National Highway 8 AD westbound on Western Highway at McIntyre Road. April 2007
Sections:
Designated Names (as of 2007) Complete Name List - Column 1 & 2 Column 3 |
Flemington Road |
Curzon Street - Racecourse Road |
Arterial #5044 |
| Princes Highway West | Between Flemington Road and Western Highway |
Arterial #6520 | |
| Racecourse Road | Flemington Road - Smithfield Road | Part of Arterial #6520 | |
| Smithfield Road | Racecourse Road - Lynchs Bridge (Ballarat Road) | Part of Arterial #6520 | |
Western Highway |
Geelong Road - Western Ring Road |
Arterial #6520 |
|
| Ballarat Road | Geelong Road - Western Ring Road | Part of Arterial #6520 | |
Distance in Kilometres |
9.1 |
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Eastern Terminus |
Curzon Street, North Melbourne |
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Western Terminus |
Western Ring Road (NHM80), Ardeer |
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Year of Introduction When the Route was first introduced |
National Route 8 (1955) National Highway 8 (20/11/1974) |
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Duplexes Shared routes - Column 1 & 2 Column 3 - in Kilometres |
National Route 79 | Curzon Street - Citylink Western Link | 0.7 |
| MR83 | Elliot Avenue - Princes Highway | 2.5 | |
| MR35 | Epsom Road - Moore Street | 1.9 | |
National Highway 8 (NH8) once formed the primary arterial route to Western Victoria and interstate in South Australia. Before 1997, National Highway 8 extended to the South Australian border.
The Western Highway and its status as a state highway was first established with the State Highways and Vehicles Act 1924 in 1925 for the section west of the railway line at Albion, with subsequent sections eastward being progressive classified accordingly up until 1980. Between 1964 and 1969, the Western Highway was duplicated west of McIntyre Road to Melton1.
In 1955, the Western Hwy was proclaimed as part of National Route 8, and later as National Highway 8 as part of the 1974 federally funded National Highway scheme. The status of National Highway 8 east of the Western Ring Road is only as a route number, that is, the route is a National Highway without any National Highway status. It does not fall under federal government National Highways funding (now legislated under Austlink). The Country Roads Board continued National Highway 8 route in 1974 through metropolitan Melbourne for the sake of consistency. The only section of National Highway 8 that was ever federally funded was the route between the South Australian border and Deer Park.
As part of the Statewide Route Numbering Scheme, the portion of the route between the South Australian border and the Western Ring Road was replaced by National Highway M8 between the Western Ring Road and Ballarat, and National Highway A8 between Ballarat and the border in 1997. The only remaining section of NH8 is through the western suburbs of Melbourne, where it remains as the only non-alphanumeric National Highway in Victoria.
In 2004, the Western Highway was reclassified as an Arterial until the Road Management Act 2004.
Though the official eastern terminus of NH8 is at the intersection with Curzon Street, NH8 (along with National Route 79) signage is present 700 m southeast at the Royal Pde Roundabout. It is unknown why the route has not been extended to meet with National Highway 31 (now Metropolitan Route 55), which would of been a more logical terminus.
It can be speculated that National Highway 8 will be decommisioned and possibly replaced by a Metropolitan Route when the Deep Park Bypass opens in 2009, but Vicroads have made no indication of any such changes. For more information of the rest of Western Freeway / Highway refer to the appropriate NHM8 & NHA8 pages.
NOTE: As of January 2008, Vicroads has decided not to decommissioned National Highway 8 when the Deer Park Bypass opens. This means that National Highway M8 will be shifted onto the bypass, while NH8 will be (re)extended to Caroline Springs [2].
Events1:
| 1913 | Sections of road between Footscray and Sunshine declared as a Main Road. |
| 1915 | Five - span bridge built over Kororoit Creek. |
| 1925 | State Highways and Vehicles Act 1924 proclaimed Western Highway as a state highway west of railway line at Albion. |
| 1927 - 1928 | Four kilometres of the Western Highway between Albion Station and Kororoit Creek asphalted. |
| 1935 - 1936 | Intersection reconstruction at Droop Street / Western Highway. |
| 1947 | Section between railway at Albion to Ashley Street declared as a State Highway. |
| 1955 | National Route 8 introduced. |
| 1960 | Section between Ashley Street and Rosamond Road declared as a State Highway. |
| 1963 | Bridge over Albion Railway opened. |
| 1964 | Route east to Gordon Street declared as a State Highway. |
| 1964 | Duplication of Western Highway between McIntyre Road and Kororoit Ck. |
| 1965 | Duplicated bridge over Kororoit Ck. |
| 1967 | Duplication of Western Highway between Kororoit Ck and Rockbank. |
| 1965 - 1969 | Construction of freeway grade road between Deer Park and Melton. |
| 1974 | National Highway 8 replaces National Route 8. |
| 1980 | Route east to Princes Highway from Droop Street declared as a State Highway, after legislation changed to allowed roads with a tramline through them to be classified as State Highways. |
| 1995 | Flemington Road classified as a Main Road. |
| 1997 | National Highway M8 and A8 replaces NH8 west of Western Ring Road. |
| 2004 | Road Management Act 2004 reclassifies Western Highway's State Highway classification to Arterial. All Main Road classifications merge into new Arterial classification. |
1. Lay, M.; Melbourne Miles: The Story of Melbourne’s Roads; 2003; p. 86
2. Correspondence from Vicroads staff, January 2008
Intersection Maps
- Western Ring Road (M80) Interchange
- Anderson Road / McIntyre Road (MR41) Intersection
- Royal Pde / Flemington Road Roundabout (not part of route, signed regardless)
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Eastbound after Northumberland Road. April 2007 |
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Advance Direction Sign (AD) northbound on Cornwall Road. April 2007 |
.JPG) |
Eastbound after Cornwall Road. April 2007 |
.JPG)
Ashley Street / Hampstead Road
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AD northbound on Ashley Street. April 2005 |
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AD eastbound on Western Highway. April 2007 |
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Intersection Direction Signs (ID) at Hampstead Road / Western Highway corner. April 2007 |
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Citybound Western Highway ID. January 2006 |
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ID at Ashley Street / Western Highway corner. April 2007 |
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Reassurance Direction Sign (RD) westbound from intersection. November 2006 |
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Trailblazer (TB) eastbound from intersection. April 2007 |
Churchill Avenue (MR38/MR39)
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AD northbound on Churchill Street. November 2006 |
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AD southbound on Churchill Street. March 2005 |
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AD westbound on Western Highway. March 2005 |
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AD eastbound on Western Highway. April 2007 |
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ID at intersection, facing northbound Churchill Street. November 2006 |
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RD eastbound from intersection. April 2007 |
.JPG) |
Westbound from intersection. April 2007 |
Summerhill Road / Rosamond Road
|
AD southbound on Rosamond Road. April 2007 |
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AD northbound on Summerhill Road. April 2007 |
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AD eastbound on Western Highway. April 2007 |
.JPG) |
Westbound from intersection. November 2006 |
Gordon Street (MR37)
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Westbound from intersection. November 2006 |
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AD westbound on Western Highway. April 2007 |
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AD southbound on Gordon Street. April 2007 |
Droop Street
|
AD northwest-bound on Droop Street. August 2004 |
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AD southbound on Farnsworth Avenue. August 2004 |
Princes Highway (MR83)
|
AD northbound on Princes Highway. November 2005 |
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AD westbound on Princes Highway. August 2004 |
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ID eastbound on Western Highway. August 2004 |
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ID northbound on Princes Highway. August 2004 |
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AD westbound on Princes Highway. December 2005 |
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RD westbound on Western Highway. December 2005 |
Moore Street (MR35)
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TBs eastbound before Moore Street . November 2005 |
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RD westbound from Moore Street. November 2005 |
Racecourse Road
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AD westbound on Racecourse Road. December 2005 |
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ID westbound on Racecourse Road. December 2005 |
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TBs southwest-bound on Smithfield Road. December 2005 |
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Southwest-bound on Smithfield Road. December 2005 |
Flemington Road / Elliot Avenue (MR83) / Mt Alexander Road
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AD westbound on Elliot Avenue. December 2005 |
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AD westbound on Elliot Avenue. December 2005 |
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AD eastbound on Racecourse Road before Citylink. December 2005 |
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AD eastbound on Racecourse Road. December 2005 |
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TBs southbound on Mt Alexander Road. December 2005 |
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TBs westbound on Elliot Avenue. December 2005 |
Curzon Street (NR79)
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RD northwest-bound on Flemington Rd. May 2004 |
Further Reading
Historic Photos - Old Signs
Routes NHM8 & NHA8
Offsite
National Highway 8 in SA - Sam Laybutt (Ozroads)