Kiewa Valley Highway Explained

Road Name:Kiewa Valley Highway
Type:highway
State:vic
Length:79.2
Gazetted:November 1914 [1]
1959/60 [2]
Mapframe:no
Coordinates A:-36.1477°N 146.9282°W
Coordinates B:-36.7432°N 147.1682°W
Pushpin Label Position A:top
Pushpin Label Position B:bottom
Route: C531
Former: State Route 191
Direction A:North
Direction B:South
End A: Murray Valley Highway
End B: Bogong High Plains Road
Exits:
  • Kiewa East Road
  • Running Creek Road
Region:Hume[3]

Kiewa Valley Highway is a rural highway which traverses the Kiewa Valley near the alpine regions of Victoria, Australia, connecting the eastern Wodonga suburb of Bandiana to Mount Beauty, at the foot of Mount Bogong in the Alpine National Park.

Route

Kiewa Valley Highway commences at the intersection with Murray Valley Highway in Bandiana and heads in a south-easterly direction as a two-lane, single carriageway rural highway, mostly following the course of Kiewa River through Kiewa until it reaches Dederang, where it starts to wind through the valleys of the Victorian Alps, eventually terminating at the intersection with Bogong High Plains Road in Mount Beauty. From Mount Beauty, Bogong High Plains Road takes a winding and twisty route via the Falls Creek alpine resort to meet Omeo Highway at Glen Valley.

History

Within Victoria, the passing of the Country Roads Act of 1912[4] through the Parliament of Victoria provided for the establishment of the Country Roads Board (later VicRoads) and their ability to declare Main Roads, taking responsibility for the management, construction and care of the state's major roads from local municipalities. Dederang Road was declared a Main Road from Dederang to Mount Beauty (and continuing northwards from Dederang to Yackandandah) on 30 November 1914.

In the 1950s the road was sealed and realigned to Mount Beauty to permit the transport of materials for the construction of the Kiewa Hydroelectric Scheme.

The passing of the Highways and Vehicles Act of 1924[5] provided for the declaration of State Highways, roads two-thirds financed by the State government through the Country Roads Board. Kiewa Valley Highway was declared a State Highway in the 1959/60 financial year, from Bandiana via Kiewa and Dederang to Mount Beauty (for a total of 49 miles), subsuming the original declaration of Dederang Road between Dederang and Mount Beauty as a Main Road; before this declaration, this road was also referred to as Kiewa Valley Road.

Kiewa Valley Highway was signed as State Route 191 between Bandiana and Mount Beauty in 1986; with Victoria's conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in the late 1990s, this was replaced by route C531.

The passing of the Road Management Act 2004[6] through the Parliament of Victoria granted the responsibility of overall management and development of Victoria's major arterial roads to VicRoads: VicRoads re-declared the road in 2004 as Kiewa Valley Highway (Arterial #6790), from Bandiana to Mount Beauty.[7]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Victorian Government Gazette . 9 December 1914 . 5531 . State Library of Victoria . 1 July 2024 .
  2. News: Country Roads Board Victoria. Forty-Seventh Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1960 . Country Roads Board of Victoria . Melbourne . 21 November 1960 . 7-8 . Victorian Government Library Service.
  3. Web site: Victoria's Regions . Regional Development Victoria . . 11 August 2021. 16 June 2022.
  4. http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/hist_act/cra1912182.pdf An Act relating to Country Roads
  5. http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/hist_act/hava1924204.pdf An Act to make further provision with respect to Highways and Country Roads Motor Cars and Traction Engines and for other purposes
  6. Web site: State Government of Victoria . Road Management Act 2004 . Government of Victoria . https://web.archive.org/web/20211018233332/https://content.legislation.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-08/04-12aa062%20authorised.pdf . 18 October 2021 . live . 19 October 2021 .
  7. Web site: VicRoads . VicRoads – Register of Public Roads 2024 . PDF . Government of Victoria . 931 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240619001303/https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/-/media/files/documents/utilities/about-vr/acts-and-regulations/head-transport-for-victoria-register-of-public-roads-231031.ashx . 19 June 2024 . live . 19 June 2024 .