Australian highways, freeways and motorways

[Great Lakes Roads]

A great video on why Australia does not use route numbers.

[Rothman]

"Infamous Route 66"?

[mrose]

I've noticed around Melbourne that the National shields are disappearing; now the Hume and the Ring Road are just signed as M31 and M80 in regular text like the other freeways.

Nobody - and I mean nobody - in Australia refers to highways by the number, or at least in Victoria.

It's the Calder, the Hume, the Tulla (Tullamarine), the West Gate, the Eastern, the City Link....

[Chris]

Nobody - and I mean nobody - in Australia refers to highways by the number, or at least in Victoria.

Judging by the video, only the M-numbers around Sydney seem to be used more frequently.

It's also interesting that Highway 1 was never completed between Queensland and the NT. But they never moved the number south to the Barkly Highway.

[vdeane]

Nobody - and I mean nobody - in Australia refers to highways by the number, or at least in Victoria.

Judging by the video, only the M-numbers around Sydney seem to be used more frequently.

It's also interesting that Highway 1 was never completed between Queensland and the NT. But they never moved the number south to the Barkly Highway.

Google shows a road there.  Not a good one, but still.  Judging by the signed control cities in street view, it at least appears to be a real one, though.

[ClassicHasClass]

Judging by the video, only the M-numbers around Sydney seem to be used more frequently.

Ish. When I'm down under with my wife, pretty much every highway is by name. A41 goes through her town (former National Route 41), but to everyone there it's the Olympic Highway. No one references the number even though NSW signs it well. This was also my impression in Melbourne when we visited her cousin (agreeing with @mrose).

I agree that the use of the M-numbers in Sydney are more common than numbers elsewhere, and I imagine the Metroads in Brisbane would be the same, but you'll still hear Pacific Motorway, Great Western Hwy, Hume Mwy, WestConnex, etc. more often than M1, M4, M31, etc.

[Great Lakes Roads]

The M12 motorway in western Sydney is now open, and it's FREE!