State (Bell/Springvale) Highway
The State (Bell/Springvale) Highway,[1] also known as Route 40 or the Bell / Springvale State Highway, is the longest self-contained urban highway in Melbourne, Australia, linking Tullamarine Freeway and the Nepean Highway. It is classed as an arterial road,[1] and allocated State Route 40. Various street names are used along the highway – Banksia Street, Bell-Banksia Link, Bell Street, Manningham Road, and Springvale Road.[1]
State (Bell/Springvale) Highway | |
|---|---|
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| General information | |
| Type | Road |
| Length | 57 km (35 mi) |
| Route number(s) |
|
| Former route number |  State Route 11Along Springvale Road |
| Major junctions | |
| West end |  Tullamarine Freeway, Strathmore, Melbourne |
| South end |  Nepean Highway, Edithvale, Melbourne |
| Location(s) | |
| Major suburbs | Coburg, Heidelberg, Doncaster, Nunawading, Glen Waverley, Springvale |
The highway experiences considerable congestion. Throughout the 1980s and '90s, the Doncaster Road section carried around 50,000 vehicles per hour at peak, but this number dropped in 1997 after the extension of the Eastern Freeway.
In January 2010, rail tracks in Nunawading were lowered below ground as part grade separation project. A similar project was undertaken in Springvale in May 2014.[2] As of January 2021, there are now two railway grade separations along the route, in Edithvale and Preston. Both will be removed as part of Level Crossing Removal Project by 2022.[3]
The road itself varies in capacity over its length between three-laned dual carriageways and two-way single carriageways. Many junctions such as the Nepean Highway, Princes Highway, Monash Freeway, Eastern Freeway, Hume Highway and Tullamarine Freeway contribute to large traffic volumes along Route 40.
Alternate names
There are a variety of street names along the route, many of which are familiar to motorists and used on radio traffic updates, including:
- Bell Street (from Strathmore to Heidelberg)
- Banksia Street (within Heidelberg)
- Manningham Road (from Bulleen to Doncaster)
- Williamsons Road (within central Doncaster)
- Doncaster Road (from Doncaster to Donvale)
- Mitcham Road (within Donvale)
- Springvale Road (from Donvale to Chelsea Heights)
- Edithvale Road (formerly Springvale Road) (from Chelsea Heights to Edithvale)
The original 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan showed the F4 Freeway following the Tullamarine Freeway, Bell and Banksia Streets, to Williamsons Road then joining the F7 Freeway heading south along the Middleborough Road and the Blackburn Road corridor to the F2 Freeway (Dingley Freeway section) between Clayton and Westall Roads (rather than Springvale Road).
Major intersections and suburbs
See also
References
- VicRoads. "VicRoads – Register of Public Roads (Part A)". Government of Victoria. pp. 962–964. Archived from the original on 29 December 2014.
- Springvale Level Crossing Removal Project Archived 7 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine. "VicRoads". www.vicroads.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 24 May 2014
- Springvale Road Rail Separation Project. VicRoads. www.vicroads.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 10 July 2009
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