Ballarat Road (in its westernmost part the Western Highway) is a major urban arterial road in the western suburbs of
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
History
Previously part of Western Highway, the road was bypassed as the main route through western Melbourne when the
Deer Park bypass
The Western Highway is the Victorian part of the principal route linking the Australian cities of Melbourne and Adelaide, with a length of approximately of single carriageway, then of dual carriageway known as the Western Freeway. It is a pa ...
opened in 2009; the road name was devolved back to its original identity as Ballarat Road as a consequence, however, the route is still co-signed as Western Highway on older signs. The highway was originally designated in the
1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan
The 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan was a road and rail transport plan for Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia, instituted by Henry Bolte's state government. Most prominently, the plan recommended the provision of an extensive ...
as part of the F12 Freeway corridor.
As a part of the Western Highway, the road was signed as National Route 8 in 1955. The
Whitlam Government introduced the federal ''National Roads Act 1974'',
where roads declared as a National Highway were still the responsibility of the states for road construction and maintenance, but were fully compensated by the Federal government for money spent on approved projects.
As an important interstate link between the capitals of Victoria and South Australia, the Western Highway was declared a National Highway in 1974.
With Victoria's conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in the late 1990s, the section between
Ravenhall and
Ardeer (where it met the
Western Ring Road
The M80 Ring Road (also known as simply the Ring Road or by the name of its constituent parts: Western Ring Road and Metropolitan Ring Road) is a currently incomplete urban freeway ring road around Melbourne, Australia. This article will deal ...
) was upgraded to National Highway M8; it was left as National Highway 8 east of the ring road along its original alignment into central Melbourne. Once the Deer Park bypass was opened in 2009 and National Route M8 was re-routed onto the new bypass, the old route was replaced with Metropolitan Route 8 from Ravenhall to the inner suburb of
Footscray.
The passing of the ''Road Management Act 2004''
granted the responsibility of overall management and development of Victoria's major arterial roads to
VicRoads
VicRoads is a government joint venture in the state of Victoria, Australia. In the state, it is responsible for driver licensing and vehicle registration. It is owned and operated through a joint venture between the Victorian government and a c ...
: in 2014, VicRoads declared this road as Footscray-Caroline Springs Road (Arterial #5520), beginning in Footscray and ending in Ravenhall;
the road is still presently known (and signposted) as Ballarat Road.
Geography
VicRoads' declaration states Ballarat Road starts at the intersection with
Princes Highway
Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney via Melbourne to Adelaide through the states of New South Wales, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and South Australia. It has a length of (along Highway 1) or via the former ...
(Geelong Road) in
Footscray, however signposts still indicate the road starts west of Lynch's bridge across the Yarra River. It continues west through
Maidstone
Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...
,
Braybrook,
Sunshine
Sunlight is a portion of the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun, in particular infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light. On Earth, sunlight is scattered and filtered through Earth's atmosphere, and is obvious as daylight when th ...
,
Albion
Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than 'Britain' today. The name for Scot ...
,
Cairnlea,
Deer Park,
Burnside, and
Caroline Springs
Caroline Springs is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melton local government area. Caroline Springs recorded a population of 24,488 at the 2021 census.
Carol ...
, with the route terminating at the junction of
Caroline Springs Boulevard, Christies Road and the
Western Freeway on ramp. Major junctions along the route include the
Western Ring Road
The M80 Ring Road (also known as simply the Ring Road or by the name of its constituent parts: Western Ring Road and Metropolitan Ring Road) is a currently incomplete urban freeway ring road around Melbourne, Australia. This article will deal ...
and the
Western Freeway, where the route terminates as said above.
Turning onto Christies Road from the route terminus, road users are able to turn onto the
Deer Park Bypass
The Western Highway is the Victorian part of the principal route linking the Australian cities of Melbourne and Adelaide, with a length of approximately of single carriageway, then of dual carriageway known as the Western Freeway. It is a pa ...
Transport
Tram route 82 runs along the
Footscray section of Ballarat Road, between Gordon & Droop Streets. The
Melton railway line
The Melton railway line is the greater-metropolitan section of the Ballarat line in Victoria, Australia. It is incorporated into Melbourne's suburban railway network. Services are provided by V/Line as part of the Ballarat regional line servic ...
from
Southern Cross
Crux () is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. The name ''Crux'' is Latin for c ...
runs parallel to Ballarat Road from
Sunshine
Sunlight is a portion of the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun, in particular infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light. On Earth, sunlight is scattered and filtered through Earth's atmosphere, and is obvious as daylight when th ...
about 1 km to the south, with stations at
Albion
Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than 'Britain' today. The name for Scot ...
, and
Deer Park. Several bus routes run along Ballarat Road at various points (routes 215, 216, 220, 223, 256, 400, 406, 408, 410 and 456) with 456 continuing on the
Western Freeway to
Melton.
With three lanes running in each direction, between
Deer Park and the
Western Ring Road
The M80 Ring Road (also known as simply the Ring Road or by the name of its constituent parts: Western Ring Road and Metropolitan Ring Road) is a currently incomplete urban freeway ring road around Melbourne, Australia. This article will deal ...
, this was one of the worst bottlenecks in western
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
with traffic reaching 70,000
vehicle
A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), wa ...
s per day, with 10 per cent of this consisting of heavy vehicles. This caused delays, in part due to seven
traffic signals
Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – known also as robots in South Africa are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control flows of traffic.
Traffic lights ...
between the
Western Ring Road
The M80 Ring Road (also known as simply the Ring Road or by the name of its constituent parts: Western Ring Road and Metropolitan Ring Road) is a currently incomplete urban freeway ring road around Melbourne, Australia. This article will deal ...
and the start of the
Western Freeway. With the completion of the
Deer Park Bypass
The Western Highway is the Victorian part of the principal route linking the Australian cities of Melbourne and Adelaide, with a length of approximately of single carriageway, then of dual carriageway known as the Western Freeway. It is a pa ...
traffic volumes were predicted to decrease to local traffic standard since its opening on 5 April 2009.
In central Melbourne, Ballarat Road has a single carriageway from
Braybrook and is a two lane arterial road, including one small stretch which shares the road with trams.
Major intersections and suburbs
See also
*
Western Highway
References
{{Road infrastructure in Melbourne
Streets in Melbourne
Highways and freeways in Melbourne
Transport in the City of Melton
Transport in the City of Brimbank
Transport in the City of Maribyrnong
Transport in the City of Melbourne (LGA)