MRV: B Routes

	B Routes
	Connecting major provincial centres
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B500 Great Alpine Road Reassurance Direction sign south of Bright. B500 was the first B route signed in 1996.
April 2005

'B' roads are sealed roads, wide enough for two traffic lines, with good centre line and edge line marking, shoulders, and a high standard of guidepost delineation. 'B' roads provide the primary link for major regions not served by 'A' roads and for highly significant tourism regions. ^[1]

Number of Signed B Routes	26
Number of Unsigned B Routes	0
Total Length (Signed Routes)	3877 km
Longest Signed B Route	B400 - 660 km
Shortest Signed B Route	B410 - 3.7 km
Number of Decommissioned B Routes	3

B routes form the major access routes through areas of high tourist significance as well as providing links between M and A routes. The majority of B routes are single carriageway roads with full delineation. Currently, twenty six B Routes have been designated across the state.

The first B Route to be signed in Victoria was B500 Great Alpine Rd ^[3] as part of the initial trial of the Statewide Route Numbering Scheme in North Eastern Victoria in 1996.

The newest B Route, B410, is also the state's shortest B Route. Originally implemented on the Bandiana Link Road as B401 in March 2007, where interestingly, it shared the same number as C401 Lilydale - Montrose Road, though the two routes remained unrelated. In August 2007, a decision was made by Vicroads to correct this anomaly by changing B401 to B410^[4] - '01' was coverplated with '10'. This was completed by October / November of the same year. B410 indicates that it is a loop route of B400, its parent route.

Three B routes have been designated as principal tourist routes ^[2]. These routes traverse through some of the state most prominent tourist attractions and are signed with a white-on-brown name plate on reassurance direction (distance) signs.

The routes are:
- B100 Great Ocean Road;
- B400 Murray Valley Highway;
- B500 Great Alpine Road.

In addition, B420 (Phillip Island Road) is signed with a white-on-brown name plate on reassurance direction (distance) signs.

B routes do not usually include the road's name on reassurance direction signs as oppose to M and A routes unless if they are principal / prominent tourist routes as mentioned above. The only 'non-tourist' B route to have the road name include on distance signs is the B220 Sunraysia Highway, due to its importance as a freight corridor to and from north western Victoria.

Signed Routes

	Mallee Highway SA Border - Piangil		Monaro Highway Cann River - NSW Border
	Northern Highway Wallan - Echuca		Surf Coast Highway & Great Ocean Road Belmont - Allansford
	Nepean Highway & Point Nepean Road Mornington - Portsea		Bellarine Highway Geelong - Queenscliff
	Hopkins Highway Warrnambool - Mortlake		Hamilton Highway Geelong - Hamilton
	Glenelg Highway Ballarat - SA Border		Pyrenees Highway Dunkeld - Elphinstone
	Henty Highway Horsham - Lascelles		Stawell - Warracknabeal Road Deep Lead - Warracknabeal
	Sunraysia Highway Ouyen - Ballarat		Wimmera Highway SA Border - Marong
	Loddon Valley Highway Bendigo - Kerang		McIvor Highway Bendigo - Heathcote
	Melba Highway, Maroondah Highway & Midland Highway Lilydale - Benalla		Maroondah Highway Maindample - Manfield
	Goulburn Valley Highway Seymour - Eildon		Warburton Highway Lilydale - Warburton
	Maroondah Highway Coldstream - Alexandra		Murray Valley Highway NSW Border (Robinvale) - NSW Border (Corryong)
	Bandiana Link Road Wodonga		Phillip Island Road Anderson - Cowes
	Strzelecki Highway Morwell - Leongatha		Great Alpine Road Wangaratta - Bairnsdale

Decommissioned Routes

	South Gippsland Highway Dandenong South - Sale
	Bandiana Link Road Wodonga
	Great Alpine Road Bairnsdale - Bruthen

Cancelled Proposed Routes

Phillip Island Road
Anderson - Cowes

[1] Vicroads (Roads Corporation); Victoria's Route Number Signs (online); http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/Home/RoadsAndProjects/TravellingOnOurRoads/Victorias+route+number+signs.htm; 17/2/2007
[2] Vicroads (Roads Corporation); Traffic Engineering Manual Volume 2 - Signs and Markings; Dec 2001; Chapter 10.2.4
[3] Correspondence from Vicroads staff, March 2007
[4] Correspondence from Vicroads staff, August 2007. Date at which this occurred was sometime in October / November 2007.