Nepean Highway

Nepean Highway Point Nepean Road
see other route designations below
Length	91 km (57 mi)
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: Mornington-Mount Martha: Formerly Mount Martha - Dromana East: Formerly Dromana East-Safety Beach: Formerly Safety Beach-Portsea: Formerly
Major junctions	Queens Road / Dandenong Road (Princes Highway) Punt 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 the centre of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia to Portsea, along the eastern shore of Port Phillip. It is the primary road route to central Melbourne from Melbourne's southern suburbs.

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)).

Between the 1950s and about 1980, the road was progressively upgraded to a divided highway between the City and Mordialloc. From Mordialloc to Frankston, the highway is an undivided four lane road. The widening of the Mordialloc Bridge, [1], the last section section of less than four lanes, was completed in early 2009.

The Nepean Highway has kept the old signage throughout the suburbs but is designated at the town of Mornington.

Route

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, at the junction with Carlisle Street, there is another name change to Brighton Road. 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.

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 roundabouts at Mordialloc. 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.

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. Anthonys Nose is a point , or escarpment located on the southern shore of Port Phillip Bay, between Dromana and McCrae. The highway passes between "The Nose" and the shores of the bay. It was named by Charles La Trobe in 1839. In the 1920s "The Nose" was modified in order to combat the daily tides that blocked the highway.

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 nondescript 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.

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

The highway is busy throughout the day, but 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.

Possible future north-south connection

Transurban, in their Response to the Eddington Report, July 2008[2], believe a north-south corridor from the Hume Freeway and Metropolitan Ring Road to the Nepean Highway south of Glen Huntly Road, Elsternwick, generally via the Hoddle Highway corridor, deserves attention.

This alignment would follow the original F2 Freeway corridor as proposed in the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan.

Major intersections and towns

Nepean Highway
Northbound	Distance to Melbourne (km)	Distance to Frankston (km)	Southbound
End Nepean Highway (St Kilda Road) continues as St Kilda Road to Melbourne	4.6	35.4	Start Nepean Highway (St Kilda Road) from St Kilda Road and Punt Road
Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong via Freeway Queens Road (Princes Highway)			St Kilda Fitzroy Street
To Dandenong; South Yarra, Richmond, Clifton Hill, Heidelberg Punt Road
St. Kilda Fitzroy Street
Elwood Barkly Street	4.8	35.2	St Kilda, Elwood Barkly Street
Glen Huntly Glen Eira Road	7	33	Ripponlea, Glen Huntly Glen Eira Road
continues as	7.9	32.1	Toorak Hotham Street
Toorak, Burnley Hotham Street			duplexes with
Elsternwick	8	32	Elsternwick
duplexes with	8.3	31.7	Brighton Rusden Street
Brighton Rusden Street			continues as
Elwood, Ormond North Road	9.9	30.1	Ormond, Oakleigh, Elwood North Road
continues as	11.8	28.2	Caulfield Hawthorn Road
Caulfield, Malvern Hawthorn Road			duplexes with
Brighton, Bentleigh Centre Road	12	28	Bentleigh, Clayton, Brighton Centre Road
duplexes with	13.3	26.7	Sandringham, Black Rock Cummins Road
Black Rock Cummins Road			continues as
To Beach Road South Road	14.4	25.6	Noble Park; To Frankston, Portsea via Freeway South Road
Moorabbin	14.8	25.2	Moorabbin
FRANKSTON RAIL LINE			FRANKSTON RAIL LINE
Cheltenham	17.6	22.4	Cheltenham
continues as	20.7	19.3	Mentone Balcombe Road
Mentone, Black Rock Balcombe Road			duplexes with
To Beach Road; Oakleigh, Burwood, Surrey Hills Warrigal Road	20.8	19.2	Oakleigh, Parkdale Warrigal Road
duplexes with	21	19	Keysborough, Dandenong Lower Dandenong Road
Dandenong Lower Dandenong Road			continues as
FRANKSTON RAIL LINE	23.3	16.7	FRANKSTON RAIL LINE
Mordialloc	24	16	Mordialloc
Beach Road	24.2	15.8	Beach Road
Aspendale	26.7	13.3	Aspendale
Edithvale	28.1	11.9	Edithvale
Springvale, Glen Waverley Edithvale Road			Springvale Edithvale Road
Chelsea	29.7	10.3	Chelsea
Patterson Lakes, Cranbourne McLeod Road via Station Street	32.3	7.7	Patterson Lakes, Cranbourne McLeod Road via Station Street
Carrum			Carrum
Dandenong Fletcher Road	39.6	0.4	Cranbourne, Flinders Fletcher Road
Frankston	40	0	Frankston
Northbound	Distance to Frankston (km)	Distance to Mornington (km)	Southbound
Cranbourne, Berwick; To Melbourne via Freeway Davey Street	0.5	12	Hastings, Flinders Davey Street
Somerville, Tooradin Bungower Road	11	1.5	Somerville Bungower Road
End Start	12.5	0	Mornington
To ; Moorooduc, Tyabb Mornington-Tyabb Road			To Mount Martha, Safety Beach; Tyabb, Moorooduc Mornington-Tyabb Road
Mornington			End Start
Northbound	Distance to Mornington (km)	Distance to Flinders (km)	Southbound
Frankston, Melbourne Mornington Peninsula Freeway	8.5	24.5	Frankston, Melbourne Mornington Peninsula Freeway
End continues as	9	24	Dromana, Portsea Mornington Peninsula Freeway
Dromana, Portsea Mornington Peninsula Freeway			continues as
continues as	13	20	Red Hill, Flinders; To White Hill Road _
Red Hill; To Hastings White Hill Road _			continues as
Eastbound	Distance to Hastings (km)	Distance to Dromana (km)	Westbound
Portsea Mornington Peninsula Freeway	22.5	2.5	Portsea Mornington Peninsula Freeway
continues as	23	2	End continues as
Mornington, Frankston, Melbourne Mornington Peninsula Freeway			Frankston, Melbourne Mornington Peninsula Freeway
continues as Nepean Highway	24	1	Mount Martha, Mornington Marine Parade
Mount Martha, Mornington Marine Parade			continues as Point Nepean Road (Nepean Highway)
Dromana	25	0	Dromana
Northbound	Distance to Melbourne via Freeway (km)	Distance to Portsea (km)	Southbound
Melbourne via Freeway; Arthurs Seat, Red Hill McCulloch Street	82	25	Arthurs Seat, Red Hill McCulloch Street
Melbourne via Freeway; McCrae Lonsdale Street	85	21	McCrae Lonsdale Street
Main Ridge Jetty Road	86	20	Main Ridge Jetty Road
Rosebud	87	19	Rosebud
Melbourne via Freeway; Boneo, Flinders Boneo Road	90.5	18	Melbourne via Freeway; Boneo, Flinders Boneo Road
Melbourne via Freeway Eastbourne Road via Elizabeth Avenue _	91.5	16.5	Eastbourne Road via Elizabeth Avenue _
Rye	96	12	Rye
Blairgowrie	100	8	Blairgowrie
Peninsula Searoad Car/Passenger Ferry to Queenscliff	104	4	Peninsula Searoad Car/Passenger Ferry to Queenscliff
Sorrento	104.2	3.8	Sorrento
Portsea	109	0	Portsea
Start Point Nepean Road (Nepean Highway) from Point Nepean National Park	110	--	End Point Nepean Road (Nepean Highway) entrance to Point Nepean National Park

See also

• Highways in Australia
• Highways in Victoria