Hopkins Highway

Hopkins Highway is a short highway in south-western Victoria, Australia, serving to link Hamilton Highway at Mortlake with Princes Highway (and the western end of Great Ocean Road nearby) at the port city of Warrnambool. It is named after the Hopkins River, with which it runs in close proximity.

Hopkins Highway Victoria
North end South end
Coordinates	38°4′S 142°48′E (North end) 38°23′S 142°29′E (South end)
General information
Type	Highway
Length	48.5 km (30 mi)[1]
Gazetted	September 1914 (as Main Road)[2] December 1990 (as State Highway)[3]
Route number(s)	B120 (1998–present)
Former route number	State Route 104 (1990–1998)
Major junctions
North end	Hamilton Highway Mortlake, Victoria
	Princes Highway
South end	Banyan Street Warrnambool, Victoria
Location(s)
Major settlements	Ellerslie, Purnim, Bushfield
Highway system
Highways in Australia National Highway • Freeways in Australia Highways in Victoria

Route

Hopkins Highway commences at the intersection with Hamilton Highway on the western edge of Mortlake and runs in a south-westerly direction as a dual-lane, single-carriageway road, mostly following the course of Hopkins River, crossing it in Ellerslie. It eventually terminates at the intersection with Princes Highway in the centre of Warrnambool.

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. Mortlake-Warrnambool Road was declared a Main Road from Mortlake to Warrnambool.^[2]

The passing of the Transport Act of 1983^[5] (itself an evolution from the original Highways and Vehicles Act of 1924^[6]) provided for the declaration of State Highways, roads two-thirds financed by the State government through the Road Construction Authority (later VicRoads). Hopkins Highway was declared a State Highway in December 1990,^[3] from Mortlake to Warrnambool, subsuming the original declaration of Mortlake-Warrnambool Road as a Main Road.

Hopkins Highway was signed as State Route 104 between Mortlake and Warrnambool in 1990; with Victoria's conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in the late 1990s, it was replaced by route B120.

The passing of the Road Management Act 2004^[7] granted the responsibility of overall management and development of Victoria's major arterial roads to VicRoads: in 2004, VicRoads re-declared the road as Hopkins Highway (Arterial #6010) between Hamilton Highway in Mortlake and Princes Highway at Warrnambool.^[8]

Upgrades

• 1867 – Ellerslie Bridge, a large timber and masonry bridge over the Hopkins River at Ellerslie, at the crossing place then known as Letts Ford; it is Victoria's second-oldest positively dated timber-beam road bridge, originally opened 30 May 1867^[9][10]
• 1967 – Ellerslie Bridge replacement, a 271 feet (83 m) five-span prestressed concrete beam and reinforced concrete bridge, constructed adjacent to, and replacing, the timber version at 100 years old^[10][9]

Major intersections

LGA	Location[1][8]	km[1]	mi	Destinations	Notes
Moyne	Mortlake	0.0	0.0	Hamilton Highway (B140) – Geelong, Hamilton	Northern terminus of highway and route B120
	Ellerslie	12.8	8.0	Ellerslie–Panmure Road – Panmure
Hopkins River		13.1	8.1	Ellerslie Bridge
Moyne	Ballangeich	16.9	10.5	Hexham–Ballangeich Road – Hexham
Warrnambool	Bushfield	41.4	25.7	Bridge Road (C169) – Woodford
	Warrnambool	48.5	30.1	Princes Highway (A1) – Portland, Geelong
				Banyan Street – Warrnambool	Southern terminus of highway and route B120
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Route transition

See also

Australian Roads portal

• Highways in Australia
• Highways in Victoria

References

1. "Hopkins Highway" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
2. "Victorian Government Gazette". State Library of Victoria. 7 October 1914. p. 4537. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
3. "Victorian Government Gazette". State Library of Victoria. 19 December 1990. pp. 3783, 3787, 3793. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
4. An Act relating to Country Roads State of Victoria, 23 December 1912
5. An Act to Re-enact with Amendments the Law relating to Transport including the Law with respect to Railways, Roads and Tramways... State of Victoria, 23 June 1983
6. An Act to make further provision with respect to Highways and Country Roads Motor Cars and Traction Engines and for other purposes State of Victoria, 30 December 1924
7. State Government of Victoria. "Road Management Act 2004" (PDF). Government of Victoria. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 October 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
8. VicRoads. "VicRoads – Register of Public Roads 2024" (PDF). Government of Victoria. p. 891. Archived from the original on 19 June 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
9. "Ellerslie Bridge". Victorian Heritage Database. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
10. "Country Roads Board Victoria. Fifty-Fifth Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1968". Country Roads Board of Victoria. Melbourne: Victorian Government Library Service. 6 January 1969. p. 19.