Length:

191 km

Termini:

Northern: Princes Highway (A1 / B1), Tailem Bend

Southern: SA-Vic Border near Wolseley

Miscellaneous:

Continues as A8 in Victoria

Suburbs, Towns & Localities Along Route:

Tailem Bend, Coomandook, Yumail, Ki Ki, Coonalpyn, Culburra, Tintinara, Keith, Brimago, Cannawigara, Bordertown and Wolseley

Current: A8

Multiplexed with: B57

Former: A8 8

Road Authority Internal Classification: ¹

07800

General Information:

The Dukes Highway forms part of the main route between Adelaide and Melbourne, and is funded under the Federal Government's Auslink road funding scheme. ²

The Dukes Highway is heavily trafficked by more than 2000 vehicles daily. Around 45 per cent of vehicles are commercial and articulated vehicles. ³

The route is mostly undivided single carriageway with 1 lane in each direction, except for some overtaking lanes.

B57, for 10 km, between Cannawigara and Bordertown.

1985/86: Construction of current alignment between Bordertown and Victorian border. ²

June 2005: Completion of Stage 1 of widening and pavement upgrades, 9 km from the SA-Vic Border. ⁴

4 October 2005: Works in Stage 2 of the Dukes Highway upgrading (approximately eight kilometres from the Wolesley Road intersection to Bordertown) commenced. The works involved repairing failed pavement, improving the overall shape of the road and shoulder sealing. ³

March 2009: Work commences on the installation of safety barriers and guardrails at locations of high risk hazards, including unprotected embankment drop offs, on the Dukes Highway between Tailem Bend and the Victorian border. ⁵

April 2009: Work commences on increasing the length of each of the overtaking lanes from 1.3 kilometres to 1.6 kilometres between Tailem Bend and Keith. ⁶ Work commences on the upgrade of the roadside rest area two kilometres west of Culburra (serving west bound traffic). The upgrades include sufficient capacity to store up to eight B doubles at any one time, amenities (including two separate shelters and bins), a sealed carriageway through the rest area and sealed deceleration and acceleration lanes for entry to and exit from the rest area. ⁷

September 2009: Completion of the installation of safety barriers and guardrails between Tailem Bend and the Victorian border. A total of 4.46 kilometres of wire rope barriers were installed at ten sites and a total of 1.03 kilometres of w-beam guardrails were installed at a further two sites. ⁵

2011: A safety program to remove trees close to the road. The tree clearing established a five to six metre clear zone along both sides of the road. Trees were also removed in preparation for the construction of four new overtaking lanes and an extension to an existing overtaking lane. The tree removals were undertaken at the following locations: 5 kilometres east of Tailem Bend, 5 kilometres west of Coomandook, 2 kilometres west of Tintinara and 17 kilometres west of Bordertown. Trees were also removed between Bordertown and the Victorian border and at a 30 kilometre section near Keith. ⁸

2012: South Australia's first audible road markings installed on Dukes Highway. Also as part of the line-marking works, a 1.2 metre gap between centre lines was provided to allow drivers to recover and return to their lane before they cross into the path of oncoming traffic. A total of 39 kilometres of the centreline treatment was installed; 21 km between Tailem Bend to Coomandook, 5 km between Coomandook to Bordertown and 13 km between Bordertown to the Victorian border. Installation of overtaking lanes; 5 kilometres east of Tailem Bend, 3 kilometres west of Coomandook, 2 kilometres west of Tintinara and 15 kilometres west of Bordertown, plus the addition of two sheltered right turn lanes, located at the Mundulla and Sherwood junctions and pavement reconstruction works between the Pinnaroo turnoff and Meatworks Road junction. ⁹

July 2013: A further 52 kilometres of road widening and audible strips installed along Dukes Highway between Yumali and Bordertown. ¹⁰

February 2014: 250 metre extension of roadside safety barriers, 2 km south east of Tailem Bend on both approaches to the Tailem Bend Overpass on the Dukes Highway. ¹¹

July 2014: Beginning of operation of point-to-point speed cameras in both directions on the 13 kilometre stretch of Dukes Highway between Coonalpyn and Kiki. ¹²

2015: Installation of LED road lighting along the medians on all approaches to the junction with Princes Highway (B1) at Tailem Bend. ¹³