Western Highway (Victoria)

Western Highway Victoria
General information
Type	Highway
Length	314 km (195 mi)
Route number(s)	(A8) Entire route
Former route number	(National Route A8/8) Entire route
Major junctions
West end	Dukes Highway (A8) SA/Vic. border west of Kaniva
	Borung Highway (C234) Henty Highway (A200/B200) Wimmera Highway (B240) Pyrenees Highway (B180)
East end	Western Freeway (M8) Burrumbeet
Location(s)
Major settlements	Nhill, Dimboola, Horsham, Stawell, Ararat, Beaufort
Highway system
Highways in Australia National Highway • Freeways in Australia Highways in Victoria

The Western Highway is part of the principal route linking the Australian cities of Melbourne and Adelaide with a length of approximately 314 kilometres. It is a part of the National Highway network and designated as National Highway A8. The eastern end continues on as the Western Freeway at Beaufort, and the western end continues beyond the Victorian border as Dukes Highway, the other sections of the Melbourne–Adelaide National Highway.

The Western Highway is the second busiest national highway in Australia, in terms of freight movements, with over five million tonnes annually. It provides the critical link between the eastern seaboard and South Australia and Western Australia. The towns along the way, including Ballarat, Ararat, Stawell and Horsham, are major agricultural and manufacturing centres.

Route

A view of the Western Freeway (M8) at Nerrina looking west toward Doodts Road, Ballarat North and Invermay from the Nerrina pedestrian overpass.

The Western Highway begins at the Victorian–South Australian border, east of Bordertown. It is mainly a high quality single carriageway from there to just outside the Melbourne side of Beaufort, Victoria, with adequate numbers of overtaking lanes. However, the highway does pass through several agricultural centres, for example Horsham, Victoria, slowing down traffic significantly.

Just east of Beaufort, the Western Highway becomes the Western Freeway, adopting freeway standards with two lanes running each way, and begins bypassing most of the towns the old alignment of the highway used to serve.

The newest section of freeway standard dual carriageway (25 km in length) opened on 6 March 2015. This runs between the end of the Ballarat bypass between a new flyover/interchange with the C805 (Avenue of Remembrance, Burrumbeet) to just outside Beaufort (including a bypass of Trawalla) providing 156 km of freeway standard road between Melbourne and Beaufort.

Plans are underway for the end of this freeway to be extended from the current terminus just outside Beaufort westward towards Ararat and eventually to Stawell. Part of the Beaufort to Ararat section is now under construction

Upgrades

In 2001 work started on a 4.2 kilometre long deviation at Armstrong, involving 200,000 cubic metres of earthworks and a new bridge over the main Melbourne–Adelaide railway. Previously high vehicles could not travel under the rail overpass and were forced to detour around it, in addition the poor road conditions led to a number of accidents and fatalities.^[1] Costing $6.1 million the work was completed by 2003.^[2]

Proposed duplication of the Western Highway between Ballarat and Stawell between 2009 and 2014, to be funded by Auslink 2.^[3]

The clearing of wide swathes of the ancient red gums by Vic Roads near Beaufort has resulted in community angst and public meetings are being held. Near Buangor, 74 km west of Ballarat, two women chained themselves to a red gum on 16 March for 4 ½ hours to draw attention to the issue. Mrs Isabel Mackenzie, a long-term resident of the area, said she was concerned at the environmental impact of trees that are hundreds of years old. Helen Lewers, said that VicRoads should reroute the highway between Buangor and Stawell to preserve the native roadside vegetation.^[4]

See also

• Western Freeway
• Ballarat Road
• Dukes Highway

References

Road infrastructure in Victoria Freeways Calder Freeway Goulburn Valley Freeway Hume Freeway Princes Freeway (Geelong Ring Road) Western Freeway Highways Bass Highway Bellarine Highway Borung Highway Calder Highway Calder Alternative Highway Glenelg Highway Goulburn Valley Highway Hamilton Highway Henty Highway Hopkins Highway Kiewa Valley Highway Loddon Valley Highway Mallee Highway Maroondah Highway McIvor Highway Melba Highway Midland Highway Monaro Highway Murray Valley Highway Nepean Highway Northern Highway Omeo Highway Princes Highway Pyrenees Highway South Gippsland Highway Strzelecki Highway Sturt Highway Sunraysia Highway Surf Coast Highway Warburton Highway Western Highway Western Port Highway Wimmera Highway Bypass routes Old Hume Highway Old Princes Highway Princes Highway (Geelong) Tourist routes Great Alpine Road Great Ocean Road Murray Valley Highway Phillip Island Road