Length:

11 km

Termini:

Eastern: City Rd (MR20 / TD2) and Clarendon St (unnumbered), Southbank

Western: Geelong Rd (MR83), Somerville Rd (MR39) and Roberts St (unnumbered), Yarraville

Miscellaneous:

Declared Names: Somerville Rd, Docklands Hwy, Hopkins-Whitehall Rd, Dynon Rd, Spencer St and Clarendon St

Suburbs, Towns & Localities Along Route:

Yarraville, Footscray, West Melbourne, Melbourne and Southbank

Current: 50

Multiplexed with: 35 2

Road Authority Internal Classification: ¹

Arterial 5035 (West Melbourne)

Arterial 5061 (West Melbourne to Southbank)

Arterial 5318 (Arterial 5318)

Arterial 5880 (Footscray to West Melbourne)

Arterial 6120 (Yarraville to Footscray)

General Information:

Metropolitan Route 50 links the Melbourne CBD with the city' inner western suburbs. The route services commercial, industrial and residential areas. The route features 3 historically significant water crossings; Hopetoun Bridge over Maribyrnong River, Dynon Bridge over Moonee Ponds Creek and Spencer St Bridge over the Yarra River.

Metropolitan Route 35, for 1.6 km, between Yarraville and Footscray.

Tourist Drive 2, for 750 m, between Melbourne and Southbank.

1863: The first road bridge over the Saltwater River (later Maribyrnong River) was built. It was a wooden construction with a moveable centre that could be pulled back to allow the passage of larger ships. ²

1903: Construction of a steel, concrete and bluestone bridge over Maribyrnong River (formerly Saltwater River). This bridge was named Hopetoun Bridge. ²

1929: Construction commenced on the Spencer Street Bridge over the Yarra River by the Victorian Railways Construction Branch. At the time The Spencer Street Bridge was the first major new crossing to be created over the lower Yarra in Melbourne after a considerable lull in such projects since 1900. ³

1969: Hopetoun Bridge replaced by current structure. ²

1989: Metropolitan Route 50 introduced. ⁴

May 2023: Demolition of pedestrian path along Dynon Road Bridge as part of bridge widening and the works for the West Gate Tunnel Project. ⁵

Southbank to Yarraville

NEW Intersection Directional Sign:

ID sign at the corner of Spencer St (MR50) and Collins St, Melbourne, December 2019.

Image © Terry Siva

Click or tap here for the continuation of Somerville Road as Metropolitan Route 39

¹ VIC Government, Department of Transport and Planning Road Maintenance Category - Road List Version: 2, 29 February 2024.
² Melbourne's Living Museum of the West, Footscray Wharves and Environs, Bridges.
³ VIC Government, Heritage Council Victoria, Victorian Heritage Database Report, Spencer Street Bridge, 03 April 2008.
⁴ Viseth Uch.
⁵ VIC Government, Victoria' Big Build, West Gate Tunnel Project, Dynon Road Bridge Works notice, 01 May 2023