Murchison Highway

The Murchison Highway is a highway located in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. The 147-kilometre (91 mi) highway runs generally north–south, with Somerset, near Burnie, as its northern terminus and Zeehan as its southern terminus. The highway was opened on 13 December 1963.^[1][2][3][4] Part of the highway from Waratah to Burnie was known as the Waratah Highway until 1973.

Murchison Highway Tasmania
Northern end of the Murchison Highway in Somerset.
General information
Type	Highway
Length	147 km (91 mi)
Opened	13 December 1963 (1963-12-13)
Route number(s)	A10 Zeehan — Somerset
Former route number	State Route 8
Major junctions
South end	Zeehan Highway Zeehan Highway Zeehan, Tasmania
	Anthony Road Ridgley Highway Waratah Road Mount Hicks Road
North end	Bass Highway Somerset, Tasmania
Location(s)
Major settlements	Rosebery, Tullah, Parrawe, Yolla
Highway system
Highways in Australia National Highway • Freeways in Australia Highways in Tasmania

v t e Murchison Highway
Legend
km Bass Strait 0 Somerset / Bass Highway 10 Elliot 15 Yolla / Mount Hicks Road to Wynyard 30 Oonah 40 Hellyer River / Hellyer Gorge 64 Waratah Road to Waratah / Ridgley Highway to Burnie 80 Belvoir Road to Cradle Mountain 101 Pieman Road to Corinna 103 Mackintosh River 106 Tullah 108 Murchison River 109 Anthony Road to Lake Plimsoll 119 Rosebery 130 Renison Bell 142 Zeehan Highway

Course

The highway is susceptible to ice and snow in winter. One of the notorious sections is at the edge of Mount Black; numerous accidents have occurred in the area. Also the Zeehan to Rosebery section has hazardous sections which can be affected by cold and wet weather.^[5]

Portions of the highway have been made redundant by extra roads built by Hydro Tasmania during their work on the upper Pieman River scheme and the Henty River dam schemes. These provide short cuts from Queenstown straight through to Tullah by going just west of the West Coast Range.^[6]

The highway crosses the Mackintosh River and the Murchison River near the town of Tullah, where the rivers form a confluence to form the Pieman River.^[7]

History

Prior to the construction of the highway, the west coast of Tasmania could only be accessed by the Emu Bay Railway, or by ship to Regatta Point or Strahan in Macquarie Harbour.

See also

•  Australian Roads portal
•  Australia portal

• Highways in Australia
• List of highways in Tasmania

References

1. "Road link heralds new era for west". Tasmanian Motor News. January 1964.
2. "Murchison Highway opens". Launceston Examiner. 13 December 1963.
3. "Special Supplement: Murchison Highway opens". North West Advocate. 13 December 1963.
4. "Murchison Highway opens". Hobart Mercury. 14 December 1963.
5. Monery, Holly (4 July 2014). "Concern over Murchison Highway condition". The Advocate. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
6. Murchison Highway road links : report of the Select Committee of the Legislative Council, with minutes of proceedings. Tasmania. Parliament. Legislative Council. Select Committee on Murchison Highway Road Links. Parliamentary paper ; no.1 of 1975. Chairman: W.T. Young. ISBN 0724601562
7. "Map of Murchison Highway, TAS". Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia. Retrieved 21 June 2015.

External links

• Road Condition overview