Mountain Highway (also known as Wantirna–Sassafras Road) is an 18 km west–east highway located in the eastern suburbs of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, linking the outer fringes of the city to the

Dandenong Ranges The Dandenong Ranges (commonly just The Dandenongs) are a set of low mountain ranges, rising to 633 metres at Mount Dandenong, approximately east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The ranges consist mostly of rolling hills, steeply weathere ...

Route

Mountain Highway starts at the intersection with

Burwood Highway Burwood Highway is a major transportation link with Melbourne, Melbourne's eastern suburbs. It begins in the suburb of Kooyong, Victoria, Kooyong, Melbourne at the junction of the Monash Freeway as Toorak Road between Monash Freeway and Warriga ...

in western Wantirna, heading north-east as a four-lane, dual-carriageway highway under Eastlink until reaching Wantirna Road in Wantirna, where it widens to a six-lane, dual-carriageway highway, and continues east through

Bayswater Bayswater is an area within the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

, over the

Belgrave railway line The Belgrave railway line is a commuter rail line operating between Flinders Street in the Melbourne central business district and Belgrave, through the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, including Richmond, Cremorne, Burnley, Hawthorn, Hawthorn ...

until the intersection with Scoresby and Bayswater Roads, where it narrows back to a four-lane, dual-carriageway highway, continuing east until Dorset Road, where it narrows further to a dual-lane, single-carriageway road. It continues south-east through

Boronia ''Boronia'' is a genus of about 160 species of flowering plants in the citrus family Rutaceae. Most are endemic to Australia with a few species in New Caledonia, which were previously placed in the genus ''Boronella''. They occur in all Austra ...

to The Basin, then uphill through the

Dandenong Ranges National Park The Dandenong Ranges National Park is a national park located in the Greater Melbourne region of Victoria, Australia. The national park is situated from at its westernmost points at Ferntree Gully and Boronia to at it easternmost point at Si ...

(between Forest Road and Mount Dandenong Tourist Road) where sections are steep and windy, with an approximate 1 in 20 (5%) grade, especially popular with motorcyclists and cyclists, and is busiest on the weekends. The climb is winding, and the road narrow, so care must be taken when travelling the road. The road ends at the intersection with Mount Dandenong Tourist Road in

Sassafras, Victoria Sassafras is a locality and township within Greater Melbourne, beyond the Melbourne metropolitan area Urban Growth Boundary, 43 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Knox and Shire of Yarra Ranges ...

. Speed limits range from 80 km/h from Burwood Highway through to Bayswater, with the limit dropping to 60 km/h between Bayswater town centre and Sassafras. The previous 70 km/h speed limit was removed in 2014 as part of the VicRoads initiative to eliminate 70 km/h and 90 km/h zones, and the drop in speed limit is presumed to be attributable to the presence of cyclists and lack of road shoulder or bicycle lane. In The Basin, a 60 km/h limit applies through the residential area east of Forest Road and a 50 km/h limit applies within the centre of the town. The approach to Mount Dandenong Tourist Road in Sassafras is also 60 km/h.

History

Mountain Highway was signed as Metropolitan Route 28 between Wantirna and Sassafras in 1965. The passing of the ''Road Management Act 2004'' granted the responsibility of overall management and development of Victoria's major arterial roads to VicRoads: in 2004, VicRoads declared Wantirna-Sassafras Road (Arterial #5783) from

in Wantirna to Mount Dandenong Tourist Road in

Sassafras ''Sassafras'' is a genus of three extant and one extinct species of deciduous trees in the family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia.Wolfe, Jack A. & Wehr, Wesley C. 1987. The sassafras is an ornamental tree. "Middle Eoc ...

. The road is still presently known (and signposted) as Mountain Highway along its entire length.

Major Intersections

Gallery

File:Mountain Highway, Bayswater (2).jpg

References

Highways and freeways in Melbourne Transport in the City of Knox Transport in the Shire of Yarra Ranges {{Australia-road-stub

Route

History

Major Intersections

Gallery

See also

References