Ballarat Road, Melbourne
| Ballarat Road Victoria | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Type | Road |
| Length | 15 km (9 mi) |
| Route number(s) |
 State Route 8 |
| Major junctions | |
| West end |
 Western Freeway (M8), Ravenhall, Melbourne |
 Western Ring Road (M80) | |
| East end |
 Princes Highway (State Route 83), Footscray, Melbourne |
| Location(s) | |
| Major suburbs | Caroline Springs, Deer Park, Albion, Sunshine, Braybrook |
Ballarat Road (in its westernmost part the Western Highway) is a major urban arterial road in the western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
History
Previously known as the Western Highway, the road has historically been signed as Route 8, but since the opening of the Western Ring Road the Deer Park section has been relegated to Route M8, and the newly completed Deer Park Bypass to Route 8 between Caroline Springs and Footscray (the inner city section has been decommissioned). The freeway was originally designated in the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan as part of the F12 Freeway corridor.
Geography
Ballarat Road starts at the Footscray junction of Princes Highway (Geelong Road) in Footscray and continues west through Maidstone, Braybrook, Sunshine, Albion, Cairnlea, Deer Park, Burnside, and the new Caroline Springs estate. The major junctions along the route include the Western Ring Road and the newly completed Deer Park Bypass.
Transport
Tram route 82 runs along the Footscray section of Ballarat Road, between Gordon & Droop Streets. The Melton railway line from Southern Cross runs parallel to Ballarat Road from Sunshine about 1 km to the south, with stations at Albion, 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, this was one of the worst bottlenecks in western Melbourne with traffic reaching 70,000 vehicles per day, with 10 per cent of this consisting of heavy vehicles. This caused delays, in part due to seven traffic signals between the Western Ring Road and the start of the Western Freeway. With the completion of the Deer Park Bypass traffic volumes are predicted to decrease to local traffic standard since its opening on 5 April 2009.
Beyond that, to central Melbourne, losing its dual carriageway status at Braybrook and becoming another clogged two lane arterial road, including one small stretch which shares the road with trams.
Major intersections and suburbs
| Ballarat Road | |||
| Westbound | Distance from Western Freeway (km) |
Eastbound | |
| End Ballarat Road continues as Western Freeway to Ballarat / Adelaide |
0.0 | Start Ballarat Road from Western Freeway | |
| Melbourne via Freeway, Caroline Springs Christies Road Caroline Springs Boulevard  |
0.5 | Caroline Springs, Melbourne via Freeway Caroline Springs Boulevard Christies Road | |
| Tarneit, Burnside Westwood Drive |
2 | Burnside, Tarneit Westwood Drive | |
| Deer Park | 4 | Deer Park | |
| Laverton, Taylors Lakes Station Road  |
Taylors Lakes, Laverton Station Road | ||
| Ballarat, Geelong, Adelaide; Seymour, Sydney Western Ring Road   |
6 | Greensborough, Seymour, Sydney; Melbourne, Geelong Western Ring Road | |
| BENDIGO RAIL LINE | 8.3 | BENDIGO RAIL LINE | |
| St Albans St Albans Road |
8.7 | St Albans St Albans Road | |
| Altona, Taylors Lakes Anderson Road  McIntyre Road |
Taylors Lakes, Altona McIntyre Road Anderson Road | ||
| Sunshine | 8.9 | Sunshine | |
| Braybrook, Sunshine North Duke Street |
10.5 | Sunshine North, Braybrook Duke Street | |
| Tottenham Ashley Street |
12 | Tottenham, Yarraville Ashley Street | |
| Maribyrnong Mitchell Street | |||
| Braybrook, Maribyrnong Churchill Avenue   |
12.4 | Maribyrnong, Braybrook Churchill Avenue | |
| West Footscray, Maribyrnong Summerhill Road Rosamond Road |
13.9 | Maribyrnong, West Footscray Rosamond Road Summerhill Road | |
| Williamstown, Essendon Gordon Street  |
14.4 | Essendon, Williamstown Gordon Street | |
| Footscray Droop Street |
14.8 | Footscray Droop Street | |
| Ascot Vale Farnsworth Avenue |
14.9 | Ascot Vale Farnsworth Avenue | |
| Start Ballarat Road from Princes Highway (Geelong Road) |
15.5 | End Ballarat Road continues as Princes Highway (Geelong Road) to Flemington / Parkville / Melbourne CBD | |
See also
References
Coordinates: 37°46′38″S 144°49′49″E / 37.77722°S 144.83028°E
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.svg.png){kind=small}
