Western Highway, Victoria
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Western Highway / Western Freeway Victoria |
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| Type | Highway |
| Length | 418 km (260 mi) |
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| East end | |
| Major settlements | Nhill, Dimboola, Horsham, Stawell, Ararat, Beaufort, Trawalla, Ballarat, Ballan, Bacchus Marsh, Melton, Rockbank, Caroline Springs , Brookfield |
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Highways in Australia National Highway • Freeways in Australia Highways in Victoria |
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(A8) west of Ballarat
(M8) (2014–present) east of Ballarat
(National Route A8/8)
National Route M8 (1997-2014)
The Western Highway is the Victorian part of the principal route linking the Australian cities of Melbourne and Adelaide with a length of approximately 314 kilometres (195 mi) of single carriageway then 156 kilometres (97 mi) of dual carriageway known as the Western Freeway. It is a part of the National Highway network and designated as National Highway A8 and M8. The western end continues in South Australia as the Dukes Highway, the next section of the Melbourne–Adelaide National Highway. The Western Freeway joins Melbourne's freeway network via the Western Ring Road, in the middle western suburbs of Melbourne.
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.
Plans are underway for the freeway to be extended west to Ararat, and eventually, to Stawell.
The Western Freeway subsumes and bypasses most sections of the older Western Highway. Bypassed sections of the former Western Highway that remain are generally designated sequentially from C801 to C805, or Metropolitan Route 8 (within suburban Melbourne).
The Melbourne section of the Western Highway is shown in the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan as part of the F12 Freeway corridor.
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, with adequate numbers of overtaking lanes. However, the highway passes through several agricultural centres, for example Horsham, Victoria, slowing down traffic significantly.
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Wikipedia