Western Freeway (Victoria)

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Western Freeway

Formerly
General direction	West-East
From	Western Highway, Burrumbeet, Victoria
Major suburbs	Ballarat, Ballan, Bacchus Marsh, Melton
To	Ballarat Road, Deer Park, Melbourne
Major Junctions	Present Sunraysia Highway Midland Highway Melton Highway Future Western Ring Road

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See also: Western Highway, Victoria

Approximate road distances (in kilometres) of towns along the freeway

The Western Freeway is a 115 kilometre Australian freeway linking the state capital of Victoria (Melbourne) to the major regional city of Ballarat. Signed as M8, it branches off from the Western Highway (having come originally beyond the Victorian/South Australian border outside Adelaide) at Burrumbeet, 22 kilometres north-west of Ballarat, and ends officially in Deer Park, in the outer western suburbs of Melbourne, where it reverts back to a multi-laned dual-carriageway highway. Both the freeway and Western Highway beyond Ballarat are part of the National Highway network for the Melbourne-Adelaide route.

The Western Freeway subsumes and bypasses most sections of the older Western Highway. Former bypassed sections of the Western Highway are generally designated sequentially from C801 to C805, or (oddly enough) still keep the old National Route 8 shield (within suburban Melbourne).

There are still several at-grade intersections on the "freeway", particularly in the areas outside Melbourne and at Woodmans Hill just to the east of Ballarat.

Deer Park is planned to be bypassed by 2009 with the construction of the Deer Park Bypass from Rockbank, terminating the freeway at Western Ring Road which links it to all other Melbourne and interstate freeways and the CBD.

Towns along the way include:

[edit] Exits & Intersections

Western Freeway
Westbound exits / intersections	Distance from Western Highway (km)	Distance from Ballarat Road (km)	Eastbound exits / intersections
End Princes Freeway East continues as Western Highway to Horsham / Adelaide			Start Western Freeway from Western Highway
Burrumbeet Old Western Highway			Burrumbeet Old Western Highway
WESTERN RAIL LINE			WESTERN RAIL LINE
Ballarat Sunraysia Highway			Ballarat Sunraysia Highway
Ballarat Ballarat-Maryborough Road			Ballarat Ballarat-Maryborough Road
Ballarat Gillies Street			no exit
Ballarat Midland Highway			Ballarat Midland Highway
Brown Hill Ballarat-Daylesford Road			Brown Hill Ballarat-Daylesford Road
Brown Hill Ballarat-Burrumbeet Road			no exit
Leigh Creek Old Melbourne Road			Leigh Creek Old Melbourne Road
Leigh Creek Black Swamp Road			Leigh Creek Black Swamp Road
Bungaree Bungaree-Wallace Road			Bungaree Bungaree-Wallace Road
Bungaree Bungaree-Creswick Road			Bungaree Bungaree-Creswick Road
Wallace Bungaree-Wallace Road			Wallace Bungaree-Wallace Road
Gordon Brougham Street / Abbington Park Road			Gordon Brougham Street / Abbington Park Road
Ballan Ballan-Daylesford Road			Ballan Ballan-Daylesford Road
Ballan Old Melbourne Road			Ballan Old Melbourne Road
Myrniong Greendale-Myrniong Road			Myrniong Greendale-Myrniong Road
Pentland Hills Pentland Hills Road			Pentland Hills Pentland Hills Road
Pentland Hills Mortons Road / Pentland Hills Road			no exit
no exit			Bacchus Marsh Bacchus Marsh Road
Bacchus Marsh Bacchus Marsh-Gisborne Road			Bacchus Marsh Bacchus Marsh-Gisborne Road
Hopetoun Park Bacchus Marsh Road			Hopetoun Park Bacchus Marsh Road
Hopetoun Park Cowans Road			Hopetoun Park Cowans Road
Hopetoun Park Long Forest Road			Hopetoun Park Long Forest Road
Hopetoun Park Hopetoun Park Road			Hopetoun Park Hopetoun Park Road
Melton Coburns Road			Melton Coburns Road
Melton Ferris Road / Melton Highway			Melton Ferris Road / Melton Highway
Rockbank Mount Cottrell Road			Rockbank Mount Cottrell Road
Rockbank Paynes Road			Rockbank Paynes Road
Rockbank Leakes Road			Rockbank Leakes Road
Rockbank Troups Road North			Rockbank Troups Road North
Rockbank Hopkins Road			Rockbank Hopkins Road
SERVICE CENTRE
Ravenhall Deer Park Bypass			Ravenhall Deer Park Bypass
Start Western Freeway from Ballarat Road			End Western Freeway continues as Ballarat Road to Melbourne