Victor Harbor Road (and its southern sections Adelaide Road, Hindmarsh Road and Torrens Street through Victor Harbor) is a major road in

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 ...

that runs south from

Main South Road South Road and its southern section as Main South Road outside of Adelaide is a major north–south conduit connecting Adelaide and the Fleurieu Peninsula, in South Australia. It is one of Adelaide's most important arterial and bypass roads. As ...

at Old Noarlunga on the southern fringes of suburban

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

to Victor Harbor on the

Fleurieu Peninsula The Fleurieu Peninsula () is a peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia located south of the state capital of Adelaide. History Before British colonisation of South Australia, the western side of the peninsula was occupied by the ...

. It is designated part of route A13.

Route

Victor Harbor Road commences at the intersection with

at Old Noarlunga and heads south through the

McLaren Vale McLaren Vale is a wine region in the Australian state of South Australia located in the Adelaide metropolitan area and centred on the town of McLaren Vale about south of the Adelaide city centre. It is internationally renowned for the win ...

region, bypassing the towns of

and Willunga, and passes through Mount Compass, until it reaches Hindmarsh Valley, on the northern fringes of Victor Harbor, where it changes name to Adelaide Road, and continues south to meet with Port Elliot Road at Hayborough. It continues southwest as Hindmarsh Road, changing name to Torrens Street in central Victor Harbor, before ending at the intersection with Victoria Street in the city centre.

History

From Old Noarlunga the road originally ran southeast to McLaren Vale then straight south to Willunga, before climbing the Willunga Escarpment with a steep, winding narrow section called 'Willunga Hill'. In the 1970s a diversion was constructed, bypassing McLaren Vale and Willunga to the west through the McLaren Vale vineyards, and including a new 4-lane section climbing the Willunga Escarpment of the

Mount Lofty Ranges The Mount Lofty Ranges are a range of mountains in the Australian state of South Australia which for a small part of its length borders the east of Adelaide. The part of the range in the vicinity of Adelaide is called the Adelaide Hills and ...

. The steep winding ascent of the old road (now known as 'Old Willunga Hill' to differentiate it from the newer road) is regularly featured as part of cycling events such as the

Tour Down Under The Tour Down Under (branded as the Santos Tour Down Under under a partnership arrangement) is a cycling race in and around Adelaide, South Australia, and is traditionally the opening event of the UCI World Tour and features all 19 UCI World ...

due to its challenging climb. After ascending the new 'Willunga Hill', the road levels and rejoins its old route, gently descending to the town of Mount Compass.

Safety and upgrades

Traffic on the road has increased in recent years due to the rapidly increasing population of the coastal towns between Victor Harbor and Hindmarsh Island, and an expanding local tourism industry. Because of this the road has had high numbers of fatalities; 14 people lost their lives and 163 people were injured during 2000-2004. Due to its local notoriety the road has had significant works since early 2004 with resurfacing, overtaking lanes, increased police attention and the reduction of speed limits. The

Royal Automobile Association The Royal Automobile Association of South Australia (RAA) is a South Australian automobile club providing a range of member services. These services include: 24-hour emergency breakdown, vehicle inspection, motoring advocacy, road safety, motor ...

(RAA) rated the highway at a 4.5/10 which means it failed to pass certain benchmarks. RAA believes that if the road is duplicated will improve safety on the road remarkably. The northern end of Victor Harbor Road, where it joins South Road, was for many years an unsignalled T-junction. Traffic travelling towards Adelaide on Victor Harbor road would have to stop at the intersection, and wait to turn right to South Road. South Road was often quite busy, and this caused congestion, with a line regularly reaching 500 metres, and sometimes even extending back a whole kilometre, to Robinson Road. Due to this, driver impatience was a regular occurrence, and was the cause of a number of crashes at the location. Between September 2009 and June 2010, major upgrades were undertaken at the intersection (as well as the South Road/Seaford Road/Patapinda Road intersection about 300 metres north on South Road), greatly increasing safety at the intersection. The single lane and stop system was replaced with traffic lights, with Victor Harbor Road widening to 3 lanes just before the intersection, and also South Road widened to 3 lanes. This also increased the ease of turning onto Seaford Road. Heading south on South Road, Victor Harbor Road and South Road have both also been widened with an additional 3rd lane, giving 2 lanes for the turn onto Victor Harbor Road, as well as 2 lanes to continue on South Road. The intersection of Victor Harbor Road and Main Road, McLaren Vale, was notorious for fatal crashes. A freeway-style intersection, with a Main Road overpass, was completed in 2013.Final stage of McLaren Vale Overpass begins

Victor Harbor Times ''The Times'' is a newspaper published weekly (or bi-weekly) in Victor Harbor, South Australia since August 1912. Its title has, as with most regional newspapers, undergone a series of name changes and simplifications over its history. It was la ...

, 16 Nov 2012

Major intersections

References

External links