Omeo Highway

Highway in Victoria

North end

South end

Coordinates

36°12′56″S 147°14′20″E / 36.215581°S 147.238879°E / -36.215581; 147.238879 (North end)
37°06′02″S 147°36′04″E / 37.100524°S 147.601016°E / -37.100524; 147.601016 (South end)

General informationTypeHighwayLength162.8 km (101 mi)^[3]GazettedFebruary 1914 (as Main Road)^[1]
February 1925 (as State Highway)^[2]Route number(s)

C543 (1998–present)Former
route number

State Route 195 (1986–1996)
(Tallangatta–Bairnsdale)Major junctionsNorth end

Murray Valley Highway
Tallangatta, Victoria

Benambra–Corryong RoadSouth end

Great Alpine Road
Omeo, VictoriaLocation(s)Major settlementsEskdale, Mitta Mitta, Anglers RestHighway system

Highways in Australia
National Highway • Freeways in Australia
Highways in Victoria

Omeo Highway is a 163 kilometre rural highway in eastern Victoria, Australia, connecting Tallangatta on Lake Hume in north-east Victoria to Bairnsdale in East Gippsland,^[4] over parts of the Victorian Alps.

Route

Omeo Highway commences at the intersection with Murray Valley Highway in Tallangatta and heads in a southerly direction as a two-lane, single carriageway rural highway, mostly following the course of Mitta Mitta River through Eskdale until it reaches Mitta Mitta, where it starts to climb the Victorian Alps through the Alpine National Park, before it eventually descends into the Omeo Valley, mostly following the course of Livingstone Creek until eventually terminating at the intersection with Great Alpine Road in Omeo.

Conditions in the mountains can change quickly and be harsh, particularly during winter. Snow is not uncommon in the winter season and may cause the road to be closed for short periods. There are no substantial settlements between Mitta Mitta and Omeo, and therefore fuel is unavailable. There is no mobile phone communication from Mitta Mitta to the south of Anglers Rest, although there is an emergency roadside phone at the base of Mount Wills. There is some CB repeater coverage including UHF Ch1 (Mitta), and other traffic and log trucks on Ch 40. Police and ambulance services are available at Mitta Mitta and Omeo.

As probably one of the most impressive scenic routes in Australia, there are excellent views along most of the road, making it very popular with tourists. Due to the winding nature of the road along Omeo Highway, it is a common place for large groups of motorcycles to go riding. The Victorian Government completed the sealing of the road in March 2014 and the official opening of the completed highway took place at "The Walnuts" in May 2014.

There are some interesting stories of the highway that can be downloaded.^[5]

History

Within Victoria, the passing of the Country Roads Act of 1912^[6] 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. Bairnsdale-Bruthen Road was declared a Main Road from Bairnsdale to Bruthen on 2 February 1914,^[1] and Bruthen-Omeo Road was declared a Main Road from Bruthen through Swifts Creek to Omeo on 23 March 1914.^[7]

The passing of the Highways and Vehicles Act of 1924^[8] provided for the declaration of State Highways, roads two-thirds financed by the State government through the Country Roads Board. Omeo Highway was declared a State Highway on 11 February 1925 - Victoria's first gazetted State Highway^[2] - cobbled from a collection of roads from Bairnsdale through Bruthen, Omeo, and Tallangatta to Wodonga, subsuming the original declaration of Bairnsdale-Bruthen Road and Bruthen-Omeo Road as Main Roads. The northern end of the highway was truncated back to Tallangatta, with the former alignment running between Wodonga and Tallangatta subsumed into Murray Valley Highway on its declaration a few years later in 1932.^[9]

Omeo Highway was signed as State Route 195 between Tallangatta and Bairnsdale in 1986. The southern end of the highway was truncated back to Omeo, with the former alignment between Omeo and Bairnsdale subsumed into the Great Alpine Road on its declaration in 1996. With Victoria's conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in the late 1990s, the remainder of the highway was assigned route C543.

The passing of the Road Management Act 2004^[10] 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 Omeo Highway (Arterial #6560), from Tallangatta to Omeo.^[4]

Major intersections

LGA	Location^[3]^[4]	km^[3]	mi	Destinations	Notes
Towong	Tallangatta	0.0	0.0	Murray Valley Highway (B400) – Tallangatta, Wodonga, Corryong, Jindabyne	Northern terminus of highway and route C543
Mitta Mitta River		25.1	15.6	Peters Bridge
Mitta Mitta River		27.0	16.8	Ellis Bridge
Towong	Tallandoon	27.1	16.8	Lockharts Gap Road (C537) – Wodonga
	Eskdale	39.3	24.4	Mitta North Road – Eskdale
	Mitta Mitta	52.6	32.7	Dartmouth Road (C544) – Dartmouth
Big River		118.7	73.8	Bridge (unknown name)
East Gippsland	Glen Valley	122.8	76.3	Bogong High Plains Road – Falls Creek, Mount Beauty
Bundara River		131.9	82.0	Bridge (unknown name)
Cobungra River		134.1	83.3	Bridge (unknown name)
East Gippsland	Anglers Rest	133.7	83.1	Callaghans Road – Anglers Rest
Livingstone Creek		157.5	97.9	Bridge (unknown name)
East Gippsland	Omeo	158.8	98.7	Benambra–Corryong Road (C545) – Benambra, Corryong
East Gippsland	Omeo	162.8	101.2	Great Alpine Road (B500 northwest, southeast) – Bruthen, Bairnsdale, Mount Hotham, Wangaratta Bilton Street (southwest) – Omeo	Southern terminus of highway and route C543
Route transition

References

^ ^a ^b "Victorian Government Gazette". State Library of Victoria. 18 February 1914. p. 955. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Country Roads Board Victoria. Twelfth Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1925". Country Roads Board of Victoria. Melbourne: Victorian Government Library Service. 31 December 1925. p. 3.
^ ^a ^b ^c Google (19 June 2024). "Omeo Highway" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c VicRoads. "VicRoads – Register of Public Roads 2024" (PDF). Government of Victoria. p. 931. Archived from the original on 19 June 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ An Act relating to Country Roads State of Victoria, 23 December 1912
^ "Victorian Government Gazette". State Library of Victoria. 1 April 1914. p. 1545. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
^ 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
^ "Country Roads Board Victoria. Twentieth Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1933". Country Roads Board of Victoria. Melbourne: Victorian Government Library Service. 10 November 1933. pp. 4, 6.
^ 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.