# Melba Highway

Melba Highway is a semi-rural highway that connects the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne to the town of Yea, in Victoria's Upper Goulburn region. It is named after Dame Nellie Melba, a famed Australian opera singer of the early 20th century, whose former country estate lies at the southern end of the highway in Coldstream.

## Route

Melba Highway commences at the intersection of High Street (Goulburn Valley Highway) and Station Street in Yea and heads south as a dual-lane, single-carriageway road, passing through forest and open agricultural land and mostly following the course of Yea River until it reaches Glenburn, where the highway descends down a steep grade to Dixons Creek at the bottom of the Great Dividing Range, through a road junction that links the highway with the nearby towns of Kinglake and Toolangi, a former home of Australian author C. J. Dennis. It continues south and then west along the bypass around Yarra Glen, then continues south, passing through the alluvial plains of the Yarra River and the rich Yarra Valley vineyards, before eventually passing the Melba Estate just before terminating at the intersection with Maroondah Highway in Coldstream.

### Speed Limits

* Coldstream – Yarra Glen 80 km/h
* Yarra Glen 50 km/h
* Yarra Glen – Glenburn via Yarra Glen Bypass 100 km/h
* Glenburn 80 km/h
* Glenburn – Yea 100 km/h
* Yea 60 km/h

## History

The passing of the Country Roads Act of 1912 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. Yarra Glen Road was declared a Main Road, from the intersection with Main Healesville Road in Coldstream to Yarra Glen, on 20 October 1913, and Yea-Glenburn Road from Yea to Glenburn was declared a Main Road on 30 September 1914.
The passing of the Country Roads Act of 1958 (itself an evolution from the original Highways and Vehicles Act of 1924) provided for the declaration of State Highways, roads two-thirds financed by the State government through the Country Roads Board. Melba Highway was declared a State Highway on 9 May 1983, from Yea via Yarra Glen to Coldstream, subsuming the original declarations of Yarra Glen Road and Yea-Glenburn Road as Main Roads; before this declaration, the road were also referred to as Yarra Glen-Yea Road.
Melba Highway was signed as State Route 153 between Yea and Coldstream in 1986; with Victoria's conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in the late 1990s this was replaced with route B300.
The passing of the Road Management Act 2004 granted the responsibility of overall management and development of Victoria's major arterial roads to VicRoads: in 2004, VicRoads re-declared Melba Highway (Arterial #6300) between Yea and Coldstream.
The Yarra Glen bypass which opened in May 2010 diverts trucks and other through vehicles. Works also saw the Bell Street/Melba Highway roundabout created along with a new level crossing through the roundabout for the Yarra Valley Railway.

## Major Intersections and Towns

| LGA | Location | km | mi | Destinations | Notes |
| Murrindindi | Yea | 0.0 | 0.0 | Goulburn Valley Highway (B340) – Seymour, Alexandra | Northern terminus of highway Route B300 continues east along Goulburn Valley Highway |
| Yea River | Yea River | 21.2 | 13.2 | Bridge name unknown | Bridge name unknown |
| Murrindindi | Castella | 40.0 | 24.9 | Healesville–Kinglake Road (C724 east) – Healesville | Concurrency with route C724 |
| Murrindindi | Castella | 40.1 | 24.9 | Healesville–Kinglake Road (C724 west) – Kinglake | Concurrency with route C724 |
| Yarra Ranges | Yarra Glen | 54.3 | 33.7 | Bell Street (C731) – Yarra Glen, Eltham | Former alignment before Yarra Glen bypass built |
| Yarra Ranges | Yarra Glen | 55.6 | 34.5 | Healesville–Yarra Glen Road (C726 east) – Healesville | Concurrency with route C726 |
| Yarra Ranges | Yarra Glen | 57.6 | 35.8 | Bell Street (C726 west) – Yarra Glen, Eltham | Concurrency with route C726 |
| Yarra Valley tourist railway line ||
| Yarra River | Yarra River | 57.8 | 35.9 | Vasey Houghton Bridge | Vasey Houghton Bridge |
| Yarra Ranges | Coldstream | 64.9 | 40.3 | Maroondah Highway (B360) – Healesville, Alexandra | Southern terminus of highway Route B300 continues south along Maroondah Highway |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus Route transition ||||||