Northern Highway (Victoria)

Route

Northern Highway commences at the state border with New South Wales as a continuation of Cobb Highway into Victoria and heads in a southerly direction as a two-lane, single carriageway rural highway through the western part of the regional town of Echuca, running concurrent with Murray Valley Highway for a short period, before continuing south through flat open country through Rochester, Elmore and Heathcote, then traverses moderately hilly terrain through Kilmore and Wallan, before eventually terminating at the interchange with Hume Freeway a short distance south of Wallan in Beveridge.

History

The passing of the Country Roads Act of 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. Kilmore-Heathcote(-Bendigo) Road was declared a Main Road, from Kilmore to Pyalong on 30 November 1914, and from Pyalong and Heathcote (and continuing west to Bendigo) on 28 May 1915; Heathcote-Elmore Road was declared a Main Road, between Tooleen and Elmore on 17 March 1915, and between Heathcote and Tooleen on 28 May 1915; and Bendigo-Echuca Road was declared a Main Road, between north-eastern Bendigo and Elmore on 17 May 1915, and from Elmore through Rochester to Echuca on 27 July 1916.

The passing of the Highways and Vehicles Act of 1924 provided for the declaration of State Highways, roads two-thirds financed by the State government through the Country Roads Board. Northern Highway was declared a State Highway on 1 July 1925, cobbled from a collection of roads from Bendigo through Elmore and Rochester to Echuca (for a total of 55 miles), subsuming the original declaration of Bendigo-Echuca Road. In the 1947/48 financial year, its southern end was rerouted south of Elmore: instead of running to Bendigo, it was extended further south via Heathcote to meet Hume Highway at Kilmore, subsuming the original declarations of Heathcote-Elmore Road and Kilmore-Heathcote-Bendigo Road as Main Roads; the previous alignment of Northern Highway from Elmore to Bendigo was subsumed into Midland Highway. Northern Highway was extended south one last time when the Kilmore bypass was opened in 1976, from Kilmore to Beveridge (just south of Wallan) along the former alignment of Hume Highway.

Northern Highway was later signed National Route 75 in 1955; with Victoria's conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in the late 1990s, this was updated to route B75.

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 2022, VicRoads re-declared this road as Northern Highway (Arterial #6540), beginning in Echuca and ending in Beveridge.

Attractions

• Heathcote-Graytown National Park

Major intersections and towns

|LGA-Co=Murray River to Heathcote-Rochester Road (C347 south) to Hume Freeway (M31 north), Sydney Southern exit and northern entrance only

References

References

1. "Northern Highway".
2. (9 December 1914). "Victorian Government Gazette". State Library Victoria.
3. (8 July 1925). "Victorian Government Gazette". State Library of Victoria.
4. (11 August 2021). "Victoria's Regions". [[Victoria State Government]].
5. [http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/hist_act/cra1912182.pdf ''An Act relating to Country Roads''] State of Victoria, 23 December 1912
6. (9 June 1915). "Victorian Government Gazette". State Library Victoria.
7. (24 March 1915). "Victorian Government Gazette". State Library Victoria.
8. (2 June 1915). "Victorian Government Gazette". State Library Victoria.
9. (9 August 1916). "Victorian Government Gazette". State Library Victoria.
10. [http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/hist_act/hava1924204.pdf ''An 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
11. (31 December 1925). "Country Roads Board Victoria. Twelfth Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1925". Victorian Government Library Service.
12. (1 November 1948). "Country Roads Board Victoria. Thirty-Fifth Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1948". Victorian Government Library Service.
13. State Government of Victoria. "Road Management Act 2004". Government of Victoria.
14. VicRoads. "VicRoads – Register of Public Roads 2024". Government of Victoria.