The Western Freeway is a 156 kilometre Australian freeway linking the state capital of Victoria (Melbourne) to the major regional city of Ballarat and on to Beaufort. Signed as M8, it used to branch off from the Western Highway (having come originally beyond the Victorian/South Australian border outside Adelaide) just outside Beaufort, and now ends officially to Melbourne's freeway network via the Western Ring Road, in the middle western suburbs of Melbourne. Both the freeway and Western Highway beyond Ballarat are part of the National Highway network for the Melbourne-Adelaide route.