Phillip Island Road

West end

East end

Coordinates

38°26′53″S 145°14′20″E / 38.448036°S 145.238993°E / -38.448036; 145.238993 (West end)
38°30′26″S 145°27′03″E / 38.507350°S 145.450894°E / -38.507350; 145.450894 (East end)

General informationTypeRoadLength24.9 km (15 mi)^[1]GazettedSeptember 1914^[2]Route number(s)

B420 (1998–present)Former
route number

State Route 186 (1986-1998)Major junctionsWest endThe Esplanade
Cowes, Victoria

Ventnor Road
Back Beach Road
Old Phillip Island Road

East end

Bass Highway
Bass, VictoriaLocation(s)Major suburbsWimbledon Heights, Cape Woolamai, San Remo

Phillip Island Road (and its northern section as Thompson Avenue) is a tourist road in Victoria, Australia, serving as the main gateway to Phillip Island, in southern Westernport Bay. It branches off Bass Highway south of the township of Bass to link with Cowes on the northern coast of the island.^[3]

Route

Phillip Island Road commences at the intersection of The Esplanade in Cowes, on the northern coast of the island, and runs south as a two-lane, single carriageway road as Thompson Avenue as the town's main street, before reaching a roundabout with Ventor and Coews-Rhyll Road shortly afterwards, changes name to Phillip Island Road and continues in a south-easterly direction, passing a turn-off to Cape Woolamai, to the easternmost point of the island at Newhaven. It crosses Westernport Bay over Phillip Island Bridge and continues on the mainland through San Remo to eventually terminate at the interchange with Bass Highway in the south of Bass.

History

The passing of the Country Roads Act of 1912^[4] through the Parliament of Victoria provided for the establishment of the Country Roads Board (later VicRoads) and their ability to declare Main Roads, taking responsibility for the management, construction and care of the state's major roads from local municipalities. (Main) Coast Road from San Remo to Anderson (and continuing east to Lang Lang), was declared a Main Road on 7 September 1914.^[2] It was renamed Phillip Island Road at a later date.

Phillip Island Bridge, at the time a suspension bridge, was opened in November 1940, linking San Remo on the mainland to Newhaven on the island; this was replaced by a cantilever bridge in November 1969.

Philip Island Road was signed as State Route 186 between Cowes and Anderson in 1986. With Victoria's conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in the late 1990s, this was replaced by route B420. An upgrade of Bass Highway included a new link road to Phillip Island Road in 2013; the alignment of its eastern end was connected directly to Bass Highway in Bass, bypassing the town of Anderson.^[5]

The passing of the Road Management Act 2004^[6] granted the responsibility of overall management and development of Victoria's major arterial roads to VicRoads: in 2018, VicRoads re-declared the road as Philip Island Road (Arterial #4971) between The Esplanade in Cowes and Bass Highway in Bass.^[3]

Major intersections

Philip Island Road is entirely contained within the Bass Coast Shire local government area.

Location	km	mi	Destinations	Notes
Cowes	0.0	0.0	The Esplanade – Cowes	Western terminus of road (declared) and route B420 Northern end of Thompson Avenue
Cowes	1.7	1.1	Ventnor Road (C473 west) – Ventnor, Summerlands Cowes–Rhyll Road (east) – Rhyll	Southern end of Thompson Avenue, northern end of Phillip Island Road (sign-posted)
Sunset Strip–Rhyll boundary	7.5	4.7	Back Beach Road (C478) – Summerlands	Roundabout
Cape Woolamai–Newhaven boundary	13.4	8.3	Woolamai Beach Road – Cape Woolamai	Roundabout
Westernport Bay	16.2– 16.8	10.1– 10.4	Phillip Island Bridge
Anderson	22.5	14.0	Old Phillip Island Road (C439) – Anderson, to Bass Highway (B460 south) – Wonthaggi, Inverloch
Bass	24.9	15.5	Bass Highway (M420 north) – Grantville, Lang Lang, Melbourne	Northbound entrance to and southband exit from Bass Highway only Eastern terminus of road and route B420, route M420 continues along Bass Highway
Incomplete access Route transition

References

^ Google (24 June 2024). "Philip Island Road" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Victorian Government Gazette". State Library of Victoria. 7 October 1914. p. 4537. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
^ ^a ^b VicRoads. "VicRoads – Register of Public Roads 2024" (PDF). Government of Victoria. p. 100. Archived from the original on 19 June 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
^ An Act relating to Country Roads State of Victoria, 23 December 1912
^ Bass Highway Duplication – Lang Lang to Anderson VicRoads, retrieved on 8 September 2013. Archived 26 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine
^ State Government of Victoria. "Road Management Act 2004" (PDF). Government of Victoria. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 October 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.