# Tasman Highway

The Tasman Highway (or A3) is a highway in Tasmania, Australia. Like the Midland Highway, it connects the major cities of Hobart and Launceston – however it takes a different route, via the north-eastern and eastern coasts of the state. The Highway also acts as a major commuter road to Hobart residents living on the eastern side of the Derwent River. The designation "Tasman Highway" arises from its location facing the Tasman Sea – named, like the state itself, after Abel Tasman. The highway is one of the longest in Tasmania – 410 km (250 mi), with an average travelling time of 41⁄2 hours.

## Eastern Outlet

The Eastern Outlet is a 24 km (15 mi) section of the Tasman Highway between Hobart and Sorell. As one of the city's 3 major radial highways, the outlet connects traffic from the Hobart city centre with Hobart Airport and commuters on the eastern shore of the River Derwent as well as intrastate traffic on the east coast and Tasman Peninsula. With recorded Annual average daily traffic of 67,000, the Tasman Bridge is the busiest portion of the Eastern Outlet and the Tasman Highway as a whole.

### History

In 1964, a comprehensive transport study of Hobart was undertaken, calling for the construction of a freeway to serve Hobart's growing eastern suburbs. Prior to opening of the Tasman Bridge in 1964 traffic travelling between Hobart and the airport had to make use of the Hobart Bridge as well as Rosny Hill Road and Cambridge Road. Passing through the Meehan Range, this route was windy and entirely two-lane featuring at-grade intersections. The first section of the new Highway between Rosny Hill Road and Mornington opened in 1974 as it exists today and continued to the airport as three lanes in its current alignment. During the 1990s, the section of highway between Mornington and the airport was fully duplicated with funds from the federal government. In 2002, the Pitt Water bridge was replaced with a new bridge built beside the existing structure with the causeway widened. In 2012, Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources progressively installed variable speed limit signage between the airport and Hobart, citing the increased crashed rate on the road due to traffic and weather on the Meehan Range.
In 2022 the roundabout at Hobart Airport was replaced by a 5-way peanut-roundabout diamond intersection, allowing traffic on the Tasman Highway to flow over the intersection. The first stage of the Sorell Bypass was opened the same year, allowing traffic using the Arthur Highway to directly bypass Sorell instead of using Tasman Highway or Parsonage Place (to which was applied a 5-tonne limit, but the junction was earlier made into a roundabout). There is a reserve for Tasman Highway to bypass Sorell, going directly north at the current bypass towards William Street, but currently the traffic must use the old Arthur Highway intersection to exit Sorell.

### Future

The Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources has outlined several concepts for the upgrading of the Eastern Outlet portion of the Tasman Highway – Both short and long term. These include;
* An upgrade of the highway at Montagu Bay, involving the addition of extra lanes and On/Off ramps between the East Derwent Highway and Rosny Hill Road, to provide safer passage of traffic travelling between these two Roads
* The upgrading of the Holyman Avenue Roundabout into the airport at Cambridge.
* The addition of On/Off Ramps at Gordons Hill Road at Rosny.
* The State government recently purchased land at Cambridge on the northern boundary of Hobart Airport to facilitate the future duplication of the Tasman Highway to Sorell. Possible second bypass of Sorell.
Additionally, independent bodies and proponents of the Highway have also made proposals of their own, including:
* Building the Highway to limited access, dual carriageway standard between the Airport and Sorell.
* Capacity upgrades between the Hobart city centre and the Mornington interchange.

### Route

The southern section of the Highway commences on the fringe of the Hobart Central Business District at the intersection with the Brooker Highway and the Davey/Macquarie couplet. Featuring between four and five lanes of traffic and utilizing a lane management system for peak hour traffic, the highway travels north along the western shore of the Derwent River, intersecting with the Domain Highway before preceding over the Tasman Bridge. On the eastern side of the Bridge there are two interchanges in close proximity; the East Derwent Highway intersects the highway immediately after the bridge via the Lindisfarne Interchange and within 500 metres there is an interchange connecting Rosny Hill Road. From Rosny Hill Road the Tasman Highway continues east as a fully grade separated, Limited access highway intersecting with the South Arm Highway at Mornington and concluding after the airport diamond interchange (formerly a complete roundabout). For the remaining 4 km (2.5 mi) from the Airport the highway features 2 lanes of traffic, and travels over Mcgees Bridge and the Sorell Causeway to Sorell.

## Sorell to St Helens

The road to Orford remains at the national standard as a two-lane highway, albeit with only a few overtaking lanes along its distance. The remainder of the road to St Helens is two lane, with even fewer overtaking opportunities. In places, the eastern coastal portion of the highway runs just metres from the Tasman Sea, making it the easternmost A road in Tasmania.
The Tasman Highway is marketed as "East Coast Escape" between St Helens and Orford, to fit in with Tasmania's scheme of introducing tourist trails, a way of simplifying navigation of key tourist locations in Tasmania.
Prior to 1990, there was no coastal route between Falmouth and the Chain of Lagoons – one had to travel into and out of St Marys, both roads being steep grades. The bypass was officially opened on 2 December 1991, though motorists had been using the partially constructed road before its opening. Great care was taken during the construction to protect Aboriginal middens and the general environment.

## St Helens to Launceston

* Tasman Highway Between Scottsdale and St Helens
At the Launceston end, the highway is a main road with traffic lights. Out of the city, it becomes an ordinary two-lane road through the mountains. It passes waterfalls and through timber and rainforest country.
The portion between Launceston and Scottsdale runs through the Sideling Range. There is a lookout which offers views of Scottsdale and its surrounds.
The highway also passes through several former mining towns.

## Route

The highway passes through the following localities:
* Hobart
* Suburbs the Highway passes out of Hobart
** Rose Bay
** Rosny
** Warrane
** Mornington
** Cambridge
** Midway Point
* Sorell
* Orielton
* Runnymede
* Buckland
* Orford
* Swansea
* (Freycinet National Park)
* Bicheno
* (St Marys)
* Scamander
* St Helens
* Scottsdale
* St Leonards and other Launceston suburbs
* Launceston

## Major intersections

| LGA | Location | km | mi | Destinations | Notes |
| Hobart | Hobart | 0 | 0.0 | Brooker Highway (National Highway 1) west / Davey Street & Macquarie Street one-way couplet (A6) south – Huonville, Sandy Bay | Southern highway terminus; no access from Tasman Highway to Brooker Highway; traffic light intersection |
| Hobart | Hobart–Queens Domain boundary | 0.24 | 0.15 | Liverpool Street to Brooker Highway (National Highway 1) – Hobart city centre, North Hobart | No access from Liverpool Street to Tasman Highway southbound; traffic light intersection |
| Hobart | Queens Domain | 1.5 | 0.93 | Domain Highway – Glenorchy | Semi-directional T interchange |
| River Derwent | River Derwent | 1.5– 2.9 | 0.93– 1.8 | Tasman Bridge | Tasman Bridge |
| Clarence | Montagu Bay–Rose Bay boundary | 3.2 | 2.0 | East Derwent Highway (B32) – Lindisfarne | Directional T interchange |
| Clarence | Montagu Bay–Rose Bay–Lindisfarne–Rosny Park quadripoint | 3.9 | 2.4 | Rosny Park Road south – Rosny Park, Bellerive | Partial directional T interchange: no northbound to eastbound ramp |
| Clarence | Warrane–Mornington boundary | 6.6 | 4.1 | South Arm Highway (B33) south / Flagstaff Gully Link north – Mornington, Warrane, Rokeby, Flagstaff Gully | Interchange with eastbound exit via loop ramp |
| Clarence | Cambridge | 9.7 | 6.0 | Cambridge Road (B31 north / C329 south) / Belbins Road west – Cambridge, Richmond, Mount Rumney, Rokeby | Northbound exit and southbound entry only |
| Clarence | Cambridge | 13.0 | 8.1 | Acton Road south-east (C330) / Alliance Drive southwest / Cambridge Road north-west (to B31) / Kennedy Drive northeast – Cambridge, Richmond, Seven Mile Beach | Folded diamond interchange with ramp termini at roundabouts |
| Clarence | Cambridge | 15.7 | 9.8 | Holyman Avenue southeast / Kennedy Drive northwest – Hobart Airport – Cambridge Park | Dogbone interchange, replaced a roundabout |
| Sorell | Midway Point | 20.6 | 12.8 | Penna Road – Midway Point | Signalised intersection, replaced a roundabout |
| Sorell | Sorell | 23.2 | 14.4 | Arthur Highway (A9) – Dunalley, Port Arthur | Roundabout |
| Sorell | Sorell | 24.5 | 15.2 | Arthur Highway (old/Cole Street) (A9), Station Lane – Dunalley, Port Arthur | Traffic light intersection; dogleg onto Station Lane, northbound traffic turns west; southbound traffic turns south (both one turning lane); old northern terminus of Arthur Highway |
| Sorell | Sorell–Penna boundary | 27.4 | 17.0 | Brinktop Road (C351) – Richmond | |
| Clarence–Sorell boundary | Orielton | 34.1 | 21.2 | Fingerpost Road (C350) – Campania, Richmond | |
| Southern Midlands | Runnymede | 43.7 | 27.2 | Woodsdale Road (C312) – Levedale, Oatlands | |
| Glamorgan Spring Bay | Buckland | 60.2 | 37.4 | Buckland Road (C318) north – Woodsdale, Whiteford | |
| Glamorgan Spring Bay | Buckland | 61.0 | 37.9 | Nugent Road (C335) south – Nugent | |
| Glamorgan Spring Bay | Orford | 76.3 | 47.4 | Charles Street (C320) south / Esplanade east – Rheban | |
| Glamorgan Spring Bay | Triabunna | 85.1 | 52.9 | Freestone Point Road (C319) | |
| Glamorgan Spring Bay | Swansea | 143 | 89 | Lake Leake Road (B34) – Lake Leake, Campbell Town | |
| Glamorgan Spring Bay | Cranbrook | 149 | 93 | Old Coach Road (C301) – Royal George, Avoca | |
| Glamorgan Spring Bay | Bicheno | 165 | 103 | Coles Bay Road (C302) – Coles Bay, Freycinet National Park | |
| Break O'Day | Chain of Lagoons | 204 | 127 | Elephant Pass Road (A4) – St Marys, Launceston | |
| Break O'Day | Falmouth | 226 | 140 | Esk Highway (A4) south – St Marys, Launceston | T junction: northbound traffic turns north; southbound traffic turns east |
| Break O'Day | Scamander | 232 | 144 | Upper Scamander Road (C421) – Upper Scamander Road, Trout Creek Reserve | |
| Break O'Day | St Helens | 249 | 155 | St Helens Point Road (C851) – Stieglitz, Akaroa, St Helens Point Conservation Area | |
| Break O'Day | St Helens | 253 | 157 | Quail Street (C850 east) – Binalong Bay | |
| Break O'Day | St Helens | 255 | 158 | Ansons Bay Road (C843) – Priory, Ansons Bay, Mount William National Park | |
| Break O'Day | Goshen–Goulds Country boundary | 270 | 170 | Lottah Road (C841) – Goulds Country, The Blue Tier Forest Reserve | |
| Break O'Day | Pyengana | 278 | 173 | St Columba Falls Road (C428) – Pyengana, St Columba Falls State Reserve | |
| Break O'Day | Weldborough | 297 | 185 | Mount Paris Dam Road (C425) – Mount Paris Dam | |
| Dorset | Herrick | 308 | 191 | Gladstone Road (B82) – Pioneer, Gladstone | |
| Dorset | Winnaleah | 312 | 194 | Winnaleah Road (C840) – Winnaleah, Banca | |
| Dorset | Winnaleah | 313 | 194 | Derby Back Road (C837) west | |
| Dorset | Derby–Branxholm boundary | 322 | 200 | Derby Back Road (C837) north | |
| Dorset | Branxholm | 324 | 201 | Mount Paris Dam Road (C425) – Mount Paris Dam | |
| Dorset | Branxholm | 326 | 203 | Stokes Street (C835) – Warrentinna | |
| Dorset | Branxholm–Legerwood boundary | 327 | 203 | Legerwood Lane (C424) | |
| Dorset | Legerwood | 330 | 210 | Carisbrook Lane (C423) – Legerwood, Ringarooma, Mathinna | |
| Dorset | Tonganah | 339 | 211 | Jensens Road (C831) | |
| Dorset | Scottsdale | 347 | 216 | Ten Mile Track (C407) | |
| Dorset | Scottsdale | 350 | 220 | George Street (B84) northwest / Union Street northeast – Bridport, Lilydale | |
| Dorset | Scottsdale | 351 | 218 | William Street (B81) – Lilydale | |
| Dorset | Scottsdale | 354 | 220 | Sledge Track (C830) west – West Scottsdale | |
| Dorset | Springfield | 358 | 222 | South Springfield Road (C406) – South Springfield | |
| Dorset | Springfield | 361 | 224 | Upper Brid Road (C407) | |
| Dorset | Springfield | 362 | 225 | Sledge Track (C830) north – West Scottsdale | |
| Launceston | Targa | 380 | 240 | Camden Hill Road (C405) | |
| Launceston | Targa | 381 | 237 | Targa Hill Road (C828) | |
| Launceston | Nunamara | 384 | 239 | Pecks Hill Road (C829) – Patersonia | |
| Launceston | Nunamara | 385 | 239 | Mount Barrow Road (C404) – Mount Barrow State Reserve | |
| Launceston | Nunamara | 384 | 239 | Patersonia Road (C827) – Patersonia | |
| Launceston | St Leonards | 405 | 252 | Abels Hill Road (C403 southwest) – St Leonards | |
| Launceston | Waverley–St Leonards boundary | 409 | 254 | St Leonards Road (A3 north / C401 south) – Launceston, St Leonards | Northern highway terminus; roundabout |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Incomplete access ||||||