Nepean Highway

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Nepean Highway

Point Nepean Road
Length 91 km
General direction North-South
From St. Kilda Road,
St. Kilda, Melbourne
via Elsternwick, Moorabbin, Cheltenham, Mordialloc, Chelsea, Carrum, Seaford, Frankston, Mount Eliza, Mornington, Dromana, Rosebud, Sorrento
To Point Nepean National Park, Portsea, Victoria
Allocation St. Kilda-Mornington:

Hotham Street - New Street via Rusden Street:
(duplex with )

Hawthorn Road - Cummins Road:
(duplex with )

Balcombe Road - Lower Dandenong Road:
(duplex with )

Mornington-Mount Martha:
Formerly

Mount Martha - Dromana East:
Formerly

Dromana East-Safety Beach:
Formerly

Safety Beach-Portsea:
Formerly
Major Junctions Princes Highway
Punt Road
North Road
South Road
Warrigal Road
Lower Dandenong Road
Beach Road
Edithvale Road
Thompsons Road
Fletcher Road
Mornington - Tyabb Road
Mornington Peninsula Freeway
Boneo Road

for full list see Major Intersections

/ Nepean Highway runs south from Melbourne city in Victoria, Australia to Portsea, along the eastern shores of Port Phillip Bay. It is the primary road route to central Melbourne from Melbourne's southern suburbs.

Contents

[edit] History

Originally known as Arthurs Seat Road it was built in the 1850s to provide a road (originally a crude sandy track) from the farms (owned by Alexander Balcombe) south of Melbourne and link the city with its southern bay settlements and sea defences at Point Nepean. By the turn of the 20th century it had come to be known as Point Nepean Road and in 1948 was officially named Nepean Highway (indirectly after the British Politician and Colonial Administrator, Sir Evan Nepean, 1st Baronet PC (1751-1822)). It was progressively upgraded to a divided highway from the 1950s onwards with duplication between the City and Mordialloc completed by around 1980. Duplication from Mordialloc to the Peninsula was progressively completed from the 1980s to present, with Mordialloc Bridge [1] the last section now under construction.

It has kept the old signage throughout the suburbs, but is designated at the town of Mornington.

[edit] Route

[edit] Melbourne to Mornington

The road that is the Nepean Highway begins at the end of Swanston Street at the corner of Flinders Street, in the Melbourne CBD, and crosses the Princes Bridge where its name changes to become St Kilda Road, a leafy four lane boulevard shared with trams. It passes the Victorian Arts Centre (where the road number begins) and the Shrine of Remembrance before reaching St Kilda Junction. Shortly after, there is another name change to Brighton Road, and then at Glen Huntly Road, Elsternwick, it becomes the Nepean Highway. The Route 67 Carnegie Tram runs down the middle of the highway until it turns into Glen Huntly Road. There were plans to run the tram line down the middle of the highway from Glen Huntly Road to Southland Shopping Centre in Cheltenham, however this looks highly unlikely to ever go ahead. (Before St. Kilda Junction was constructed the stretch of road between the then roundabout and Carlisle St. was called High St.)

Nepean Highway at Gardenvale
Nepean Highway at Gardenvale

At Glen Huntly Road the speed limit increases to 80 km/h and the road widens to become an eight-lane divided highway. It is reduced to six lanes at Moorabbin, passing through Cheltenham and Mentone, and then to the 60 km/h or 70 km/h four-lane single carriageway after the notorious roundabouts at Mordialloc (the bridge over Mordialloc Creek is currently being widened to ease these problems slightly). The highway then travels virtually along the foreshore of Port Phillip Bay, to Frankston, with several stretches of dual carriageway, and then up Olivers Hill, from which there are good views across Frankston and the bay.


[edit] Mornington Peninsula

Just after passing through Mount Martha, the highway joins with the Mornington Peninsula Freeway, before turning toward the town of Dromana. Here the highway changes name again, to become Point Nepean Road – which was the former name of the entire highway in the early years of settlement. From here, Arthurs Seat is easily accessible, which gives spectacular views across the bay, and on a clear day, the skyscrapers of Melbourne are visible.

leaves the highway at Sorrento to cross the bay to Queenscliff, via the ferry where it continues to Geelong, via Bellarine Highway, but the highway continues as a two lane road down to the seaside resort of Portsea. The end of the highway is the very non-descript painted turning circle, before the gates of the former Commonwealth quarantine and defence station of Point Nepean, a humble ending to Melbourne's main southern highway.

The highway is busy throughout the day, however, the amount of traffic on the road does not merit the extension of the parallel Mornington Peninsula Freeway, and cars can usually travel at the maximum speed limit.

[edit] Major Intersections

Nepean Hwy section in Elsternwick (9K towards Melbourne CBD)
Nepean Hwy section in Elsternwick (9K towards Melbourne CBD)

The Nepean Highway, which officially begins at the junction with Princes Highway, in St Kilda heads southwards towards the Mornington Peninsula ending at Point Nepean National Park in Portsea, a distance of 91km.

[edit] Suburban Melbourne (signed as )

    • St Kilda Road , St Kilda: continuous road from Nepean Highway
    • Punt Road , St Kilda: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Fitzroy Street, St Kilda: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Barkly Street , St Kilda: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Carlisle Street, St Kilda: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Chapel Street, St Kilda: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Glen Eira Road , Ripponlea: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Hotham Street , Elsternwick: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Glen Huntly Road, Elsternwick: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Rusden Street , Brighton: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • North Road , Gardenvale: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Hawthorn Road , Brighton East: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Centre Road , Brighton East: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Cummins Road , Brighton East: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • South Road , Moorabbin: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Wickham Road, Moorabbin: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Bay Road, Cheltenham: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Chesterville Road, Cheltenham: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Centre Dandenong Road, Cheltenham: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Balcombe Road , Mentone: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Warrigal Road , Mentone: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Lower Dandenong Road , Mentone: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • White Street, Mordialloc: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Beach Road , Mordialloc: roundabout
    • Station Street, Mordialloc: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Edithvale Road , Edithvale: railway crossing, traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Station Street, Bonbeach: railway crossing, traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • McLeod Road , Carrum: railway crossing, traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Seaford Road, Seaford: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Overton Road, Frankston: at-grade intersection
    • Fletcher Road , Frankston: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Davey-Hastings Road , Frankston: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Humphries Road, Frankston South: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Mount Eliza Way, Mount Eliza: at-grade intersection
    • Canadian Bay Road, Mount Eliza: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Wooralla Drive, Mount Eliza: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Bungower Road, Mornington: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Mornington-Tyabb Road , Mornington: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection

The suburban route of the Nepean Highway terminates in the Mornington township.

[edit] Mornington Peninsula (signed as B110)

    • Bentons Road, Mornington: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Craigie Road, Mount Martha: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Uralla Road, Mount Martha: at-grade intersection
    • Forest Drive, Mount Martha: at-grade intersection
    • Bruce Road, Mount Martha: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Mornington Peninsula Freeway , Mount Martha: bi-directional interchange
    • Old Moorooduc Road, Dromana: at-grade intersection
    • Dunns Creek Road , Dromana: at-grade intersection
    • White Hill Road , Dromana: at-grade intersection
    • Mornington Peninsula Freeway , Safety Beach: bi-directional interchange
    • Marine Parade, Safety Beach: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • McCulloch Street , Dromana: at-grade intersection
    • Lonsdale Street, McCrae: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Jetty Road, Rosebud: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Boneo Road , Rosebud: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Elizabeth Avenue, Rosebud: at-grade intersection
    • Truemans Road, Rosebud: at-grade intersection
    • Dundas Street, Rye: traffic-light controlled at-grade intersection
    • Canterbury Jetty Road, Rye: at-grade intersection
    • Ocean Beach Road, Sorrento: at-grade intersection
    • Back Beach Road, Portsea: at-grade intersection

The Nepean Highway terminates at the entrance to Point Nepean National Park.

[edit] See also