- Victoria Highway
Infobox Australian Road
road_name = Victoria Highway
route_
route_
route_
photo =
caption =
length = 524
direction = West-East
start =
finish =
est =
through = Kununurra, Victoria River
route =
exits =Duncan Road Victoria Highway is a 524 kilometre highway linking
Great Northern Highway inWestern Australia withStuart Highway in theNorthern Territory . It is a part of the Perth - Darwin National Highway link. It is signed as National Highway 1 and is also a part of the Highway 1 network. It is 555 km long and most of the route – some 470 km – lies within the Northern Territory. In some areas it runs in parallel with the Northern Territory's Victoria River, from which its name originates.History
Originally a series of unformed tracks linking pastoral holdings, the route was developed as a gravel road in the 1950s to aid the beef industry. Improvements took place in the 1960s which tied in with the development of the Ord Irrigation Scheme, which enabled the introduction of
road train s. It was designated as National Highway in 1974 and was fully reconstructed and sealed to a good standard by the early 1990s. The highway serves pastoral, mining and tourism industries, as well as the Ord Irrigation Scheme agricultural development near Kununurra.Tourism
The highway is spectacular, with escarpment ranges, the unique
boab trees and the mighty Victoria River that runs into deep valleys and spectacular gorges. Its eastern terminus is at Katherine which is renowned for Katherine Gorge. In Western Australia, the access road to the Ord River Dam which holds backLake Argyle - Australia's largest artificial lake - is accessed via Victoria Highway just west of the Western Australia / Northern Territory border.Flooding
The highway crosses Victoria River near Timber Creek, and this crossing is particularly flood-prone in the wet season. Water overtopping the bridge can cut the main Western Australia - Northern Territory link for days or even weeks during the November - April rainy period. It is not unheard of for the bridge surface to at times be submerged below 10 metres of floodwaters.
Towns
*
Kununurra, Western Australia
*Timber Creek, Northern Territory
*Katherine, Northern Territory ee also
*
Highways in Australia
*List of highways in Northern Territory
*List of highways in Western Australia References
*cite book | title=The Penguin Australian road atlas, 18th edition | publisher=Penguin Books Australia Ltd. | location=Ringwood, Victoria | year=1999 | id=ISBN 0-670-88570-3
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