MRV: M Routes

	M Routes
	Primary road links between major centres
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A variety of M routes on these Intersection Direction signs at the Western Ring Road / Calder Freeway interchange.
March 2006

'M' roads provide a consistent high standard of driving conditions, with divided carriageways, four traffic lanes, sealed shoulders and line marking that is easily visible in all weather conditions. 'M' roads are the primary road links connecting Melbourne and other capital cities and major provincial centres^[1].

Number of Signed M Routes	10
Number of Unsigned M Routes	2
Number of National Highway M Routes	4
Total Length (Signed Routes)	1016 km
Longest Signed M Route	National Highway M31 - 292 km
Shortest Signed M Route	M780 - 11.0 km

M routes form the major routes between Melbourne and the state's provincial cities, as well as providing interstate links. All M routes are dual carriageway roads with a minimum of four lanes, sealed shoulders and having full delineation. Currently, ten M routes have been signed across the state, with two other routes yet to be signed (see section below). Contrary to popular belief, 'M' does not stand for ‘Motorway’; it is only a letter prefix. M routes were the first major routes in the Statewide Route Numbering Scheme (SRNS) to be signed outside of the initial trial in North Eastern Victoria in 1996.

Most dual carriageway freeways in Victoria have been allocated an M route number. The allocation of M routes in not limited to freeways, as the guidelines do not specific the classification of a road as a requirement. Therefore, a few arterial roads which satisfy the guidelines have been allocated an M route number. These include the M1 Princes Highway, NH-M8 Western Highway, NH-M31 Hume Highway, M420 South Gippsland Highway and M780 Western Port Highway, .

The Western, Calder, Princes, Goulburn Valley and Hume Freeways have an M route number based on its previous National Route/Highway number. This is the case as interstate routes retain their number for consistency across the border^[2] (eg. Calder Freeway's NR79 became M79).

The newest M route is the M3, signed along the Eastern Freeway and EastLink in 2008. For a brief moment in 1997, Metropolitan Route 83 (Eastern Freeway’s previous route number) was on the verge of being decommissioned, to be replaced by M3. New signs installed along the Eastern Freeway included M3 shields, and were displayed until they were promptly coverplated by MR83 shields. This was due to the reluctance of the state government at the time to have the freeway as an alphanumeric route. EastLink’s original plan was for it to be an extension of MR83^[²^], but it was changed to M3 prior to the designing of signs in 2006.

It can be speculated that any new dual carriageway freeway built in Victoria will be given an M route designation.

Unsigned Routes

As well signed routes, there are two unsigned M routes in Metropolitan Melbourne. They are: the M2 reserved for the Tullamarine Freeway and Citylink Western Link, and M11 for the Mornington Peninsula Freeway. The M11 was originally proposed as route M7 in 1996/97, but this was changed by 2007. The following table outlines the status of these two routes:

Freeway	Unsigned M Route	Current Signed Route	Notes
Citylink Western Link, Tullamarine Freeway	M2	Metropolitan Route 43	No plans for introduction ^[2].
Mornington Peninsula Freeway, Frankston Fwy (Mornington Peninsula Route)	M11	Metropolitan Route 11	No plans for introduction ^[2]. The first proposal was M7, but this was changed to M11 by 2007. M11 was to also include the Moorooduc Hwy. Proposed introduction to coincide with Eastlink opening^[3], but it has been postponed ^[4]. Existing signs will be coverplated accordingly.

Signed Routes

	Princes Freeway, etc. Waurns Ponds - Traralgon		Eastern Freeway & EastLink Collingwood - Seaford
	Western Freeway/Highway Deer Park - Mitchell Park (Ballarat)		Hume Freeway/Highway Thomastown - NSW border (Wodonga)
	Goulburn Valley Freeway Seymour - Tabilk, Wahring - Arcadia		Calder Freeway Niddrie - Elphinstone
	Western Ring Road & Metropolitan Ring Road Deer Park - Thomastown		Western Ring Road, Metropolitan Ring Road Brooklyn - Deer Park, Thomastown - Greensborough
	South Gippsland Freeway/Highway Doveton - Grantville		Western Port Highway Dandenong South - Langwarrin

Unsigned Routes

	Citylink Western Link & Tullamarine Freeway Melbourne Airport - Port Melbourne
	Mornington Peninsula Freeway Edithvale - Rosebud

[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 and December 2007.
[4] Correspondence from Vicroads staff, June 2008. This information may change at any date.