Hamilton Highway is a rural highway in western

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 ...

, linking

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

and the town of

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, through the localities of Inverleigh, Cressy, Lismore, Derrinallum, Darlington,

Mortlake Mortlake is a suburban district of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames on the south bank of the River Thames between Kew and Barnes. Historically it was part of Surrey and until 1965 was in the Municipal Borough of Barnes. For many centu ...

, and Penshurst.

Glenelg Highway 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, though a short, 15 km stretch from the South Australia/V ...

links Hamilton across the

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

n border to

Mount Gambier Mount Gambier is the second most populated city in South Australia, with an estimated urban population of 33,233 . The city is located on the slopes of Mount Gambier, a volcano in the south east of the state, about south-east of the capital Ad ...

, making Hamilton Highway a popular alternative Melbourne-Mount Gambier route (being roughly 50 km shorter than a corresponding journey via the Victorian coast along Highway 1).

History

The passing of the ''Highways and Vehicles Act of 1924''State of Victoria, ''An Act to make further provision with respect to Highways and Country Roads Motor Cars and Traction Engines and for other purposes'' 30 December 1924
/ref> through the

Parliament of Victoria The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria that follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the King, represented by the Governor of Victoria, the Legislative Assembly and ...

provided for the declaration of State Highways, roads two-thirds financed by the State government through the

Country Roads Board The Country Roads Board was a government authority responsible for the construction and maintenance of main roads in the state of Victoria, Australia between 1913 and 1983. History The Country Roads Board (CRB) was formed to take over responsi ...

(later

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 ...

). The Hamilton Highway was declared a State Highway in the 1959/60 financial year, from

via Cressy and

(for a total of 143 miles); before this declaration, this road was referred to as the Geelong-Hamilton Road. The Geelong end of the highway was once routed along Hyland Street through Fyansford, until the construction of Deviation Road between 1931-32 with unemployment labour during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. Opened in 1933, it was cut into the hillside, the surface was originally of concrete construction. The road opened 54 years after the first petition by Fyansford residents for such a road.John, McNeil (1990) ''A Journey to Destiny 1890-1990 100 Years of Cement Manufacturing at Fyansford by Australian Cement Limited'' A new bridge over Woady Yaloak River in Cressy was opened in 1995, at a cost of $2.86 million, adjacent to and replacing a structure built in 1854 and rebuilt in 1880 after fire damage, retained but now closed to vehicular traffic. The Hamilton Highway was signed as State Route 106 between Geelong and Hamilton in 1986; with Victoria's conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in the late 1990s, this was replaced by route B140. The passing of the ''Road Management Act 2004'' granted the responsibility of overall management and development of Victoria's major arterial roads to

: in 2004, VicRoads re-declared the road as Hamilton Highway (Arterial #6780), beginning at Latrobe Terrace at

and ending at

Major Intersections and Towns

References

External links

{{Road infrastructure in Victoria Highways in Victoria (state) Transport in Geelong Transport in Barwon South West (region)

History

Major Intersections and Towns

See also

References

External links