The Sunraysia Highway (route B220) is a 344 kilometres (214 mi) arterial north–south route in western Victoria. The highway extends north a length of 331 km starting from the Western Freeway near Ballarat to the Calder Highway near Ouyen. It is the north-west arterial road, linking Ballarat and Ouyen, and acts as a secondary route to the Calder Highway, the primary route between Melbourne and Mildura.

Sunraysia Highway

Sunraysia Highway, just outside Birchip.
Map
Sunraysia Highway is located in Victoria
Northwest end
Northwest end
Southeast end
Southeast end
Coordinates
General information
TypeHighway
Length330 km (205 mi)[1]
Opened1948
Route number(s) B220 (1998–present)
Former
route number
State Route 121 (1986–1998)
Major junctions
Northwest end Calder Highway
Nunga, Victoria
 
Southeast end Western Freeway
Miners Rest, Victoria
Location(s)
Major settlementsSpeed, Lascelles, Woomelang, Birchip, Donald, St Arnaud, Avoca, Lexton
Highway system

The Sunraysia Highway serves a number of important industries in the region such as agriculture, viticulture, food processing, winemaking and tourism. It forms an important link for these industries to markets and ports in the south of Victoria and South Australia. It is a two-lane, two-way road with shoulders. It has no overtaking lanes provided along the highway, as it is designated as a ‘B’ road for its full length.

History edit

The passing of the Highways and Vehicles Act of 1924[2] through the Parliament of Victoria provided for the declaration of State Highways, roads two-thirds financed by the State government through the Country Roads Board (later VicRoads). The North-Western Highway (not to be confused by the Calder Highway, which was also known as the North-Western Highway in the late 1920s) was declared a State Highway in the 1947/48 financial year,[3] from Ballarat via Avoca, St Arnaud, and Donald to Birchip (for a total of 138 miles); before this declaration, the roads were referred to as St Arnaud-Birchip Road, Avoca-St Arnaud Road and Avoca-Ballarat.[4] In the 1959/60 financial year, another section from Birchip via Woomelang to Lascelles was added,[5] along the former Beulah-Birchip-Wycheproof Road, Kinnabulla-Woomelang Road and Woomelang-Lascelles Roads.[5] The name of the highway was later changed to the Sunraysia Highway on 11 September 1972, and extended from Lascelles to Nunga, just south of Ouyen, subsuming the former portion of Henty Highway previously declared to Ouyen.[6]

The Sunraysia Highway was signed as State Route 121 between Ouyen and Ballarat in 1986;[7] with Victoria's conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in the late 1990s, it was replaced by route B220.

The passing of the Road Management Act 2004[8] granted the responsibility of overall management and development of Victoria's major arterial roads to VicRoads: in 2013, VicRoads re-declared the road as Sunraysia Highway (Arterial #6700) between the Calder Highway in Nunga (south of Ouyen) and the Western Freeway at Mitchell Park (in north-western Ballarat).[9]

Towns edit

Major intersections edit

LGALocation[1][9]km[1]miDestinationsNotes
MilduraNunga00.0  Calder Highway (A79) – Mildura, BendigoNorthern terminus of highway and route B220 (10km south of Ouyen)
YarriambiackSpeed28.117.5  Patchewollock–Sea Lake Road (C248) – Patchewollock, Ninda
Lascelles55.934.7  Henty Highway (B200) – Warracknabeal
Woomelang68.842.8  Hopetoun–Sea Lake Road (C246) – Hopetoun, Sea Lake
BulokeBallapur107.066.5  Birchip–Rainbow Road (C243) – Rainbow
Birchip118.373.5  Birchip–Sea Lake Road (C244 north) – Sea Lake
  Birchip–Wycheproof Road (C268 east) – Wycheproof
Morton Plains128.079.5  Warracknabeal–Birchip (C242) – Warracknabeal
Litchfield156.197.0  Borung Highway (C234) – Warracknabeal
Donald170.5105.9  Donald–Stawell Road (C238) – Marnoo, Stawell
171.2106.4  Borung Highway (C261) – Charlton, Swan Hill
Northern GrampiansSt Arnaud209.2130.0  St Arnaud–Wycheproof Road (C271 northwest) – Wycheproof
  St Arnaud–Wycheproof Road (C272 northeast) – Charlton
209.8130.4  Inkerman Street (Wimmera Highway) (B240) – Marnoo, HorshamConcurrency with route B240
210.6130.9  Inglewood Road (Wimmera Highway) (B240) – Tarnagulla, Marong, Bendigo
Moyreisk242.5150.7  Maryborough–St Arnaud Road (C275) – Maryborough
PyreneesTanwood258.8160.8  Stawell–Avoca Road (C221) – Stawell, Navarre
Avoca271.4168.6  Pyrenees Highway (B180) – Maryborough, Castlemaine, Ararat
Lexton294.6183.1  Lexton–Talbot Road (C172 east) – Talbot
  Beaufort–Lexton Road (C172 west) – Beaufort
BallaratMiners Rest330.2205.2  Western Freeway (M8)Trumpet interchange; southern terminus of highway and route B220
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Google (12 October 2021). "Sunraysia Highway" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  2. ^ State of Victoria, An Act to make further provision with respect to Highways and Country Roads Motor Cars and Traction Engines and for other purposes 30 December 1924
  3. ^ "Country Roads Board Victoria. Thirty-Fifth Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1948". Country Roads Board of Victoria. Melbourne: Victorian Government Library Service. 1 November 1948. p. 7.
  4. ^ "Country Roads Board Victoria. Twenty-Sixth Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1939". Country Roads Board of Victoria. Melbourne: Victorian Government Library Service. 10 November 1939. pp. 84, 88, 92, 98.
  5. ^ a b "Country Roads Board Victoria. Forty-Seventh Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1960". Country Roads Board of Victoria. Melbourne: Victorian Government Library Service. 21 November 1960. pp. 7–8.
  6. ^ "Country Roads Board Victoria. Sixtieth Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1973". Country Roads Board of Victoria. Melbourne: Victorian Government Library Service. 1 November 1973. p. 14.
  7. ^ "Road Construction Authority of Victoria. Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 1986". Road Construction Authority of Victoria. Melbourne: Victorian Government Library Service. 24 November 1986. p. 42.
  8. ^ State Government of Victoria. "Road Management Act 2004" (PDF). Government of Victoria. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 October 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  9. ^ a b VicRoads. "VicRoads – Register of Public Roads (Part A) 2015" (PDF). Government of Victoria. pp. 1015–6. Archived from the original on 1 May 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2021.

External links edit

  Media related to Sunraysia Highway at Wikimedia Commons