Western Port Highway
Western Port Highway (formerly Dandenong-Hastings Road) is a highway in Victoria, Australia, linking the south-eastern fringe of suburban Melbourne to the western coast of Western Port Bay, after which the highway is named, at the Port of Hastings nearly 30 km to the south. It runs from the end of the South Gippsland Freeway at Lynbrook firstly as a dual carriageway and later as an undivided road to Frankston-Flinders Road at Hastings.
Western Port Highway | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Type | Highway |
| Length | 27 km (17 mi) |
| Route number(s) |
|
| Former route number |
|
| Major junctions | |
| North end |  South Gippsland FreewayLynbrook, Melbourne |
| |
| South end |  Frankston-Flinders RoadHastings, Victoria |
| Location(s) | |
| Major settlements | Dandenong South, Lyndhurst, Skye, Cranbourne West, Langwarrin, Pearcedale, Somerville, Tyabb |
| Highway system | |
Route
The highway begins at Lyndhurst interchange, where the South Gippsland Highway and the alignment of the South Gippsland Freeway meet, outside Lynbrook; Western Port Highway is linked directly to the southern end of the South Gippsland Freeway by an overpass over the South Gippsland Highway. From the interchange, Western Port Highway runs south as a two-lane (each way), dual carriageway, over the Cranbourne railway line, passing through a set of traffic lights at Portlink Drive and Moreton Bay Boulevard, passing through a roundabout at Glasscocks Road, and traffic lights at Thompsons Road. The highway runs onwards further south through roundabout intersections with Hall Road, Ballarto Road and Cranbourne-Frankston Road. The road continues south to North Road as a dual carriageway, before reverting to a dual-lane single carriageway road to Hastings. It continues further south with a roundabout at Baxter-Tooradin Road and finally ending at an intersection with Frankston-Flinders Road, 2 km north of Hastings.
For most of the route the speed limit is 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph), with shorter sections of 90 kilometres per hour (56 mph) and 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph).
History
The Western Port Highway was originally a single carriageway road called Lyndhurst Road in the 1960s, it has been progressively upgraded to a divided highway between the South Gippsland Freeway and Cranbourne-Frankston Road during the 1990s, as dramatically-increasing freight traffic volumes to and from Hastings necessitated major upgrades.
Dandenong-Hastings Road was signed State Route 65 in 1989. With Victoria's conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in the late 1990s this was replaced by route A780. After further upgrades, this was converted to route M780 between Lynbrook and Cranbourne South, with a further extension south between Cranbourne South and Langwarrin after further duplication in 2009.[2]
VicRoads is currently planning an upgrade to freeway standard between South Gippsland Freeway and about 1.2 km south of Cranbourne-Frankston Road with full grade-separated interchanges at Glasscocks Road, Thompson Rd, Hall Road and Cranbourne-Frankston Road.[3]
Upgrades
- 2009 – Duplication of 3.9 km between Cranbourne-Frankston Road in Cranbourne South and North Road in Langwarrin.[2]
Major intersections
| LGA | Location | km | mi | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater Dandenong–Casey boundary | Dandenong South–Lyndhurst–Lynbrook tripoint | 0.0 | 0.0 | South Gippsland Freeway (M420) – Dandenong, Chadstone, City | Northern terminus of highway and route M780; continues north as South Gippsland Freeway |
| South Gippsland Highway (M420 southeast, unallocated northwest) – Dandenong, Cranbourne | Partial cloverleaf interchange | ||||
| Lyndhurst–Lynbrook boundary | 0.8 | 0.50 | Northey Road – Lynbrook | Southbound entrance and exit only | |
| 0.9 | 0.56 | Monash Drive – Dandenong South | Northbound entrance and exit only | ||
| Lyndhurst | 2.1 | 1.3 | Portlink Drive – Dandenong South | Traffic light intersection | |
| 2.2 | 1.4 | Moreton Bay Boulevard – Lyndhurst | Traffic light intersection | ||
| 3.0 | 1.9 | Glasscocks Road – Bangholme, Lyndhurst | Roundabout | ||
| Greater Dandenong–Casey–Frankston tripoint | Lyndhurst–Skye–Cranbourne West tripoint | 4.7 | 2.9 |  Thompsons Road (State Route 6) – Carrum, Cranbourne | Traffic light intersection |
| Casey–Frankston boundary | Skye–Cranbourne West boundary | 8.0 | 5.0 | Hall Road – Carrum Downs, Cranbourne | Roundabout |
| Skye–Cranbourne West–Cranbourne South tripoint | 9.6 | 6.0 | Ballarto Road – Skye, Seaford | Roundabout | |
| Skye–Langwarrin boundary | 11.0 | 6.8 |  Cranbourne–Frankston Road (State Route 4) – Cranbourne, Frankston | Roundabout | |
| 12.1 | 7.5 | Browns Road – Cranbourne South, Junction Village | Roundabout | ||
| Skye–Langwarrin–Pearcedale tripoint | 15.0 | 9.3 | North Road – Langwarrin, Devon Meadows | Roundabout Southern terminus of route M780, northern terminus of route A780 | |
| Langwarrin–Langwarrin South–Pearcedale tripoint | 16.8 | 10.4 | Robinsons Road – Frankston South, Pearcedale | Roundabout | |
| Casey–Frankston–Mornington Peninsula tripoint | Langwarrin South–Pearcedale boundary | 18.5 | 11.5 |  Baxter–Tooradin Road (C781) – Baxter, Pearcedale, Tooradin | Roundabout |
| Mornington Peninsula | Somerville | 21.2 | 13.2 | Eramosa Road East – Somerville | |
| 22.9 | 14.2 | Bungower Road – Mornington | Roundabout | ||
| Somerville–Tyabb boundary | 24.5 | 15.2 | Tyabb–Tooradin Road (north-east) – Tyabb O'Neills Road (west) – Tooradin | ||
| Tyabb | 27.5 | 17.1 | Frankston–Flinders Road (C777 north, south) – Hastings, Flinders, Frankston Denham Road (east) – Hastings | Roundabout; southern terminus of highway and route A780 | |
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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References
- Mornington Peninsula Routes, Main Roads Victoria. Retrieved on 25 August 2013.
- "VicRoads 2008-09 Annual Report". Corporate Policy and Planning VicRoads. Melbourne: Victorian Government Library Service. 19 August 2009. p. 44.
- "Western Port Highway (North) Upgrade Project: Lynbrook to Langwarrin" (PDF). VicRoads. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
