Naming the roads within our community
When is a Road a Boulevard, a Loop, or a Glade?
Naming roads, both the road name and the type of road e.g. Swanston Street, is a process that creates a minor legacy. The name will live on long after its construction and become a subtle feature of the local community.
In Victoria there are 12 principles for choosing the name, the “Swanston” part, and 54 options for the type of road, including cul-de-sacs and pedestrian-only roads.
Locations matter
Names must not duplicate existing roads with 5 kilometres for metro areas, 15 kilometres in regional urban and 30 kilometres for rural or remote locations.
There might be plenty of High Streets and Station Streets, but you won’t find them too close together.
What you won’t see in new road names
Cardinal directions are not allowed. Roads names with north, east, south or west in them are a thing of the past.
As are destination-to-destination names, names longer than 25 characters, three-word names and numbers.
Applications with the definitive article “the” in them, hyphens or commercial names will also not be seen again.
Defining the type of local roads in Modeina
With definitions from the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning we can help explain some of the types of roads in Modeina.
Carmine Circuit - A roadway enclosing an area.
Samara Road - A place where one may ride; an open way or public passage for vehicles, persons and animals; or, a roadway forming a means of communication between one place and another.
Montmarte Boulevard - A wide roadway, well paved, usually ornamented with trees and grass plots.
Carnaby Grove - A roadway that features a group of trees standing together.
Yves Close - A short enclosed roadway.
Belvedere Crescent - A crescent-shaped thoroughfare, especially where both ends join the same thoroughfare.
Zachary Street - A public roadway in a town, city or urban area; especially a paved thoroughfare with footpaths and buildings along one or both sides.
Get more information about naming roads, features and locations in Victoria by visiting Geographic Names Victoria.
A very short history of roads in Victoria
The first road in Victoria dates back to 1801.
It was constructed on Phillip Island by commander John Murry, working for the Government of New South Wales, as the state of Victoria hadn’t yet been recognised.
In the years after 1851, when the land area was know to European settlers as the Colony of Victoria, the Gold Rush was in full swing. Roads became a greater priority for everyone in charge.
Though the Colony’s attention soon turned to train travel as the primary means of transport development so road construction and maintenance fell back to local government.
Following the 1897 arrival of Melbourne’s first car international manufacturers would soon be distributing to Victorians igniting a keen interest in the State’s developing road network.
Facts about Victoria’s road network from VicRoads
- Approximately 150,000 kilometres of roads are open for general traffic (from major freeways to minor local roads).
- Approximately 50,000 kilometres of other minor roads and tracks in parks and forests exist in Victoria.
- Freeways and arterial roads managed by VicRoads total approximately 23,000 kilometres
- Almost all goods in the metropolitan area and more than 80 per cent of goods in country Victoria are transported by road.
Sources:
https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/about-vicroads/our-history
https://www.drive.com.au/news/the-story-of-australia-s-first-car/