The Metropolitan Route Numbering System in Melbourne
The blue shields we see on signs!

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An example of Metropolitan Route Numbering - showing triplex of routes 5,22 and 26.
 
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A New System to Melbourne
Planned by the Traffic commission in consultant with Municipal councils, a system to assign route numbers onto major roads throughout Melbourne was introduced in December of 1965. Metropolitan Routes (MR) are essentially State Routes, as they share the same guidelines such as colour scheme and route numbering hierarchy. They were referred to as Metropolitan Routes as they were numbered below 90 and limited to the metropolitan area.

A general rule was applied to the system - all even numbered routes traveled east to west, and odd numbered routes north to south; with the lowest value routes beginning from south to north, and then east to west. During the early years, the only exception was MR40, which traveled east to west along Bell Street and Manningham Rd; then north to south along Tram Rd, Station St and Huntingdale Road acting as a circumferential route around Melbourne's northern and eastern suburbs.


In the 1970's the frenzied construction of freeways in Melbourne prompted a special sub-group of numbering - freeway routes. These routes would be specifically assigned to freeways, as the name suggests, to help drivers to easily identify these major routes.  


The success of the system relied on the effectiveness of its signage. Overall, since the beginning of the system, the level of signage has been sufficient enough to enable drivers to follow a particular route successfully. The blue-shield of the Metropolitan Routes is a recognisable feature on all signs leading up and along roads which are part of the system. The original signage practice was with the heavy use of trailblazers (standalone route number shields), which later also incorporated the use of shields on directional signs. 
 
1966 - 1989
As the metropolitan region of Melbourne expanded, the need to update the routes to reflect the new growth was first investigated by the the Road Construction Authority (RCA) in 1987 [1]. In 1989 [2], the RCA began the task of consolidating the overall layout of the system, which included introducing numerous new routes to cover the gaps since the 1965 introduction. In addition, routes were added to areas which had been incorporated into the greater metropolitan region - such as the Mornington Peninsula.

There were many changes to the original 1965 routes themselves; the biggest changes include the rerouting of MR40 and MR11, truncation of inner city routes, and the removal of freeway routes. More of this is outlined in
1989 Metropolitan Route Review section.

The new routes introduced were numbered in accordance with the general rule of allocating east-west routes even numbers, allocating north-south routes odd numbers and locating the smallest numbers in the south-east of the metropolitan area, increasing in an anti-clockwise direction.

However, when the initial route numbers were allocated, the roads which would later become part of the system were not known. Hence, in many cases, the number desired to fit the pattern was unavailable and thus the RCA was forced to number some routes in violation of the general rules. A good example of this is the MR12. It belongs between MR10 and MR14, however the absence of an east-west arterial route between these two routes has resulted in the number being allocated to the Greens Road etc. arterial route between Mordialloc and Hallam, south of MR10.
 
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1990 - Today
Since the major shake-up in 1989, there has been another major change to the system. Beginning in 1996, the new Statewide Route Numbering System (SRNS) was introduced into regional areas of Victoria. Metropolitan routes which lied on outer urban fringe were incorporated into the new system, with many routes which ventured outwards being truncated - their metropolitan half retaining its number, while the other half was replaced by a new alphanumeric number. Examples of this include MR34 in Lilydale, MR61 in Berwick and MR46 in Wattle Glen. Many of these routes were introduced in 1989, making them redundant in less than ten years.  

In more recent years, there have been three additions to the system - Metropolitan Route 49 was introduced along Westall Rd as part of its upgrade in 1996; Metropolitan Route 55 in 2005 which replaced National Highway M31 and National Highway 31 along Sydney Rd and the former Hume Highway stretch; and Metropolitan Route 62 on the Ringwood Bypass and soon Mount Dandenong Road. 
 
 
Metropolitan Routes Overview

The following links provide a snapshot of all the current Metropolitan Routes:

Routes 3 - 14

Routes 15 - 30

Routes 32 - 47
Routes 48 - 83

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Current Routes - Complete Information

3
Melbourne - Mornington
via St Kilda Rd & Nepean Hwy
4
Frankston - Cranbourne
via Frankston - Cranbourne Rd
5
Croydon - Lysterfield
via Dorset & Lysterfield Rd
6
Carrum - Clyde North
via Thompson Rd
7
Warrandyte South - Scoresby
via Croydon & Bayswater
9
Wattle Glen - Frankston
via Ringwood & Dandenong
10
Black Rock - Dandenong
via Cheltenham Rd
11
Aspendale - Rosebud
via Mornington Peninsula Route
12
Braeside - Narre Warren
via Greens & Hutton Rd
13
Doncaster East - Clayton
via Blackburn Rd
14
Brighton - Harkaway
via South & Heatherton Rd
15
Surrey Hills - Mentone
via Warrigal Rd
16
Brighton East - Noble Park North
via Centre& Police Rd
17
Ivanhoe - Moorabbin
via Camberwell
18
Brighton East - Rowville
via North & Wellington Rd
19
Kew - Black Rock
via Hawthorn
20
South Melbourne - Box Hill South
via Richmond & Camberwell
21
Reservoir - Toorak
via Kew
22
North Section:
Ringwood East
 - Montrose
via Mount Dandenong Rd (see MR62 below)
22
South Section:
Ripponlea 
- Upper Ferntree Gully
via Ferntree Gully & Neerim Rd
23
Doncaster East - Aspendale Gardens
via Mount Waverley & Clayton
24
Melbourne - Wantirna South
via High St
25
Toorak - Hampton
via Elsternwick
26
Middle Park - Upper Ferntree Gully
via Toorak & Burwood Hwy
27
South Morang - Thornbury
via Plenty Rd
28
Wantirna South - Sassafras
via Mountain Hwy
29
Epping - Elwood
via Reservoir & Hoddle St
30
Port Melbourne - Camberwell
via Hawthorn
32
Laverton North - Montrose
via Footscray & Vermont
33
Port Melbourne - Mordialloc
via Beach Rd
34
Carlton - Lilydale
via Kew & Maroondah Hwy
35
Somerton - Laverton
via Pascoe Vale & Williamstown
36
Hawthorn - The Basin
via Doncaster, Mitcham & Boronia
37
Essendon - Williamstown
via Maribrynong
38
Sunshine - Fairfield
via Brunswick
39
Greenvale - Altona
via Tullamarine & Tottenham
40
Laverton - Edithvale
via Keilor, Heidelberg and Springvale
41
Taylors Lakes - Laverton
via Sunshine & Altona
42
Balwyn North - Wonga Park
via Templestowe & Warrandyte
43
Port Melbourne - Melbourne Airport
via Citylink & Tullamarine Fwy
44
Ivanhoe - Kangaroo Ground
via Elth
am
45
Reservoir - Fitzroy
via St Georges Rd
46
Wattle Glen - Fitzroy
via Greensborough Hwy & Fairfield
47
Eltham - Oakleigh
via Doncaster & Box Hill
48
Tullamarine - Eltham
via Campbellfield & Greensborough
49
Clayton - Keysborough
via Westall Rd
Yarraville - Southbank
via Dynon Rd
52
Balwyn North - Donvale
via Doncaster East
55
Craigieburn - South Melbourne
via Sydney Rd
56
Laverton North - Newport
via Dohertys & Blackshaws Rd
57
Mernda - Eltham North
via Diamond Creek
58
Melbourne Airport - Plenty
via Somerton & Epping
Narre Warren East - Berwick
via Berwick & Harkaway Rd
Brooklyn - Clifton Hill
via Princes Highway & Eastern Highway
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Decommissioned Routes
As explained in the above section, many routes have been decommissioned, heavily modified or truncated as a result of the 1989 changes and/or the introduction of the Statewide Route Numbering System (to a larger extent). These routes are listed below. Not included are routes which lie in Mornington Peninsula - click here for these routes.

Partially Decommissioned Routes:
3
Mornington - Portsea
via Nepean Hwy & Point Nepean Rd
4
Cranbourne
via Berwick - Cranbourne Rd
18
Rowville - Clematis
via Wellington Rd
22
Montrose - Upper Ferntree Gully
via Mount Dandenong Rd
26
Upper Ferntree Gully - Emerald
via Belgrave
27
South Morang - Whittlesea
via Plenty Rd
32
Montrose - Lilydale
via Lilydale - Montrose Rd
34
Lilydale - Alexandra
via Maroondah Hwy
39
Greenvale - Craigieburn
via Mickleham Rd
43
Melbourne Airport - Sunbury
via Sunbury & Gap Rd
46
Wattle Glen - Hurstbridge
via Heidelberg - Kinglake Rd
61
Berwick - Clyde
via Berwick - Cranbourne Rd
Clifton Hill - Nunawading
via Eastern Freeway
       

Fully Decommissioned Routes:

2
Melbourne - Heidelberg
via Yarra Bvd
54
Melton - Keilor
via Melton Hwy
63
Lilydale - Cranbourne
via Belgrave & Narre Warren
80
Melbourne - Toorak
via South Eastern Fwy (now Citylink)
80
Western Ring Road
Metropolitan Ring Road
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Commissioning in Progress

Ringwood - Montrose [3]
via Ringwood Bypass & Mount Dandenong Rd - being signed starting March 2008

 
 
Further Reading
 
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[1] Road Construction Authority; Annual Report 1987; June 1987; p.59
[2] Vicroads (Roads Corporation); Annual Report 1989/90; June 1990; p.26
[3] Vicroads (Roads Corporation); Traffic Engineering Manual Volume 2 - Signs and Markings; Dec 2001; Chapter 10.2. In addition, correspondence from Vicroads staff in August 2007 indicates that this route will be introduced to coincide with the opening of Eastlink.
 
 

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