The South Gippsland Highway is a partially divided highway in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

which connects the city 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 ...

with the South

Gippsland Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers ...

region of Victoria, ending in the town of Sale. The highway begins at Lonsdale Street (Princes Highway), Dandenong. At the Greens Road intersection, it adopts Metropolitan Route 12 until Pound Road, then continues until the

South Gippsland Freeway South Gippsland Freeway is a short freeway linking Dandenong in Melbourne's south–east to other south–eastern destinations, including the Mornington Peninsula and the Gippsland region. The freeway bears the designation M420. Route South Gi ...

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, after which the highway is named, at the Port of Hastings ...

interchange where it becomes the M420. The M420 continues through and until the Bass Highway turnoff, at which point the road is then designated A440 onwards to Sale. From the Bass Highway junction, the highway is undivided. The South Gippsland Highway is the gateway from Melbourne to many attractions including

Wilsons Promontory Wilsons Promontory, is a peninsula that forms the southernmost part of the Australian mainland, located in the state of Victoria. South Point at is the southernmost tip of Wilsons Promontory and hence of mainland Australia. Located at nearb ...

and

Phillip Island Phillip Island (Boonwurrung: ''Corriong'', ''Worne'' or ''Millowl'') is an Australian island about south-southeast of Melbourne, Victoria. The island is named after Governor Arthur Phillip, the first Governor of New South Wales, by explorer ...

as well as being an important road for farmers in Gippsland.

Route

The highway commences in

Dandenong Dandenong is a southeastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, about from the Melbourne CBD. It is the council seat of the City of Greater Dandenong local government area, with a recorded population of 30,127 at the . Situated mainly ...

, branching from the

Princes Highway Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney via Melbourne to Adelaide through the states of New South Wales, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and South Australia. It has a length of (along Highway 1) or via the former ...

, and heads in a general south-east direction at first. It is mostly a

dual carriageway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

with two lanes in either direction, until the Bass Highway turnoff to

, after which it is entirely an undivided highway. It passes through the Cranbourne area, and then through or close to the Gippsland towns of

Tooradin Tooradin is a town in Victoria, Australia, 57 km south east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Casey and the Shire of Cardinia local government areas. Tooradin recorded a population of 1,722 at the . ...

Koo Wee Rup Koo Wee Rup is a town and satellite suburb in Victoria, Australia, 63 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Cardinia local government area. Built on former marshland now converted to market ...

Lang Lang Lang Lang (; born 14 June 1982) is a Chinese pianist who has performed with leading orchestras in China, North America, Europe, and elsewhere. Active since the 1990s, he was the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic, ...

Nyora Nyora is a town in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, approximately south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shires of Baw Baw, Cardinia and South Gippsland local government areas. Nyora recorded a populat ...

Korumburra Korumburra is a town in the Australian state of Victoria. It is located on the South Gippsland Highway, south-east of Melbourne, in the South Gippsland Shire local government area. At the Korumburra had an urban population of 3,639. Surroun ...

Leongatha Leongatha is a town in the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges, South Gippsland Shire, Victoria, Australia, located south-east of Melbourne. At the , Leongatha had a population of 5,869. Canadian dairy company Saputo which trades in Australia ...

, Foster,

Welshpool Welshpool ( cy, Y Trallwng) is a market town and community in Powys, Wales, historically in the county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn; its Welsh language name ''Y Trallwng'' m ...

and

Yarram The township of Yarram (formerly Yarram Yarram) is in Victoria, Australia, in the Shire of Wellington, located in the southeast of Gippsland. At the , the population of the town was . The town is the regional centre of a prosperous farming distri ...

, before heading north to rejoin the Princes Highway at Sale.

History

The passing of the ''Highways and Vehicles Act of 1924'' through the

Parliament of Victoria The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria that follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the King, represented by the Governor of Victoria, the Legislative Assembly and ...

provided for the declaration of State Highways, roads two-thirds financed by the State government through the

Country Roads Board The Country Roads Board was a government authority responsible for the construction and maintenance of main roads in the state of Victoria, Australia between 1913 and 1983. History The Country Roads Board (CRB) was formed to take over responsi ...

(later

VicRoads VicRoads is a government joint venture in the state of Victoria, Australia. In the state, it is responsible for driver licensing and vehicle registration. It is owned and operated through a joint venture between the Victorian government and a c ...

). The South Gippsland Highway was declared a State Highway in 1933, cobbled together from roads between

and

, and between Sale and

(for a total of 83 miles); before this declaration, these roads were referred to as (Main) South Gippsland Road and Sale-Yarram Road. In 1939, another section between Foster through

was added, along the former Foster-Yarram Road. In the 1947/48 financial year, another section between

via

and

to Meeniyan was added, along the former Loch-Nyora Road, Bena-Korumburra Road and Korumburra-Leongatha Roads. In the 1965/66 financial year, the last section between Meeniyan and Foster was added, completing its present-day alignment at this stage. Conversion to dual carriageways at the western end began in 1975, initially between the South Gippsland Freeway and Cranbourne; a distance of 17 km.Country Roads Board Victoria. ''Sixty-Second Annual Report: for the year ended 30th June, 1975'', Burwood, Victoria: Brown, Prior, Anderson, 1975. p. 7. The final link in the duplication of the highway between the Princes Highway,

and Bass Highway opened in the early 1990s between Princes Highway and Pound Road.VicRoads. ''VicRoads Annual Report, 1991-1992'', Kew, Victoria: VicRoads, 1992, p. 39. The South Gippsland Highway was signed as State Route 180 between Dandenong and Sale on 13 December 1985, the first road in Victoria signed with a State Route; with Victoria's conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in the late 1990s, this was replaced by route M420 between Lynbrook and Lang Lang, and B440 between Lang Lang and Sale (which was upgraded to A440 when highway upgrades along South Gippsland Highway raised the quality of the road in 2003).

Timeline of upgrades and duplication

*1961 – Whitelaw By-pass Road: 2.5 miles just north of Korumburra completed as a 2-lane, single-carriageway road, replacing a narrow winding route 3.5 miles long consisting of portions of Bena-Korumburra and Warragul-Korumburra Roads, eliminating two railway crossings, costing

A£ The pound (Sign: £, £A for distinction) was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 14 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. As with other £sd currencies, it was subdivided into 20 shillings (denoted by the symbol s ...

65,000. *1975 – Conversion to dual carriageways at the western end began in 1975, between the

and Cranbourne; a distance of 17 km. *1987 – Duplication works completed on three sections. Cranbourne to Five Ways, Tooradin to Dalmore Road, and Monomeith Road to Bass Highway. *1989 – 3 km of dual carriageways opened between Manks Road and Lynes Road,

in December 1989.VicRoads. ''VicRoads Annual Report, 1989-1990'', Kew, Victoria: VicRoads, 1990, p. 56. *1990 – 3 km of dual carriageways opened between Lynes Road, Tooradin and Dore Road in April 1990. At this stage, ’27 km of the planned 32 km length of duplication between Cranbourne and Bass Highway has now been completed’. *1990/1991 – Duplication of 6 km south of Tooradin completed at a cost of $A9.9m. No exact date was given, however VicRoads Annual Reports cover the previous financial year. This completed the duplication of the highway between Cranbourne and the Bass Highway.VicRoads. ''VicRoads Annual Report, 1990-1991'', Kew, Victoria: VicRoads, 1991, p. 37 An interesting anomaly is that the kilometre lengths quoted in this annual report and the previous annual report do not match! *1991/1992 – 2.8 km duplication opened between Princes Highway and Pound Road. This was the final link in the duplication of the highway from the Princes Highway to Bass Highway, Again, no exact date was given, however VicRoads Annual Reports cover the previous financial year.

Level crossing elimination

The

Gippsland railway line The Gippsland line (also known as the Orbost railway line) is a railway line serving the Latrobe Valley and Gippsland regions of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. It runs east from the state capital Melbourne through the cities of Moe, ...

crossing just south of the intersection with

Dandenong South Dandenong South is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 31 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Greater Dandenong local government area. Dandenong South recorded a population of 125 a ...

was removed in 3 August 2021. The contract was awarded in March 2020, with construction starting in October 2020 on a new road bridge over the rail line on an alignment just east of the original level crossing to a new intersection with Princes Highway; construction was completed and the new alignment was opened to traffic in 3 August 2021.

Major intersections and towns

References