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Bass Highway
Tasmania
Bass-Highway-Burnie-20161206-001.jpg
The Bass Highway in Burnie
General information
Type Highway
Length 273 km (170 mi)
Route number(s)
Former
route number
State Route 2
Major junctions
East end Midland Highway
Prospect, Launceston, Tasmania
 
  • Meander Valley Road
  • Illawarra Road
  • Meander Valley Road
  • Birralee Road
  • Highland Lakes Road
  • Mole Creek Road
  • Railton Road
  • Gilbert Street
  • Port Sorell Road
  • Stony Rise Road
  • Turners Beach Road
  • Castra Road
  • Gawler Road
  • Pine Road
  • Mount Street
  • Murchison Highway
  • Mount Hicks Road
  • Stanley Highway
  • Irishtown Road
West end Arthur River Road
Comeback Road
Marrawah, Tasmania
Location(s)
Region Tasmania
Major settlements Deloraine, Devonport, Ulverstone, Burnie, Wynyard, Smithton
Highway system
Highways in Australia
National Highway • Freeways in Australia
Highways in Tasmania

The Bass Highway is a highway in Tasmania, Australia. It connects the three cities across the north of the state – Burnie, Devonport and Launceston. The road was named due to its proximity to the Bass Strait. It is a part of the National Highway, designated as National Highway 1, together with the Midland and Brooker highways in Tasmania.

The highway passes through or past the following localities:

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

Upgrades

The name "Bass Highway" was in use by 1938. 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. 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. Three years later, the Ulverstone bypass was completed and opened to traffic in August 1980. The duplication of the highway from Wivenhoe, east of Burnie, to Chasm Creek was completed during the 1983–84 financial year, 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. In September 1986, all four lanes over the complete length of ‘stage B’ of the ‘Burnie Expressway’ (‘Burnie Highway System’) were brought into operation. 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. 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. West of Burnie, the Smithton bypass was opened to traffic in May 1988. 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.

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 Meander Valley Road, and is promoted as a tourist route.

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

Major intersections

LGA Location km mi Destinations Notes
Launceston Prospect 0 0.0 Midland Highway (National Highway 1) – north – Launceston /
southeast – Hobart
Eastern end of Bass Highway.
Continues south west as National Highway 1.
Prospect / Prospect Vale
midpoint
2.0–
2.8
1.2–
1.7
Meander Valley Road (B54) – northwest – Prospect Vale /
southwest – Travellers Rest /
Westbury Road – northeast – Prospect Vale
Eastbound exit via Westbury Road
Meander Valley Travellers Rest 4.8–
5.0
3.0–
3.1
Meander Valley Road (B54) – west – Hadspen /
northeast – Prospect /
Pateena Road (C531) – south – Longford
No eastbound exit from or westbound entry to Bass Highway
South Esk River 8.9–
9.0
5.5–
5.6
Bridge over river (name not known)
Meander Valley Carrick 10.8–
11.6
6.7–
7.2
Illawarra Road (B52) – northwest – Carrick /
southeast – Longford
14.9 9.3 Bishopsbourne Road (C513) – north – Carrick /
south – Bishopsbourne
Liffey River 15.8 9.8 Bridge over river (name not known)
Meander Valley Carrick 16.1–
17.1
10.0–
10.6
Oaks Road (C511) – northeast – Carrick /
southwest – Bracknell
18.3 11.4 Whitemore Road (C508) – northeast – Carrick /
southwest – Whitemore
Whitemore Creek 21.8–
21.9
13.5–
13.6
Bridge over creek (name not known)
Meander Valley Hagley 23.1–
23.5
14.4–
14.6
Hagley Station Lane (C507) – northeast – Hagley
southwest – Whitemore
No eastbound exit from or westbound entry to Bass Highway
Hagley / Westbury
midpoint
26.0–
27.6
16.2–
17.1
Meander Valley Road (B54) – west – Westbury /
east – Hagley
No westbound entry to Bass Highway
Westbury 30.2–
30.9
18.8–
19.2
Birralee Road (B72) – northwest – Birralee /
William Street (B72) – southeast – Westbury
Deloraine 42.5–
43.2
26.4–
26.8
Lake Highway (A5) – south – Deloraine
Meander River 44.6 27.7 Bridge over river (name not known)
Meander Valley Deloraine 46.3–
48.0
28.8–
29.8
Mole Creek Road (B12) – south – Mole Creek /
Weetah Road (C710) – north – Weetah
Westbound entry via Emu Bay Road
Elizabeth Town 52.8 32.8 Bengeo Road (C163) – south – Red Hills
55.3 34.4 Railton Road (B13) – west – Railton
55.3 34.4 Parkham Road (C711) – northeast – Parkham
Latrobe Sassafras 77.0 47.8 Chapel Road (C713) – north – Harford
80.1 49.8 East Sassafras Road (C706) – east – Sassafras /
Cutting Road – west – Sassafras
From the eastern part of Sassafras, route C706 runs north on Greens Creek Road to Harford
81.4 50.6 Native Plains Road (C153) – south – Railton
Sassafras / Latrobe
midpoint
82.4 51.2 Oppenheims Road (C704) – north, then east – Harford
Latrobe 85.5 53.1 Gilbert Street to Mersey Main Road (B19) – west – Spreyton
86.8–
87.0
53.9–
54.1
Moriarty Road (C702) – east – Moriarty /
southwest – Latrobe
Devonport Latrobe / East Devonport
midpoint
90.7–
91.2
56.4–
56.7
Port Sorell Road (B74) – northeast – Port Sorell /
southwest – Latrobe
East Devonport 92.9–
93.4
57.7–
58.0
Tarleton Street – north – East Devonport /
River Road – south – Ambleside
Mersey River 93.5–
93.7
58.1–
58.2
Victoria Bridge
Devonport Devonport / Miandetta
midpoint
93.9–
94.5
58.3–
58.7
Formby Road – north – Devonport /
to Devonport Road – south – Miandetta
95.1–
95.7
59.1–
59.5
Middle Road – north – Devonport /
southwest – Miandetta
Stony Rise 96.8–
98.0
60.1–
60.9
Stony Rise Road (B19) – southeast – Spreyton /
northwest, then southwest as Forth Road – Forth /
Don Road – northeast – Devonport
Don River 98.4 61.1 Bridge over river (name not known)
Central Coast Leith 105.8 65.7 Leith Road (C132) – southwest, then south – Forth /
Braddons Lookout Road (C189) – northeast, then south – Forth
Forth River 106.1–
106.2
65.9–
66.0
Bridge over river (name not known)
Central Coast Turners Beach 107.3–
108.4
66.7–
67.4
Forth Road (B19) – south – Forth /
Turners Beach Road – north – Turners Beach
Westbound entry via Westella Drive
Ulverstone 110.5–
111.4
68.7–
69.2
Eastland Drive (C142) – north, then west – Ulverstone
111.9–
112.1
69.5–
69.7
Main Street (B15) – northwest – Ulverstone /
Castra Road (B15) – south – Upper Castra
No eastbound entry to or exit from Bass Highway
113.8–
114.6
70.7–
71.2
Lovett Street (B17) – north – Ulverstone /
Gawler Road (B17) – south – Gawler
Westbound entry via Adaihi Street
River Leven 115.1–
115.3
71.5–
71.6
Bridge over river (name not known)
Central Coast West Ulverstone 116.5–
117.2
72.4–
72.8
South Road (C142) – east – Ulverstone
Penguin 125.2–
125.8
77.8–
78.2
Pine Road (B17) – southwest – Riana /
Mission Hill Road – north-east – Penguin
Howth / Sulphur Creek
midpoint
130.7 81.2 Nine Mile Road (C118) – northwest, then south – West Pine
Heybridge 132.9 82.6 River Avenue (C117) – south, then southwest to Cuprona Road – Cuprona
Blythe River 133.4–
133.5
82.9–
83.0
Bridge over river (name not known)
Central Coast Heybridge 133.9 83.2 Minna Road (C113) – southwest – Stowport
Burnie Wivenhoe 138.1 85.8 Stowport Road (C102) – southwest – Stowport
Emu River 139.1 86.4 Bridge over river (name not known)
Burnie South Burnie 139.2–
139.3
86.5–
86.6
Old Surrey Road (C112) – south – Emu Heights
Burnie 141.2–
141.4
87.7–
87.9
Mount Street (B18) – south – Upper Burnie Bass Highway changes from National Highway 1 to A2
Parklands / Burnie
midpoint
142.5 88.5 West Park Grove (C108) – southwest – Park Grove
Camdale 147.3 91.5 East Cam Road (C109) – south – East Cam
Cam River 147.6–
147.7
91.7–
91.8
Bridge over river (name not known)
Waratah-Wynyard Somerset 147.8 91.8 Murchison Highway (A10) – south – Queenstown
149.0 92.6 Raglan Street to Seabrook Road (C241) – south, then west – Mount Hicks
Doctors Rocks 153.8 95.6 Old Bass Highway (C240) – northwest – Wynyard
Wynyard 156.7 97.4 Mount Hicks Road (B26) – south – Mount Hicks /
Mount Hicks Road (no shield) – north – Wynyard
160.8 99.9 Deep Creek Road (C239) – west, then south – Yolla
161.8 100.5 Oldina Road (C237) – southwest – Oldina
162.4 100.9 Calder Road (C235) – southwest – Calder
162.8 101.2 Inglis Street (C240) – southeast – Wynyard
Inglis River 163.5 101.6 Bridge over river (name not known)
Waratah-Wynyard Flowerdale 164.9 102.5 Preolenna Road (C229) – west – Preolenna
Flowerdale / Table Cape /
Boat Harbour tripoint
167.4 104.0 Tollymore Road (C234) – northeast – Table Cape
Boat Harbour 168.3 104.6 Gates Road (C231) – south (to route C229) – Flowerdale
171.6 106.6 Port Road (C232) – north – Boat Harbour Beach
Sisters Creek 176.3 109.5 Myalla Road (C229) – south – Myalla From Preolenna C229 turns west and then north, returning to the Bass Highway via Myalla
Circular Head Rocky Cape 191.0 118.7 Rocky Cape Road (C227) – northeast – Rocky Cape
Detention River 192.3 119.5 Bridge over river (name not known)
Circular Head Black River 204.4 127.0 Mawbanna Road (C225) – southeast – Mawbanna
Black River 205.8 127.9 Bridge over river (name not known)
Circular Head Wiltshire 208.6 129.6 Back Line Road (C221) – south, then west – Forest
Wiltshire / Forest / Stanley
tripoint
212.3 131.9 Mengha Road (C219) – south – Mengha /
Stanley Highway (B21) – north – Stanley
Smithton / Forest
midpoint
221.2 137.4 Back Line Road (C221) – east – Forest From Forest C221 runs west, returning to the Bass Highway at the Smithton boundary
Smithton 223.7 139.0 Irishtown Road (B22) – south – Irishtown
224.4 139.4 Brittons Road – northwest – Smithton
225.9 140.4 Trowutta Road (C217) – south – Edith Creek
Nelson Street (C215) – north – Smithton
From Smithton C215 runs west as Montagu Road, eventually intersecting with C213 at Marrawah
Duck River 227.6 141.4 Bridge over river (name not known)
Circular Head Redpa 265.6 165.0 Comeback Road (C213) – north, then west – Marrawah
Marrawah 272.6 169.4 Arthur River Road (C214) – southwest, then south – Arthur River /
Comeback Road (C213) – northeast, then east – Redpa
Western end of Bass Highway.
From Redpa C213 runs west, returning to the Bass Highway in Marrawah.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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