Bass Highway (Victoria)

The Bass Highway[2][3] is an 87 kilometre highway in Victoria, Australia, branching off the South Gippsland Highway at the township of Lang Lang and running south, along the eastern shore of Western Port, to Anderson (and the turn-off to Phillip Island). The Bass Highway continues easterly to Kilcunda, Wonthaggi and Inverloch, then turns north-easterly to rejoin the South Gippsland Highway at Leongatha. It was named due to its proximity to the Bass Strait.

Bass Highway

Bass Highway (Victoria) is located in Victoria
West end
West end
East end
East end
Coordinates
General information
TypeHighway
Length87 km (54 mi)[1]
Route number(s)
  • M420 (1998–present)
    (Lang Lang–Bass)
  • B460 (1998–present)
    (Bass–Leongatha)
Former
route number
  • A420 (1998–2013)
    (Grantville–Anderson)
  • State Route 181 (1986–1998)
    Entire route
Major junctions
West end South Gippsland Highway
Lang Lang, Victoria
 
East end Strzelecki Highway
Leongatha, Victoria
Location(s)
Major settlementsGrantville, Kilcunda, Inverloch
Highway system

History

The passing of the Highways and Vehicles Act of 1924[4] through the Parliament of Victoria provided for the declaration of State Highways, roads two-thirds financed by the State government through the Country Roads Board (later VicRoads). The Bass Highway was declared a State Highway in the 1947/48 financial year,[5] from the South Gippsland Highway near Nyora via Anderson, and Dalyston to Wonthaggi (for a total of 30 miles); before this declaration, the roads were referred to as (Main) Coast Road, Anderson-Dalyston Road and Dalyston-Wonthaggi Road.[6] In the 1959/60 financial year, another section from Wonthaggi to Inverloch was added,[7] along the former Inverloch-Wonthaggi Road.[7] With the passing of the Transport Act of 1983[8] (itself an evolution from the original Highways and Vehicles Act of 1924), it was extended east along the former Inverloch-Leongatha Road to Leongatha in December 1990.[9]

The Bass Highway was signed as State Route 181 between Lang Lang and Wonthaggi in 1986,[10] later extended with the road to Leongatha in 1990. With Victoria's conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in the late 1990s, this was replaced by route M420 between Lang Lang and Grantville, A420 between Grantville and the Phillip Island turn-off at Anderson, and B460 between Anderson and Leongatha. A duplication project improving the quality of the road upgraded the A420 allocation to M420 in 2013, now running the entire way between Lang Lang and a new link road to Phillip Island in south-western Bass.[11]

The passing of the Road Management Act 2004[12] granted the responsibility of overall management and development of Victoria's major arterial roads to VicRoads: in 2004, VicRoads re-declared the road as Bass Highway (Arterial #6710) between South Gippsland Highway in Lang Lang and Leongatha.[13]

Duplication towards Phillip Island

A project to duplicate the Bass Highway from Lang Lang to Anderson (east of Phillip Island) commenced in the late 1990s, addressing the high traffic demand of the route and recent crash history. It was constructed in seven stages, with Stage 7 of the project from Woolmer Road to Phillip Island Road completed in 2013.

The benefits of this project include:

  • reduced travel times to Phillip Island which hosts some of Victoria's favourite tourist and sporting attractions
  • eliminating the roundabout at Anderson, and providing a direct route between Melbourne and Phillip Island
  • bypassing a winding section of Phillip Island Road and providing two added lanes along Bass Highway. This will help address the crash history in this area. There have been 13 crashes in a recent five-year period.
  • an overpass, which will be constructed near Netherwood will provide smoother and safer movements at the connection of the Bass Highway and the new link road, for Phillip Island and Wonthaggi-bound traffic
  • helping traffic to exit Phillip Island after major events such as the MotoGP

The project was completed in 2013.[11]

Major intersections

LGALocation[1][13]km[1]miDestinationsNotes
CardiniaLang Lang0.00.0 South Gippsland Highway (M420 north/A440 east)  Dandenong, Melbourne, LeongathaCombined partial Y interchange and at-grade intersection for complete access
Western terminus of highway, route M420 continues north along South Gippsland Highway
Bass CoastThe Gurdies9.96.2Gurdies–St Helier Road  Woodleigh
Grantville15.09.3Grantville–Glen Alvie Road (east)  Grantville
Pier Road (west)  Kernot, Almurta
Traffic light intersection
CorinellaGlen Forbes boundary19.111.9 Corinella Road (C436 west)  Corinella, Coronet Bay
Glen Forbes Road (east)  Glen Forbes
Bass28.817.9 Phillip Island Road (B420)  Phillip IslandPartial Y interchange: south-westbound exit and north-westbound entrance only
Route transition: southern terminus of route M420, northern terminus of route B460
Anderson31.019.3 Old Phillip Island Road (C439)  Phillip IslandRoundabout
Wonthaggi47.929.8 Korumburra Road (C437)  Kongwak, Korumburra
48.330.0Graham Street (west), to Cape Paterson Road (C435)  Cape Paterson
McKenzie Street (south)  Wonthaggi
Roundabout
Inverloch59.937.2 Korumburra–Inverloch Road (C441)  Korumburra, Inverloch
60.937.8 Williams Street (C435 south)  Inverloch, Cape Paterson
Inverloch–Venus Bay Road (C442 east)  Venus Bay
Roundabout
South GippslandLeongatha86.453.7 South Gippsland Highway (A440 southeast, northwest)  Melbourne, FosterRoundabout
Strzelecki Highway (B460)  MorwellEastern terminus of highway; route B460 continues east along Strzelecki Highway
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

  1. Google (21 February 2019). "Bass Highway" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  2. South Gippsland Freeway, South Gippsland Highway, Bass Highway & Phillip Island Road (M/A/B420), Expressway - Paul Rands. Retrieved on 8 September 2013.
  3. http://expressway.paulrands.com/gallery/roads/vic/numbered/alphanumeric/b460/, Expressway - Paul Rands. Retrieved on 8 September 2013.
  4. State of Victoria, An Act to make further provision with respect to Highways and Country Roads Motor Cars and Traction Engines and for other purposes 30 December 1924
  5. "Country Roads Board Victoria. Thirty-Fifth Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1948". Country Roads Board of Victoria. Melbourne: Victorian Government Library Service. 1 November 1948. p. 7.
  6. "Country Roads Board Victoria. Twenty-Sixth Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1939". Country Roads Board of Victoria. Melbourne: Victorian Government Library Service. 10 November 1939. p. 87.
  7. "Country Roads Board Victoria. Forty-Seventh Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1960". Country Roads Board of Victoria. Melbourne: Victorian Government Library Service. 21 November 1960. pp. 7–8.
  8. State of Victoria, An Act to Re-enact with Amendments the Law relating to Transport including the Law with respect to Railways, Roads and Tramways... 23 June 1983
  9. "Victorian Government Gazette". State Library of Victoria. 19 December 1990. pp. 3783, 3789. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  10. "Road Construction Authority of Victoria. Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 1986". Road Construction Authority of Victoria. Melbourne: Victorian Government Library Service. 24 November 1986. p. 42.
  11. Bass Highway Duplication – Lang Lang to Anderson Archived 26 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine, VicRoads. Retrieved on 8 September 2013.
  12. State Government of Victoria. "Road Management Act 2004" (PDF). Government of Victoria. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 October 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  13. VicRoads. "VicRoads – Register of Public Roads (Part A) 2015" (PDF). Government of Victoria. pp. 1017–9. Archived from the original on 1 May 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2021.

See also

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