Metropolitan Route Numbering System
  Route Numbering in Melbourne
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Intersection Direction signs at Wantirna Road / Mountain Highway intersection.
March 2007
 
     
   
  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 1965. They were referred to as 'Metropolitan Routes' to distinguish them from their 3 digit 'State Route' counterparts of regional Victoria, and also as they were limited to the Melbourne metropolitan area. Nonetheless, Metropolitan Routes (MR) are essentially State Routes, as they share the same guidelines such as colour scheme and route numbering hierarchy.

A general rule was applied to the system - all even numbered routes traveled east to west, and odd numbered routes north to south; with numbers increasing 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, as the name suggests, were specifically assigned to freeways in an attempt to increase their prominence to motorists. 

The success of the system relied on the effectiveness of its signage. Over the years, signing practices have improved to enable drivers to follow a particular route successfully. The Metropolitan Routes' blue-shield is a recognisable feature on the system's advance, intersection and reassurance direction signs. The original signage practice was with the heavy use of trailblazers (standalone route number shields), which later evolved to incorporate the use of route shields on direction signs. 

As Melbourne's growth exploded in the twenty years after the introduction, the system had not been able to keep up and now required a major refurbishment. Additions and modifications to the system 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 mainly in the middle and outer suburbs. Furthermore, the system was expanded to the Mornington Peninsula with a handful of routes numbered between 60 and 73. More of this is outlined in 1989 Metropolitan Route Review section.

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.

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 the 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. Most of these routes were introduced in 1989, making them redundant in less than ten years.

There have been four additions to the system in recent times - Metropolitan Route 49 was introduced along Westall Road as part of its upgrade in 1996; Metropolitan Route 55 in 2005 which replaced National Highway M31 and National Highway 31 along Sydney Road and the former Hume Highway stretch; Metropolitan Route 62 on the Ringwood Bypass and soon Mount Dandenong Road; and Metropolitan Route 8 along Ballarat Road replacing National Highway 8.		  
     
     
  Sections:  
     
  Introduction of Metropolitan Routes

1989 Metropolitan Route Review

Metropolitan Route Overview 		List of Current Routes

Mornington Peninsula Routes

Decommissioned Routes

Commissioning in Progress Routes 		 
     
     
  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 		 
 
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