Melton Highway

Melton Highway Victoria
Type	Highway
Length	19 km (12 mi)
Route number(s)	C754
Former route number	State Route 54
West end	Western Freeway, Melton, Melbourne
	High Street Federation Drive Leakes Road Plumpton Road Kings Road Sunshine Avenue
East end	Calder Freeway, Keilor, Melbourne
Major suburbs	Plumpton, Hillside, Taylors Lakes
Highways in Australia National Highway • Freeways in Australia Highways in Victoria

Melton Highway (formerly Keilor-Melton Road) links Melbourne's outer north-western suburbs of Melton and Taylors Lakes (western Keilor as the old name suggests); it has a Victorian route designation of C754 (previously State Route 54).

The Melton Highway connects the Western Freeway and Calder Freeway and provides the most direct route between Ballarat and Melbourne's northern airports (Tullamarine and Essendon) and suburbs, bypassing busy western suburbs. The increase in traffic has seen the road upgraded with many overtaking lanes, and increasing residential levels at the Sydenham end has seen duplication of the carriageway and reconstruction of the railway crossing just north of Sydenham (Watergardens) station.

The road commences at the Melton exit from the Calder Freeway and travels through suburban developments, until reaching paddock land for the last stretch into Melton. The road passes Watergardens railway station, Watergardens Town Centre and a number of housing estates. The road generally has a speed limit of 70 km/h around built up areas. After the last housing developments this gradually rises to 80, 90 and then 100 km/h through farm/paddock land and goes back to 80 km/h at Melton, with it turning from a four-lane road to a two-lane road with overtaking spots.

A level crossing of the Sunbury/Bendigo railway line is to be replaced by a 6-lane bridge in 2017. The railway carries more than 200 trains each weekday and the road carries 38,000 vehicles per day. The bridge will include a bike lane and footpath on each side, and new paths underneath.

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Wikipedia