The highways in Victoria are the highest density in any state in Australia. Unlike Australia's other mainland states where vast areas are very sparsely inhabited "outback", population centres spread out over most of the state, with only the far north-west and the Victorian Alps lacking permanent settlement. Highways have therefore been built to service the population centres.
The highways generally radiate from Melbourne and other major cities and rural centres with secondary roads interconnecting the highways to each other.
Most routes have higher traffic than most other states. Highways such as Hume Highway, Western Highway, South Gippsland Highway and Princes Highway have some of the heaviest traffic in Australia.
Many of the highways are built to freeway standard ("M" freeways), while most others are generally sealed and of reasonable quality.
Numbering
Victorian highway naming is straightforward. Most are generally named after the geographical regions and features, cities, towns and settlements along the way. Some are even more straightforward e.g. Western and Northern highways which radiate westwards and northwards from Melbourne. Notable exceptions include some interstate highways and some metropolitan highways.
The numbering system is based on "ring and spoke" system. The 'ring' highways (highways that circle Victoria) numbers are given in the multiple of hundreds e.g. Henty Highway (200), Murray Valley Highway (400) and Great Alpine Road (500) make the outermost ring. Midland Highway (300) and Maroondah Highway (300) is the inner ring.
The spokes generally inherit their original National Route numbers. Otherwise, east–west aligned highways are given even numbers and north–south are given odd numbers. Highways and primary roads are given numbers in multiple of tens. Other roads are given numbers which indicate their general alignment.
Freeways Route Marker Roads M1 Geelong Ring Road Princes Freeway (west)West Gate Freeway CityLink (southern link)Monash Freeway Princes Freeway (east) M2 Tullamarine Freeway CityLink (western link) M3 Eastern Freeway Eastlink Frankston Freeway M4West Gate Tunnel M8 Western Freeway M11 Mornington Peninsula Freeway M31 Hume Freeway M39 Goulburn Valley Freeway M79 Calder Freeway M80 Western Ring Road Metropolitan Ring Road North East Link M780 South Gippsland Freeway
Primary highways Route Marker Roads A1 Princes Highway A8 Western Highway A10 Princes Highway A20 Sturt Highway A39 Goulburn Valley Highway A79 Calder Highway A200 Henty Highway A300 Midland Highway A420 Bass Highway A440 A21 South Gippsland Highway A780Western Port Highway
Secondary highways Route Marker Roads B12 Mallee Highway B23 Monaro Highway B75 Northern Highway B100 Great Ocean Road Surf Coast Highway B110 Bellarine Highway Nepean Highway B120 Hopkins Highway B140 Hamilton Highway B160 Glenelg Highway B180 Pyrenees Highway B200 Henty Highway B220 Sunraysia Highway B240 Wimmera Highway B260 Loddon Valley Highway B280 McIvor Highway B300 Goulburn Valley Highway Maroondah Highway Melba Highway Midland Highway B320 Maroondah Highway B340 Goulburn Valley Highway Maroondah Highway B360 Maroondah Highway B380 Warburton Highway B400 Murray Valley Highway B420 Phillip Island Road B460 Bass Highway Strzelecki Highway B500 Great Alpine Road
Tertiary highways Route Marker Roads C119 Skenes Creek Rd C141 C155 Colac–Lavers Hill Rd C157 Lighthouse Rd C159 Beech Forest–Lavers Hill Rd C162 Timboon–Port Campbell Rd C166 Princetown Rd C234 Borung Highway C239 Borung Highway C412 Burwood Highway C444 Wilsons Promontory Rd C482 Hyland Highway C524 Buckland Gap Rd C531 Kiewa Valley Highway C536 Tawonga Gap Rd C543 Omeo Highway C605 Swan Reach Rd C704 Bacchus Marsh Rd C754 Melton Highway C777 C784Moorooduc Highway
Urban highways Route Marker Roads State Route 8 Western Highway State Route 9 Dandenong Valley Highway State Route 10 State (Lower Dandenong/Cheltenham) Highway State Route 15 Warrigal Highway State Route 21 Chandler Highway State Route 26 Burwood Highway State Route 27 Plenty Valley Highway State Route 28 Mountain Highway State Route 29 Hoddle Highway State Route 34 Maroondah Highway State Route 40 State (Bell/Springvale) Highway State Route 55 Hume Highway
In addition, several metropolitan roads have been given highway designation, mainly in Melbourne. For details see List of highways in Melbourne
See also
Highways in Australia for highways in other states and territories List of highways in Australia for roads named as highways, but not necessarily classified as highways Road transport in Victoria