The Arthur Highway (A9) is a
Tasmania
Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
n highway which runs from
Sorell in the near south to
Port Arthur in the far south-east.
Route description
From a roundabout with the
Tasman Highway
The Tasman Highway (or A3) is a highway in Tasmania, Australia. Like the Midland Highway (Tasmania), Midland Highway, it connects the major cities of Hobart and Launceston, Tasmania, Launceston – however it takes a different route, via the no ...
outside Sorell the highway runs northeast to another roundabout roughly housing its former alignment inside Sorell, crossing Iron Creek before turning south-east to
Forcett. From there it continues in an easterly direction, crossing the Carlton River, to
Copping, where it turns south to
Dunalley. Here it crosses the
Denison Canal via a swing bridge to the
Forestier Peninsula
The Forestier Peninsula is a peninsula located in south-east Tasmania, Australia, approximately by the Arthur Highway, south-east of Hobart. The peninsula is connected to mainland Tasmania at East Bay Neck, near the town of at its northern e ...
, before continuing south-east to
Eaglehawk Neck, the entry to the
Tasman Peninsula
The Tasman Peninsula, officially Turrakana / Tasman Peninsula, is a peninsula located in south-east Tasmania, Australia, approximately by the Arthur Highway, south-east of Hobart.
The Tasman Peninsula lies south and west of Forestier Peninsu ...
. After following the southern shore of Eaglehawk Bay to the west the highway turns south and continues in that direction to Port Arthur where it transitions to route B37 (Nubeena Road).
History
Port Arthur (the town) was named for
George Arthur
Sir George Arthur, 1st Baronet (21 June 1784 – 19 September 1854) was a British colonial administrator who was Lieutenant Governor of British Honduras from 1814 to 1822 and of Van Diemen's Land (present-day Tasmania) from 1824 to 1836. ...
, the lieutenant governor of
Van Diemen’s Land
Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania during the European exploration and colonisation of Australia in the 19th century. The Aboriginal-inhabited island was first visited by the Dutch ship captained by Abel Tasm ...
. It is likely that the name of the highway was derived from this source.
The first "proper" crossing of the Carlton River, near the line now followed by the highway, was opened in 1883. It consisted of multiple wooden bridges and causeways.
Work commenced on a concrete bridge, a replacement for all three wooden bridges on a slightly altered alignment, in 1944.
The Denison Canal opened in 1905 with a wooden, manually operated swing bridge. This was replaced by an electrically operated bridge in 1965.
The highway used to end at traffic signals at a rather space-limited
dogleg intersection with Tasman Highway and Station Lane in the centre of
Sorell. The first stage of the Sorell Bypass opened in 2022, slightly extending Arthur Highway south toward Hobart just outside Sorell, avoiding the town. This allowed traffic to bypass Sorell
instead of going right through the town on Tasman Highway or using Parsonage Place (to which was applied a 5-tonne limit, despite accompanying stop-gap improvements and a rename). There is a reserve towards William Street in which Tasman Highway will once bypass the town, but currently the traffic must still use the old Arthur Highway terminus to exit the town northwest.
Major intersections
See also
*
Highways in Australia
Highways in Australia are generally high capacity roads managed by states and territories of Australia, state and territory government agencies, though Australia's federal government contributes funding for important links between capital cit ...
*
List of highways in Tasmania
The Highways in Tasmania generally expand from Hobart and other major cities with secondary roads interconnecting the highways to each other. Functions of these highways include freight, personal travel and tourism.
The AusLink Network curren ...
References
{{Attached KML, display=title
Highways in Tasmania
South East Tasmania