Monaro Highway Victoria–Australian Capital Territory |
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Map of the far southeast of Australia, with the Monaro Highway highlighted in red. | |
Type | Highway |
Length | 285.1 km (177 mi) |
Gazetted | 25 March 1938 |
Route number(s) |
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Tourist routes |
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South end | |
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North end |
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Major settlements | Cann River, Bombala, Nimmitabel, Cooma, Tuggeranong, South Canberra |
Highways in Australia National Highway • Freeways in Australia Highways in Victoria Highways in New South Wales Road infrastructure in Canberra |
The Monaro Highway is a highway that is located in Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, in Australia.
The 285-kilometre-long (177 mi) roadway links Cann River in Victoria to Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) via the Monaro region. From its southern terminus, it follows the nearby Cann River upstream towards the New South Wales border through heavily forested terrain. Within New South Wales (NSW), it makes its way through further forest before reaching the pastures typical of the Monaro. There are multiple towns and villages along the highway, including Bombala, Nimmitabel, and Cooma. The terrain within the Monaro is largely hilly, and there are numerous crossings. The road also parallels the former Bombala railway line in several locations. Within the ACT, the road becomes a high volume roadway and serves the southern suburbs of Canberra.
Originally known as Cann Valley Road, the Victorian section was designated as a highway in 1960, and received the name Cann Valley Highway. The Monaro Highway name was applied to the road within Victoria in 1996. Within NSW, the highway was created in 1938 and designated as State Highway 19 within the Department of Main Roads. In 1958, It was named the Monaro Highway in both NSW and the ACT, though the same name had been in use by the Snowy Mountains Highway until 1955. The Monaro Highway has more recently had a grade-separated dual carriageway extension constructed within Canberra, as part of the Eastern Parkway construction project.
The Monaro Highway initially bore the National Route 23 route markers along its entire length, excluding the Eastern Parkway extension, which was instead part of Alternate National Route 23. Now that each jurisdiction has converted to alphanumeric markers, it instead carries the B23 route marker along almost its entire length, breaking the NSW convention of all 'B' routes having numbers above 50.