine region Victoria, Australia.-History:...
  
  
• 
  • Goulburn Valley Highway
    Goulburn Valley Highway
    The Goulburn Valley Highway / is a highway located in Victoria, Australia. The section north beyond 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...
    
    
  • Maroondah Highway
    Maroondah Highway
    Maroondah Highway , is a major east-west thoroughfare in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and a highway servicing the lower alpine region Victoria, Australia.-History:...
    
    
• Maroondah Highway
  Maroondah Highway
  Maroondah Highway , is a major east-west thoroughfare in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and a highway servicing the lower alpine region Victoria, Australia.-History:...
  
  
• Warburton Highway
  Warburton Highway
  Warburton Highway is a 35 kilometre west-east highway starting on the eastern fringes of Melbourne, Victoria at the Maroondah Highway just after Lilydale, connecting Melbourne to the Yarra Valley wine region and its towns. The entire road is within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area...
  
  
• 
  • Bass Highway
  • Strzelecki Highway
    Strzelecki Highway
    Strzelecki Highway is a short 55 kilometre highway that connects the towns of Leongatha, Victoria and Morwell, Victoria, through the major junctions of South Gippsland Highway and Princes Freeway....
    
    

Minor Arterial Roads

• Burwood Highway
  Burwood Highway
  Burwood Highway is a major transportation link with Melbourne's eastern suburbs. It begins in the suburb of Kooyong, Melbourne at the junction of the Monash Freeway as Toorak Road between Monash Freeway and Warrigal Road, and finishes in Belgrave, Victoria in the Dandenong Ranges...
  
  
• Mountain Highway
  Mountain Highway
  Mountain Highway is a 18 km highway in Eastern Melbourne. Mountain Highway starts from Burwood Highway and runs through The Basin, then uphill to Sassafras. For most of its length it is dual carriageway, with 2 or 3 lanes in each Direction. From Burwood Highway to Forest Road in the suburb of The...
  
  
• Borung Highway
  Borung Highway
  The Borung Highway is a 140 kilometre rural highway in western Victoria running in a west-east direction from Dimboola in the west to Charlton in the east...
  
  
• Borung Highway
  Borung Highway
  The Borung Highway is a 140 kilometre rural highway in western Victoria running in a west-east direction from Dimboola in the west to Charlton in the east...
  
  
• Burwood Highway
  Burwood Highway
  Burwood Highway is a major transportation link with Melbourne's eastern suburbs. It begins in the suburb of Kooyong, Melbourne at the junction of the Monash Freeway as Toorak Road between Monash Freeway and Warrigal Road, and finishes in Belgrave, Victoria in the Dandenong Ranges...
  
  
• Hyland Highway
  Hyland Highway
  The Hyland Highway is a road connecting the towns of Traralgon and Yarram in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia....
  
  
• Kiewa Valley Highway
  Kiewa Valley Highway
  Kiewa Valley Highway traverses alpine regions of Victoria, Australia for a distance of . In the 1950s the road was sealed and realigned to Mount Beauty to permit the transport of materials for the construction of the Kiewa Hydroelectric Scheme...
  
  
• Omeo Highway
  Omeo Highway
  The Omeo Highway is a 157 kilometre road in eastern Victoria, Australia, connecting north-east Victoria to Gippsland over parts of the Victorian Alps....
  
  
• Melton Highway
  Melton Highway
  Melton Highway links Melbourne's outer north-western suburbs of Melton and Taylors Lakes ; it has a Victorian route designation of .-Route:...
  
  

Tourist Roads

• Great Ocean Road
  Great Ocean Road
  The Great Ocean Road is a stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Warrnambool. The road was built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932, and is the world's largest war memorial; dedicated to casualties of World War I...
  
  
• Murray Valley Highway
  Murray Valley Highway
  The Murray Valley Highway is a popular tourist route, which follows the south side of the Murray River in Victoria, Australia. The route effectively acts as the northern-most highway in Victoria...
  
  
• Phillip Island Road
  Phillip Island Road
  Phillip Island Road is a tourist highway in Victoria, Australia and branches off the Bass Highway at the township of Anderson. Previously assigned State Route 186, it was later designated B420. It was named due to the Phillip Island Bridge which opened in San Remo on 21 November 1969....
  
  
• Great Alpine Road
  Great Alpine Road
  The Great Alpine Road is a country tourist road in Victoria, Australia, running from Wangaratta in the north to Bairnsdale in the east, and passing through the Australian Alps...
  
  

In addition, several metropolitan roads have been given highway designation, mainly in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

. For details see List of highways in Melbourne