Pyrenees Highway is a rural highway in western

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, linking Ararat to Elphinstone. It was named after the Pyrenees ranges, the set of low mountain ridges the road travels through.

Route

Pyrenees Highway commences at the intersection with Western Highway and Mortlake-Ararat Road in Ararat and heads in a north-easterly direction as a two-lane, single carriageway rural highway, winding with gentle curves through the Pyrenees ranges through Elmhurst to Avoca where it meets

Sunraysia Highway Sunraysia Highway (route B220) is a north–south rural highway in western Victoria, linking Ouyen to the north-western Ballarat suburb of Mitchell Park, and acts as a secondary route to Calder Highway, the main route between Melbourne an ...

. It continues in an easterly direction through Maryborough to Castlemaine, where it meets Midland Highway, and continues east through Chewton before it eventually terminates at the interchange with

Calder Freeway 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 lin ...

at Elphinstone.

History

The passing of the ''Chinese Immigration Act 1855'' through the

Parliament of Victoria The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria (state), Victoria that follows a Westminster System, Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the Monarchy in Australia, King, represent ...

severely limited the number of Chinese passengers permitted on an arriving vessel. To evade the new law, ship's captains landed many Chinese in the south-east of South Australia, from where the new arrivals travelled more than 400 km across country to the Victorian goldfields, along tracks including what is now Pyrenees Highway. Victorian highway B180 guide sign at Willaura

Victorian highway B180 guide sign at Willaura

Construction of a replacement Glenmona Bridge as a wrought-iron lattice-girder deck-truss bridge over Bet Bet Creek at Bung Bong was completed in 1871, and still stands, minus the deck, today; it replaced a timber structure from 1857 which was washed away by severe floods in 1870. It is the third-oldest of its type in Victoria, is listed on the

Victorian Heritage Register The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. ...

, and stands just to the south of the modern-day bridge used today by the highway. The passing of the ''Country Roads Act of 1912'' through the Parliament of Victoria provided for the establishment of 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 respon ...

(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 an ...

) and their ability to declare Main Roads, taking responsibility for the management, construction and care of the state's major roads from local municipalities. Ararat-(Elmhurst-)Avoca Road from Ararat through Elmhurst and

Amphitheatre An amphitheatre (American English, U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meani ...

to Avoca, and Avoca-Maryborough Road from Avoca to Bung Bong, were declared Main Roads on 31 May 1915; Castlemaine–Maryborough Road was declared a Main Road between Maryborough through

Carisbrook Carisbrook (sometimes incorrectly referred to as Carisbrook Stadium) was a major sporting venue in Dunedin, New Zealand. The city's main domestic and international rugby union venue, it was also used for other sports such as cricket, football, ...

to Joyces Creek on 21 June 1915, and between Joyces Creek through Newstead to Castlemaine on 28 June 1915; and the rest of Avoca-Maryborough Road between Bung Bong and Maryborough was declared a Main Road on 21 June 1915. The passing of the ''Highways and Vehicles Act of 1924''''An Act to make further provision with respect to Highways and Country Roads Motor Cars and Traction Engines and for other purposes''
State of Victoria, 30 December 1924 provided for the declaration of State Highways, roads two-thirds financed by the State government through the Country Roads Board. Pyrenees Highway was declared a State Highway in August 1938, cobbled together from roads between

Calder Highway 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 li ...

at Castlemaine via Maryborough and Avoca to Ararat (for a total of 92.5 miles), subsuming the original declarations of Ararat-Avoca Road, and Avoca-Maryborough Road Castlemaine–Maryborough Road as Main Roads. With the deviation of

past Castlemaine declared in the 1959/60 financial year, the previous alignment of Calder Highway between Castlemaine and Elphinstone was added to the eastern end of Pyrenees Highway. Pyrenees Highway was signed as State Route 122 between Ararat and Elphinstone in 1986; with Victoria's conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in the late 1990s, this was replaced by route B180. The passing of the ''Road Management Act 2004'' granted the responsibility of overall management and development of Victoria's major arterial roads to

: in 2011, VicRoads re-declared the road as Pyrenees Highway (Arterial #6740) between Western Highway in Ararat and

at Elphinstone; while the road south of Ararat is signed solely as B180, it is not usually referred to as part of Pyrenees Highway.

Major intersections and towns

References

External links

Avoca and District Historical Society

Prior website of the Avoca and District Historical Society
{{Road infrastructure in Victoria Highways in Australia Transport in Barwon South West (region)

Route

History

Major intersections and towns

See also

References

External links