Road routes in Victoria assist drivers navigating roads throughout the state, as roads may change names several times between destinations, or have a second local name in addition to a primary name. Victoria currently uses two route numbering schemes: the older, numerical shield-based system (which this article focuses on); and a newer, alphanumeric system, slowly replacing the older system.
Victoria implemented the federally-issued National Routes system between 1954 and 1955, using white-and-black shields highlighting interstate links between major regional centres; some of these routes were later upgraded into National Highways using green-and-gold shields when the National Roads Act was passed in 1974.
The original route numbering scheme, now known as the Metropolitan Route Numbering Scheme, allocated blue-and-white shields across Melbourne as metropolitan routes, numbered to fit around existing National Routes; this system received a major refurbishment in the late 1980s, with the creation of Tourist Routes as a result. Freeway Routes were spun off from this system between 1970 and 1987, and it was extended into a system covering rural Victoria as the State Route Numbering Scheme in 1985.
The Statewide Route Numbering Scheme, introduced in late 1996, has effectively replaced the previous scheme across regional Victoria, and is progressively replacing routes across Melbourne. It consists of alphanumeric routes, a one-to-three digit number prefixed with a letter (M, A, B, or C) that denotes the grade and importance of the road, and is now the state's default road route numbering system.
Some routes, in part or in their entirety, may have been made obsolete by the alphanumeric designation: these replacement routes are noted but not listed in full here. Some also may follow older alignments or routes later changed even after the new system was introduced, and are included here for the sake of completion. Roads are described in either a west–east or north–south alignment.
For a list of major highways and freeways in Melbourne, see List of highways in Melbourne and List of freeways in Victoria.
National Routes
National Routes were the first type of route numbering to be attempted in Australia on a large scale, signed with a white shield and black writing (similar in shape to the shield that appears on the Australian coat of arms), with Victoria receiving routes in 1954. They highlighted the interstate links connecting major population, industrial and principal regions of Victoria to the rest of the Australia, in a way that was readily identifiable to interstate travellers. The system was prepared by COSRA (Conference of State Road Authorities), held between 1953 and 1954: once each state road authority agreed to the scheme, it was rolled out federally.
In 1954, the Hume Highway was trialled as National Route 31, chosen due to its prominence as a transport corridor connecting Australia's largest cities (Melbourne and Sydney). Soon after, other National Routes across the state were allocated. Selected routes were later upgraded into National Highways when the National Roads Act was passed in 1974.
Victoria's National Routes were eventually replaced with the Statewide Route Numbering Scheme, introduced in stages across the state beginning in late 1996: each route was converted to an alphanumeric route number, rendering the black-and-white shield redundant. Most National Routes in rural Victoria kept their number during the conversion; an exception was National Route 16, which became B400. Most routes were replaced in 1997 - unless otherwise stated in the table below - with the last of Victoria's routes, National Route 79, finally eliminated in 2013 (although a vestige of Alternative National Route 1 still exists through southeastern Melbourne).
National Highways
With the passing of the National Roads Act in 1974, selected National Routes were further upgraded to the status of a National Highway: interstate roads linking Australia's capital cities and major regional centres that received federal funding, and were of higher importance than other National Routes. These new routes were symbolised by green shields with gold writing, and the word "National" along the top of the shield. Victoria's first two National Highways, the Western and Hume Highways, were declared in 1974 and their shields converted in the following years; the Sturt and Goulburn Valley Highways were declared later in 1992.