Western Highway is a major arterial route in western Victoria with a length of approximately of single carriageway, then of dual carriageway known as Western Freeway, linking the western suburbs of Melbourne to the border with South Australia at Serviceton. It is the Victorian part of the principal route linking the Australian cities of Melbourne and Adelaide, and is a part of the National Highway network, designated routes A8 and M8. The western end continues into South Australia as Dukes Highway, the next section of the Melbourne–Adelaide National Highway.

Western Highway is the second-busiest national highway in Australia, in terms of freight movements, with over five million tonnes annually, and provides the link between the eastern seaboard and South Australia and Western Australia.

Route

Western Highway commences at the state border with South Australia as a continuation of Dukes Highway at Victoria and heads in a south-easterly direction as a two-lane, single carriageway rural highway with numerous overtaking lanes and passes through the agricultural centres of Nhill, Horsham, Stawell and Ararat. Just west of Buangor, Western Highway becomes Western Freeway and widens to a four-lane, dual-carriageway road, and begins bypassing most of the towns the old alignment of the highway used to serve, passing Ballarat, Ballan and Bacchus Marsh, before reaching the western fringes of suburban Melbourne outside Melton; major intersecting roads are grade-separated, however there remain minor intersections at-grade, and cycling is permitted on the sealed shoulder along most of the freeway. The freeway continues through the suburbs of Rockbank and Ravenhall, before eventually terminating at the interchange with Western Ring Road in Derrimut.

Plans are underway for the end of this freeway to be extended from the current terminus just after the Buangor bypass westward towards and eventually to Stawell.

History The passing of the Country Roads Act 1912An Act relating to Country Roads State of Victoria, 23 December 1912 through the Parliament of Victoria provided for the establishment of the Country Roads Board (later VicRoads) and their ability to declare Main Roads, taking responsibility for the management, construction and care of the state's major roads from local municipalities. (Main) Ballarat Road was declared a Main Road, from Footscray via Braybrook to Melton on 30 December 1913, and from Melton via Bacchus Marsh, Ballan and Bungaree to Ballarat East on 24 August 1914; Horsham (-Dimboola) Road from Horsham to Dimboola, (Dimboola-) Nhill Road between Dimboola and Nhill and Nhill-Kaniva-Border Road between Nhill through Kaniva to the South Australian border, were declared as Main Roads on 17 March 1915; Ballarat-(Ararat-)Stawell Road between Ballarat West through Beaufort and Ararat to Stawell was declared a Main Road on 31 May 1915.

The passing of the Highways and Vehicles Act 1924An Act to make further provision with respect to Highways and Country Roads Motor Cars and Traction Engines and for other purposes State of Victoria, 30 December 1924 provided for the declaration of State Highways, roads two-thirds financed by the state government through the Country Roads Board. Western Highway was declared a State Highway on 1 July 1925, cobbled from a collection of roads from Melbourne through Ballarat, Ararat, Stawell, Horsham, and Dimboola to the interstate border at Serviceton (for a total of 244 miles), subsuming the original declarations of Main Ballarat Road, Ballarat-Stawell Road, Horsham-Dimboola Road, Dimboola-Nhill Road, and Nhill-Kaniva-Border Road as Main Roads. Western By-pass Road was opened in 1969 through Pykes Creek Reservoir, but this was being referred to as Western Freeway by the time the Gordon and Bacchus Marsh bypasses were completed in 1972.

The Whitlam government introduced the federal National Roads Act 1974, where roads declared as a National Highway were still the responsibility of the states for road construction and maintenance, but were fully compensated by the federal government for money spent on approved projects. As an important interstate link between the capitals of Victoria and South Australia, Western Highway was declared a National Highway in 1974.

The passing of the Road Management Act 2004 granted the responsibility of overall management and development of Victoria's major arterial roads to VicRoads: in 2004, VicRoads re-declared the road as Western Highway (Arterial #6520) between the border with South Australia at Serviceton and Buangor, and as Western Freeway (Freeway #1520) between Buangor and Western Ring Road, Derrimut.

Western Highway was signed as National Route 8 in 1955, then as National Highway 8 when upgraded to a National Highway in 1974. With Victoria's conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in the late 1990s, the section between Burrumbeet and Ardeer (where it met the Western Ring Road) was re-signed as National Highway M8, and between Burrumbeet and the border as National Highway A8; it was left as National Highway 8 east of the ring road along its original alignment into central Melbourne. Once the Deer Park bypass was opened in 2009, National Route M8 was re-routed onto the new bypass and the old alignment of Western Highway between Ravenhall and Footscray was re-declared as Ballarat Road and replaced with Metropolitan Route 8; VicRoads altered National Highway M8 to route M8 and National Highway A8 to route A8 in 2013, bringing their design in line with the rest of the state. Route M8 was extended further west when the next section of converted freeway to Buangor opened in 2016. Former alignments of Western Highway are generally designated sequentially from route C801 to C805, or as Metropolitan Route 8 (within suburban Melbourne).

The newest sections of freeway-standard dual carriageway opened on 6 March 2015 for the Ballarat to Beaufort section (running in length), and on 17 April 2016 for the Beaufort to Buangor section (running in length). The first section runs between the end of the Ballarat bypass between a new interchange with the Avenue of Remembrance (route C805) in Burrumbeet to just outside the eastern side Beaufort (including a bypass of Trawalla) providing of freeway standard road between Melbourne and Beaufort. The second section runs between just outside the western side of Beaufort to just after the Buangor bypass, where it becomes a single carriageway again running all the way to Ararat, providing a further of freeway standard between Beaufort and just beyond Buangor.

The Melbourne section of Western Highway is shown in the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan as part of the F12 Freeway corridor.

Upgrades and realignments Timeline of duplication 1964/65 – Ballarat East. of duplicate carriageway completed east of Ballarat. No exact date given.Country Roads Board Victoria. Fifty-Second Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1965, Melbourne, Victoria: Government Printer, 1965. p. 16 Now part of route C805 leading from Western Freeway into Ballarat from the east. 1966/67 – Kororoit Creek to Deer Park. of dual carriageways completed during financial year 1966/67, including a duplicate bridge over Kororoit Creek.Country Roads Board Victoria. Fifty-Fourth Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1967, Burwood, Victoria: Brown, Prior, Anderson, 1968. p. 35 Now part of Ballarat Road. 1966/67 – Deer Park to Rockbank. of dual carriageways completed during financial year 1966/67.Country Roads Board Victoria. Fifty-Fourth Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1967, Burwood, Victoria: Brown, Prior, Anderson, 1968. p. 35 Part of this is now Ballarat Road through Deer Park and Caroline Springs. 1966/67 – Dual carriageways from Djerriwarrh Creek to Coimadai Creek completed during financial year 1966/67. Now part of Bacchus Marsh Road between Melton and Bacchus Marsh. 1966/67 – Dual carriageways east of Pykes Creek Reservoir completed during financial year 1966/67. 1967/68 – Rockbank to Melton East. Construction completed of over of dual carriageways during financial year 1967/68. 1969 – Pykes Creek Reservoir: Western By-pass Road is completed, running four miles east and west of Pykes Creek Reservoir. 1972 – Bacchus Marsh bypass. opened 30 June 1972, by the Hon. Sir Henry Bolte, GCMG, MP, at a cost of A$4.3m. 1972 – Gordon section. opened 5 May 1972, by the Board's chairman, Mr R E V Donaldson, at a cost of A$2.2m. 1973 – Pentland Hills to Myrniong section. completed from Korkuperrimul Creek to the Lion Park interchange, early 1973.Country Roads Board Victoria. Sixtieth Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1973, Burwood, Victoria: Brown, Prior, Anderson, 1973. p. 5 1974 – Pentland Hills section. ‘west of Bacchus Marsh’ opened 1974.Country Roads Board Victoria. Sixty-First Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1974, Burwood, Victoria: Brown, Prior, Anderson, 1974. p. 4 1975 – Myrniong bypass opened 3 October 1975, by the Minister for Transport, the Hon. E. R. Meagher, CBE, ED, at a cost of A$3.28m. The bypass of Myrniong completed '80 km of the 100km between Melbourne and Ballarat [as] dual carriageways'.Country Roads Board Victoria. Sixty-Third Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1976, Burwood, Victoria: Brown, Prior, Anderson, 1976 1978 – Ballan bypass. opened 15 June 1978, by the Hon. J. A. Rafferty, Minister for Transport, at a cost of A$9.8m.Country Roads Board Victoria. Sixty-Fifth Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1978, Burwood, Victoria: Brown, Prior, Anderson, 1978. p. 9 1983 – Wallace and Bungaree bypass opened 9 March 1983, by the Premier of Victoria, the Hon. John Cain MP. The bypass cost A$23.6m.Country Roads Board Victoria. Activity Report 1982/83, Kew, Victoria: Country Roads Board Victoria, 1983. p. 8 1987 – Melton bypass. The 'freeway work' was opened to traffic on 7 July 1987, with the remainder of works expected to be completed by April 1988. The bypass cost A$44.2m.Road Construction Authority Victoria. Annual Report 1986-87, Kew, Victoria: Road Construction Authority, Victoria, 1987. p. 64Road Construction Authority Victoria. Annual Report 1987-88 1989 – 5.6 km bypass of Dimboola opened in May. 1993 – Ballarat bypass: The first stage, a single carriageway section from Woodmans Hill to Midland Highway, is opened in December 1993, at a cost of A$62m.VicRoads. VicRoads Annual Report 1993-94, Kew, Victoria: VicRoads, 1994, p. 17 1994 – Ballarat bypass: The second stage of the initial single carriageway by-pass is opened to traffic in December 1994.VicRoads. VicRoads Annual Report 1994-95, Kew, Victoria: VicRoads, 1995, p. 10 1995 – Ballarat bypass: Second carriageway opened to traffic between Woodmans Hill and Gillies Street in December 1995, at a cost of A$25m.VicRoads. VicRoads Annual Report 1995-56, Kew, Victoria: VicRoads, 1996, p. 15 1998 – Ballarat bypass: The final section opened in February 1998, featuring the duplication of the original single carriageway bypass from Gillies Street to Sunraysia Highway.VicRoads. VicRoads Annual Report 1997-98, Kew, Victoria: VicRoads, 1998, p. 32 2001 – The new elevated Hopkins Road Interchange was opened to traffic on 12 July 2001, at a cost of $13.1 million.Vic Roads 2001 Before the construction of the new interchange, the intersection of Hopkins Road (Melton-Werribee Road) with Western Freeway at Rockbank was improved using Black Spot Program funds in 1989 and 1991, but a long-term solution to the congestion and crashes at this location was the construction of an elevated interchange.BUDGET 2001-2002 Media Release. John Anderson, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Transport and Regional Services. FEDERAL ROADS BUDGET FOR VICTORIA JUMPS 77 PER CENT, 2001 Budget 8 22 May 2001