South Gippsland Highway


The South Gippsland Highway is a partially divided highway in Victoria, Australia which connects the city of Melbourne with the South Gippsland region of Victoria, ending in the town of Sale. The highway begins at Lonsdale Street, Dandenong. At the Greens Road intersection, it adopts State Route 12 until Pound Road, then continues until the South Gippsland Freeway / Western Port Highway 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 and Phillip Island as well as being an important road for farmers in Gippsland.

Route

The highway commences in Dandenong, branching from the Princes Highway, and heads in a general south-east direction at first. It is mostly a dual carriageway with two lanes in either direction, until the Bass Highway turnoff to Phillip Island, after which it is entirely an undivided highway. Conversion to dual carriageways at the western end began in 1975, initially between the South Gippsland Freeway and Cranbourne; a distance of 17 km. The final link in the duplication of the highway between the Princes Highway, Dandenong and Bass Highway opened in the early 1990s between Princes Highway and Pound Road. It passes through the Cranbourne area, and then through or close to the Gippsland towns of Tooradin, Koo Wee Rup, Lang Lang, Nyora, Korumburra, Leongatha, Foster, Welshpool and Yarram, before heading north to rejoin the Princes Highway at Sale.

Timeline of duplication