Bass Highway, Tasmania

Bass Highway Tasmania
General information
Type	Highway
Length	263 km (163 mi)
Route number(s)	National Highway 1 (Launceston - Burnie) A2 Burnie - Marrawah
Former route number	State Route 2[1]
Major junctions
East end	Midland Highway, Launceston, Tasmania
	Meander Valley Highway Illawarra Main Road Meander Valley Highway Biralee Road Lake Highway Mole Creek Road Gilbert Street Stony Rise Road Turners Beach Road Gawler Road Pine Road Mission Hill Road Ridgley Highway Murchison Highway
West end	Arthur River Road / Comeback Road, Marrawah, Tasmania
Location(s)
Region	Tasmania
Major settlements	Deloraine, Devonport, Ulverstone, Burnie, Smithton
Highway system
Highways in Australia National Highway • Freeways in Australia Highways in Tasmania

The Bass Highway is a highway in Tasmania, Australia. It is a part of the National Highway, designated as National Highway 1 and connects the major cities across the north of the state - Burnie, Devonport and Launceston.

The route of the highway originally passed through the localities which are now known as:

• Launceston
• Prospect and other Launceston suburbs
• Hadspen
• Carrick
• Hagley
• Westbury
• Exton
• Deloraine
• Elizabeth Town
• Sassafras
• Latrobe
• Devonport
• Forth
• Ulverstone
• Penguin
• Burnie

From here, the highway ceases to be part of the National Highway, but continues as the Bass Highway (A2) through the following towns:

• Somerset
• Wynyard
• Smithton
• Marrawah

Upgrades

Since the mid-1970s the highway has undergone significant upgrades that have included bypasses and deviations, duplications and grade separations, particularly between Burnie and Launceston. On 30 March 1977, ‘stage A’ of the ‘Burnie Highway System’ was opened to traffic. This stage connected the Bass Highway east of the town with Alexander Street by an elevated roadway over the port access road and rail lines.^[2] Shortly after, on 19 April 1977, the bypass of Devonport was completed with the opening of the final section between Middle Road, Devonport and Don, referred to in that year’s Main Roads Annual Report as the ‘Devonport to Don Freeway’. This section was an extension of the earlier Victoria Bridge project.^[3] Three years later, the Ulverstone bypass was completed and opened to traffic in August 1980.^[4] The duplication of the highway from Wivenhoe, east of Burnie, to Chasm Creek was completed during the 1983-84 financial year,^[5] and was followed in May 1984 with the opening of 500 metres of ‘stage B' of the Burnie Highway System. This section duplicated the highway along North Terrace.^[6] In September 1986, all four lanes over the complete length of ‘stage B’ of the ‘Burnie Expressway’ (‘Burnie Highway System’) were brought into operation.^[7] Throughout 1986 and 1987, sections of the highway were progressively duplicated and opened to traffic between Don (Devonport) and the Forth River, with the last section completed in June 1987. This was followed by completion of duplication between Forth River and Ulverstone in late 1987.^[8] In 1988, at the eastern terminus of the Bass Highway, a new alignment was opened to connect directly to the then new Launceston Southern Outlet, which itself had opened to traffic in 1985. Known as the Prospect bypass, this alignment was opened to traffic on 23 January 1988.^[9] West of Burnie, the Smithton bypass was opened to traffic in May, 1988.^[10] The Deloraine Bypass was opened on 8 June 1990. The project was carried out over five years and cost a total of A$19 million. The bypass opening was performed by the Federal and State ministers for Land Transport and Roads and Transport respectively.^[11]

Other bypasses have included Carrick and Hadspen in the late 1980s and the longest stretch of highway, the Hagley-Westbury bypass, which was completed in 2001. The 'old' highway alignment between Deloraine and Hadspen is now known as the Meander Valley Highway, and is promoted as a tourist route

The Bass Highway is, like Bass Strait, named for explorer George Bass.

See also

• Highways in Australia
• List of highways in Tasmania

References

Road infrastructure in Tasmania National highways  Bass Highway  Brooker Highway  Midland Highway State highways  Bass Highway  Tasman Highway  Esk Highway  Lake Highway  Davey Street  Huon Highway  Macquarie Street  Southern Outlet  West Tamar Highway  East Tamar Highway  Arthur Highway  Lyell Highway  Murchison Highway  Zeehan Highway Bridges Batman Bridge Bowen Bridge Bridgewater Bridge Jordan River Bridge Mcgees Bridge Red Bridge Richmond Bridge Ross Bridge Sorell Causeway Tasman Bridge Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources Highways in Tasmania

Coordinates: 41°02′47″S 145°53′41″E / 41.04639°S 145.89472°E / -41.04639; 145.89472