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 | |
|---|---|
  West end East end | |
| Coordinates |
|
| General information | |
| Type | Highway |
| Length | 87 km (54 mi)[1] |
| Route number(s) |
|
| Former route number |
|
| Major junctions | |
| West end |  South Gippsland HighwayLang Lang, Victoria |
| East end |  Strzelecki HighwayLeongatha, Victoria |
| Location(s) | |
| Major settlements | Grantville, 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
| LGA | Location[1][13] | km[1] | mi | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardinia | Lang Lang | 0.0 | 0.0 |  South Gippsland Highway (M420 north/A440 east) – Dandenong, Melbourne, Leongatha | Combined partial Y interchange and at-grade intersection for complete access Western terminus of highway, route M420 continues north along South Gippsland Highway |
| Bass Coast | The Gurdies | 9.9 | 6.2 | Gurdies–St Helier Road – Woodleigh | |
| Grantville | 15.0 | 9.3 | Grantville–Glen Alvie Road (east) – Grantville Pier Road (west) – Kernot, Almurta | Traffic light intersection | |
| Corinella–Glen Forbes boundary | 19.1 | 11.9 |  Corinella Road (C436 west) – Corinella, Coronet BayGlen Forbes Road (east) – Glen Forbes | ||
| Bass | 28.8 | 17.9 |  Phillip Island Road (B420) – Phillip Island | Partial Y interchange: south-westbound exit and north-westbound entrance only Route transition: southern terminus of route M420, northern terminus of route B460 | |
| Anderson | 31.0 | 19.3 |  Old Phillip Island Road (C439) – Phillip Island | Roundabout | |
| Wonthaggi | 47.9 | 29.8 |  Korumburra Road (C437) – Kongwak, Korumburra | ||
| 48.3 | 30.0 | Graham Street (west), to  Cape Paterson Road (C435) – Cape PatersonMcKenzie Street (south) – Wonthaggi | Roundabout | ||
| Inverloch | 59.9 | 37.2 |  Korumburra–Inverloch Road (C441) – Korumburra, Inverloch | ||
| 60.9 | 37.8 | Williams Street (C435 south) – Inverloch, Cape Paterson Inverloch–Venus Bay Road (C442 east) – Venus Bay | Roundabout | ||
| South Gippsland | Leongatha | 86.4 | 53.7 | South Gippsland Highway (A440 southeast, northwest) – Melbourne, Foster | Roundabout |
| Strzelecki Highway (B460) – Morwell | Eastern terminus of highway; route B460 continues east along Strzelecki Highway | ||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| |||||
References
- Google (21 February 2019). "Bass Highway" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
- South Gippsland Freeway, South Gippsland Highway, Bass Highway & Phillip Island Road (M/A/B420), Expressway - Paul Rands. Retrieved on 8 September 2013.
- http://expressway.paulrands.com/gallery/roads/vic/numbered/alphanumeric/b460/, Expressway - Paul Rands. Retrieved on 8 September 2013.
- 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
- "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.
- "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.
- "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.
- 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
- "Victorian Government Gazette". State Library of Victoria. 19 December 1990. pp. 3783, 3789. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
- "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.
- Bass Highway Duplication – Lang Lang to Anderson Archived 26 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine, VicRoads. Retrieved on 8 September 2013.
- 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.
- 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.
