Maroondah Highway
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Maroondah Highway | |
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| Formerly State Route 34 and 153 in alphanumeric superseded sections from Lilydale to Mansfield | |
| Length | 200 km |
| General direction | Southwest-Northeast |
| From |  Cotham Road,Balwyn, Melbourne |
| via | Nunawading, Ringwood, Lilydale, Coldstream, Healesville, Buxton, Alexandra, Merton |
| To |  Midland Highway,Mansfield, Victoria |
| Allocation | Balwyn-Lilydale:
 Lilydale-Coldstream:  Coldstream-Alexandra:  Alexandra-Koriella  Koriella-Yarck:  Yarck-Maindample: Maindample-Mansfield:  |
| Major Junctions |  Burke Road Station Street Middleborough Road Blackburn Road Springvale Road Mitcham Road EastLink Wantirna Road Warrandyte Road Mount Dandenong Road Kent Avenue Yarra Road Dorset Road Anderson Street Warburton Highway Melba Highway Goulburn Valley Highway Maroondah Link Highway Midland Link Highway |
The Maroondah Highway (also known as Whitehorse Road from Balwyn to Croydon), is a major east-west thoroughfare in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and a highway servicing the lower alpine region Victoria, Australia.
[edit] History
In the 1850s, Whitehorse Road was built to be the primary route from Melbourne to Gippsland, a rather circuitous route which went via the Dandenong Ranges. The primary route to Gippsland from the CBD is now through Monash Freeway and the South Gippsland Highway.
The road, when first built, was named Three Chain Road, due to the road width being 66 yards (60 m) wide.
The traffic led to the establishment of a hotel in Box Hill named the White Horse hotel. It is this hotel of which the road obtained its name from. However, the hotel was forced to shut its doors in 1921 when Box Hill became a dry area. A replica of the white horse from the roof of the hotel now stands in the median strip of Whitehorse Road, while the restored original is located in the Box Hill town hall.
[edit] Route
Whitehorse Road begins as a continuation of Cotham Road at Burke Road, in the suburb of Balwyn/Deepdene. At this point, it is a typical inner-Melbourne, four lane, single carriageway arterial road. The route 109 tram also runs along this stretch of the road, making the road quite congested throughout daylight hours.
The road continues through Mont Albert, until its intersection with Elgar Road in Box Hill, where the road becomes a four lane dual carriageway with trams running down the central median strip. The tram terminates at Market Street, a few blocks further on. From this point, Whitehorse Road is also known as Maroondah Highway, a three lane divided highway, though it retains its name through the municipals of Whitehorse and Maroondah. It passes through the suburbs of Blackburn, Nunawading, Mitcham, Ringwood and Croydon. From here, the Maroondah Highway continues on past Lilydale, as a rural highway. There is a moderately steep and twisty section through forest between Healesville and Buxton, and the road then continues through farmland. all the way through to Mansfield.
