VicRoads Country Street Directory - Edition 8

[Alex Csar]

I haven't seen anything posted yet about the latest edition of the VicRoads Country Street Directory so, having received my copy in the mail today, I thought I'd post a few thoughts. For the most part, Ed. 8 is an incremental update with no major new additions - the new Fire Districts map (the first since CFA Fire Ban districts and BoM Forecast districts were aligned), more detailed pest control maps and a bunch of new regional city bus maps being the main stand-outs.

Since there hasn't been an update of the Public Register of Roads on the VR website for a couple of years, Ed. 8 has meant the public revelation of a number of road classifications - and a few non-revelations too:
* The Geelong Ring Road is now confirmed as a separate road from the rest of the M1(W), classified as Freeway 1501 rather than an extension of Princes Freeway West (1500). Princes Highway West (State Arterial Highway 6500) continues along what is now the A10 through the middle of Metro Geelong - I wonder what will happen when Stage 4 of the GRR is opened and the Princes through Waurn Ponds gets declassified...
* Deer Park Bypass carries the same classification as the Western Freeway (1520), although Ballarat Road is still classed as part of the Western Highway (6520) - I would have expected Ballarat Road to get reclassified as a 5000-series State Arterial (Footscray-Deer Park Road?) like what had occurred with Sydney Road post-Craigieburn Bypass;
* The Yarra Glen Bypass gets its own classification (6301) with the Melba Highway (6300) continuing along the old route - the numbering on the ground has B300 routed via the bypass while the old highway is now the C731;
* The opening of the Kyneton-Harcourt segment of the Calder Freeway has meant the extension of Freeway 1530 to what seems to be Kilometre Post 153, while the bypassed sections carry two classifications: Malmsbury-Elphinstone Road (5188) and Elphinstone-Harcourt North Road (5186), both signed as C794. The short section of the Midland Highway (6590) between the freeway and the old highway at Harcourt remains as a spur;
* Absolutely no change in Wodonga years after the opening of the Albury Bypass: both the Hume Link Highway (6553) and the last remaining classified section of Hume Highway (6550) remain as such rather than being reclassified in the 5000-series - maybe changes will occur if/when work to build westward access to the Bandiana Link occurs;
* Kind of understandable given when it was opened and when Ed. 8 was probably compiled, the Anthony's Cutting deviation of the Western Freeway is still marked as projected rather than completed - the recently-released Melway actually shows the expected post-completion layout; and
* Some years after signs gained B240 coverplates, Ed. 8 still shows the Wimmera Highway west of Horsham as being signed as C240.

Apologies if much of the above is already common knowledge amongst the membership.

Cheers,
Alex.

[Alex Csar]

Just realised: Kilometre Post 153 (relating to the Calder Highway/Freeway) should actually read Kilometre Post 133. My bad.

Cheers,
Alex.

[Dr B. J. Winzer]

Nah, not common knowledge - thanks for sharing, been light on Victoria
news so it's good for the brain to chew over a little bit here and there. :)

Speculations from me:
- I wonder if in Geelong, the Princes Hwy name will drop off once the
bypass is completed, and it'll be just Melbourne Rd in the north and
Colac Rd in the south? Comparable to Hume Hwy reverting to Sydney Rd.
- Part of me hopes that doesn't happen. Using a name like that instead
of the highway name sounds lazy IMHO. I can understand it for reasons
of clarity to non-roadgeeks though. I've just liked the fact that
highways and freeways have often been "paired up".
- C731? Yeesh. Still, good to hear the bypass is open, hopefully it'll
make Yarra Glen even quieter and nicer.

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[Paul Rands]

Hi Alex,

THanks for the update. I only have edition one, and do want to get something later, but for now it has to wait.

Do we know if other states have a similar comprehensive country directory such as this?

--
Paul Rands
paul...@gmail.com

[Viseth]

Hi all,

Been away from the group for some time, but I'm back (for now
anyway...) :)

A few rushed points:
- Geelong Ring Road between Corio and Hamilton Hwy is now part of the
Princes Fwy declaration. There was a notice in the Government Gazette
either last December or in January this year. Freeway 1501 was a
temporary designation used until the time of the formal declaration.
- As a result, the old Princes Hwy through Geelong has had its
declared name changed to 'Corio-Waurn Ponds Road'. It has a SRRS*
number of 6800 (I think) which would have meant it would have remained
as a 'state highway' under the former road classification system.
- The 'old' Western Highway at this stage I believe has yet to be
renamed.
- The Calder Freeway declaration ends about 1 or 2 kilometres south of
the A790 in Ravenswood.
- The Hume between the river and the bypass has the name 'Lincoln
Causeway', but I'm unsure if it has been officially renamed yet.
- The Wimmera Highway in its entirety is indeed the B240 (since
~2003).

*SRRS = Statewide Road Referencing System - the asset identification
numbering scheme used by VicRoads for internal and surveying purposes.
Carries no 'legal' bearing when it comes to road declarations.

Viseth

[Alex Csar]

Looks like there's been something of a delay between compilation and publication going by some of those updates - I don't usually bother checking the Government Gazette for the most recent classifications (thus the mini-whinge about the Register not being updated on the VicRoads site).

Cheers,
Alex.