Maribyrnong Road
{{Short description|Road in Melbourne, Australia}}
{{Use Australian English|date=March 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox Australian road
| type = Road
| urban = yes
| road_name = Maribyrnong Road
| state = vic
| length = 2.2
| route = {{plainlist|
- {{AUshield|S|38}} Metro Route 38 {{small|(1965–present)
Entire route}} - Concurrencies:
- {{AUshield|S|37}} Metro Route 37 {{small|(1965–present)
(through western Moonee Ponds)}}
}}
| direction_a = West
| direction_b = East
| end_a = {{AUshield|S|37|S|38}} Raleigh Road
{{small|Moonee Ponds, Melbourne}}
| end_b = {{AUshield|S|38}} Ormond Road
{{small|Ascot Vale, Melbourne}}
| exits = {{plainlist|
- {{AUshield|S|37}} Orford Street
- {{AUshield|S|35}} Ascot Vale Road
- Mount Alexander Road}}
| coordinates_a = {{coord|-37.770107|144.901597|type:landmark_region:AU-VIC|display=inline}}
| coordinates_b = {{coord|-37.772721|144.926933|type:landmark_region:AU-VIC|display=inline}}
| pushpin_label_position_a = left
| pushpin_label_position_b = right
| alternative_location_map=Australia Victoria metropolitan Melbourne
| through = {{VICcity|Moonee Ponds|Ascot Vale}}
}}
Maribyrnong Road is a major road in northwestern Melbourne, Australia. Named after the Maribyrnong River, the road forms the boundary between the suburbs of Moonee Ponds and Ascot Vale for its entire length. It runs almost exactly east–west across the City of Moonee Valley, from the Maribyrnong River to Mount Alexander Road, another major road that links the city centre with the airport.
Route
Maribyrnong Road starts at the eastern end of the Raleigh Road bridge over the Maribyrnong River and heads east as a four-lane, single-carriageway road, crossing the Craigieburn railway line, and supporting surface trams tracks until the intersection with Ascot Vale Road, where they turn north. The road continues a short distance east until it ends at the intersection with Mount Alexander Road; the road continues east as Ormond Road.
Melbourne tram route 82 runs east from the Raleigh Road bridge, to turn north along Ascot Vale Road, with the route 57 tram also sharing the tracks before turning south along Union Road.
History
The Raleigh Road bridge, crossing the Maribyrnong River easterly and connecting directly to the western end of Maribyrnong Road, replaced two older bridges. Previously, road and tram traffic crossed the river on separate bridges: the former Raleigh Road bridge on a dog-leg alignment just to the north of the current bridge for vehicular traffic (designed by John Monash) dating from 1911,{{cite web |title=The Engineering Enterprise of (Sir) John Monash |url=http://www.aholgate.com/girdertexts/marib.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313075502/http://www.aholgate.com/girdertexts/marib.html |archivedate=13 March 2021 |url-status=live |access-date=11 November 2021 }} and a timber trestle bridge solely for trams crossing the river on a direct route dating from 1940, to serve the explosives factories on the western side of the Maribyrnong during WWII.{{cite news |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11324477 |title=Maribyrnong Tram Extension |newspaper=The Argus |location=Melbourne |date=1 October 1940 |access-date=11 November 2021 |page=10 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} While the trestle bridge was originally built only for trams, a {{convert|2.25|ft|m|adj=on}} gangway was bolted to the tram sleepers for pedestrian access, providing a {{convert|100|yd|m|adj=on}} short-cut from the neighbouring bridge for motorists (which had only one footpath).{{cite news |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/244340670 |title=Schoolboys Use Bridge As Short-Cut |newspaper=The Herald |location=Melbourne |date=10 November 1950 |access-date=11 November 2021 |page=3 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} However, the council pushed for a replacement due to safety concerns, after reports of pedestrians falling through the trestles and drowning.{{cite news |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/74982438 |title=Life Lost from Dangerous Bridge |newspaper=Sunshine Advocate |location=Melbourne |date=17 November 1950 |access-date=11 November 2021 |page=3 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} Construction started in 1964,{{cite news |url=https://vgls.sdp.sirsidynix.net.au/client/search/asset/1286190 |title=Country Roads Board Victoria. Fifty-Second Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1965 |newspaper=Country Roads Board of Victoria |location=Melbourne |date=2 December 1965 |pages=39, 68–9 |publisher=Victorian Government Library Service}} with the present-day bridge built in place of the old tram bridge, one abutment at a time, to in order to maintain tram services during construction,{{cite news |url=https://vgls.sdp.sirsidynix.net.au/client/search/asset/1286192 |title=Country Roads Board Victoria. Fifty-Fourth Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1967 |newspaper=Country Roads Board of Victoria |location=Melbourne |date=12 January 1968 |pages=20, 68–9 |publisher=Victorian Government Library Service}} and the road bridge demolished afterwards. The new bridge, with seven spans {{convert|478|ft|m}} long, carrying a roadway {{convert|50|ft|m}} between kerbs with two {{convert|7|ft|m}} footpaths, opened in 1967. A vestigial road alignment leading to the former Raleigh Road bridge survives as Anglers Way,{{google maps |url=https://www.google.com.au/maps/dir/-37.7694689,144.8990614/-37.7695214,144.9012545/@-37.7696682,144.8998365,19z/data=!4m2!4m1!3e0 |title=Anglers Way |access-date=11 November 2021 }} on the western side of the river just to the north of the current bridge.
Maribyrnong Road was signed as Metropolitan Route 38 between Moonee Ponds and Ascot Vale in 1965. Metropolitan Route 37 runs concurrent along Maribyrnong Road from the Raleigh Road bridge over the Maribyrnong River to Orford Street 200m to the east.
The passing of the Road Management Act 2004{{cite web |author=State Government of Victoria |title=Road Management Act 2004 |url=https://content.legislation.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-08/04-12aa062%20authorised.pdf |publisher=Government of Victoria |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018233332/https://content.legislation.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-08/04-12aa062%20authorised.pdf |archivedate=18 October 2021 |url-status=live |access-date=19 October 2021 }} granted the responsibility of overall management and development of Victoria's major arterial roads to VicRoads: in 2004, VicRoads re-declared the road as part of Ascot Vale-Keilor Road (Arterial #5864), beginning at the Maribyrnong River and ending at Mount Alexander Road in Ascot Vale.{{cite web |author=VicRoads |title=VicRoads – Register of Public Roads 2024 |url=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 |format=PDF |publisher=Government of Victoria |pages=780 |archiveurl=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 |archivedate=19 June 2024 |url-status=live |access-date=19 June 2024 }} The road is still presently known (and signposted) as Maribyrnong Road along its entire length.
Due to the increasing amount of pedestrian and bicycle traffic over the Raleigh Road bridge, a $2.7 million project to widen the paths to 3 metres on each side of the bridge was started early January 2021, completed nearly two months later at the end of February 2021.{{cite web |author=VicRoads |title=Raleigh Road Bridge shared user path upgrade, Maribyrnong |url=https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/planning-and-projects/melbourne-road-projects/raleigh-road-bridge-maribyrnong |publisher=Government of Victoria |access-date=11 November 2021 }}
Major intersections
Maribyrnong Road is entirely contained within the City of Moonee Valley local government area.
{{AUSinttop|noLGA=yes|location_ref=|length_ref=}}
{{VICint
|location_special=Maribyrnong River
|km=0.0
|uspan=2
|bridge=Raleigh Road Bridge
}}
{{VICint
|location_special={{VICcity|Moonee Ponds}}–{{VICcity|Ascot Vale}} boundary
|lspan=8
|km=none
|type=trans
|road={{AUshield|S|37|S|38}} Raleigh Road (Metro Routes 37/38){{VICcity|p=on|Maribyrnong|Sunshine|Williamstown}}
|notes=Western terminus of road and concurrency with Metro Route 37
Metro Routes 37 and 38 continue west over bridge along Raleigh Road
}}
{{VICint
|km=0.2
|type=concur
|road={{AUshield|S|37}} Orford Street (Metro Route 37 north){{VICcity|p=on|Essendon|Essendon Fields}}
Walter Street (south){{VICcity|p=on|Ascot Vale}}
|notes=Eastern terminus of concurrency with Metro Route 37
}}
{{VICint
|km=0.3
|road=Epsom Road (south){{VICcity|p=on|Flemington|North Melbourne}}
Scotia Street (north){{VICcity|p=on|Moonee Ponds}}
|notes=
}}
{{VICint
|km=1.3
|road=Union Road{{VICcity|p=on|Flemington|Moonee Ponds}}
|notes=
}}
{{VICint
|km=1.7
|bridge=Craigieburn railway line
|notes=
}}
{{VICint
|km=2.0
|road={{AUshield|S|35}} Ascot Vale Road (Metro Route 35){{VICcity|p=on|Broadmeadows|Flemington|Williamstown}}
|notes=
}}
{{VICint
|km=2.2
|uspan=2
|road=Mount Alexander Road{{VICcity|p=on|Strathmore|Essendon|North Melbourne}}
|notes=
}}
{{VICint
|km=none
|type=trans
|road={{AUshield|S|38}} Ormond Road (Metro Route 38){{VICcity|p=on|Fitzroy North|Fairfield}}
|notes=Eastern terminus of road, Metro Route 38 continues east along Ormond Road
}}
{{Jctbtm|keys=concur,trans}}
References
{{reflist}}
See also
{{portal-inline|Australian Roads}}
{{Road infrastructure in Melbourne}}