Brighton Bypass

Background

The Brighton Bypass is a $176 million investment in upgrading the Midland Highway to the north of Hobart, funded by the Australian Government.

It will provide a bypass of the towns of Brighton and Pontville, significantly improved connections to the developing Brighton Industrial Estate and future Brighton Transport Hub, residential and retail centres in Brighton and to the historic settlement of Pontville.

The bypass will provide a new dual carriageway highway between the East Derwent Highway at Bridgewater and the existing Midland Highway north of Pontville.

Local Tasmanian firms VEC Civil Engineering and Hazell Bros will undertake contract work on the Bypass with contracting national partners, Thiess and John Holland respectively. Works are scheduled to be completed by December 2012.

Why Build The Bypass?

The Midland Highway is the State's major north-south transport corridor and a key link in Tasmania's AusLink National Network. The Highway is the major transport link for people travelling between the North and South of the State, and provides a critical freight connection supporting the region's reliance on the northern ports for freight imports and exports.

The primary function of the Midland Highway is to provide safe, high-speed travel for passenger and freight vehicles. However, the southern section of the Highway (Granton to Dysart) passes through a number of towns, including Brighton (a regional service centre), Pontville and Bagdad. There is significant conflict between intrastate and local traffic. Existing connections to the proposed Brighton Transport Hub and Brighton Industrial Estate are also poor.

The Brighton Bypass will provide improved connections to and support for the development of the new freight transport hub at Brighton, and will also address traffic movement, safety and amenity issues associated with a major freight route passing through the towns of Brighton and Pontville. It will also support improved access to the East Coast, including for forestry freight vehicles accessing the Triabunna woodchip mill and port via Tea Tree Road.

Design Features

Features of the concept design include:

Grade separated interchanges to the Brighton Industrial Estate, the proposed Brighton Transport Hub and Brighton (south) and Tea Tree Road (east of Brighton)
Construction of a roundabout to connect to the current Midland Highway north of Pontville, which would provide a link to the future Bagdad Bypass.
Local road overpass/underpass structures and the provision of service roads.
A major bridge over the Jordan River and smaller bridges over the Bagdad Rivulet and other tributaries.
Three rail underpasses for the Tasmanian Main North/South Rail Line.
Provision of an upgraded roundabout at the East Derwent Highway/Midland Highway junction.

Project Benefits

This project will provide:

A highway system to accommodate Tasmania's growing freight task, which is projected to double by 2022.
A highway system that supports the changed direction of trade from southern Tasmania to the northern ports.
A more consistent operating environment for freight traffic and passenger vehicles.
Reduced freight travel times and improved transport efficiencies for freight vehicles, travelling between the Southern Region and northern destinations.
Reduced conflict between the through traffic function of the Highway and the local access requirements of the Brighton area.
Benefits to industrial and warehousing activities, supporting economic growth in southern Tasmania.
Seamless connections between road/rail freight via the Brighton Transport Hub.
Improved access to the developing Brighton Industrial Estate.
A safer road network for all users by addressing many safety issues associated with the deficiencies of the existing highway.
Reduced road trauma and the associated economic costs of crashes to the community.
Significant social benefits through improved amenity in Brighton and Pontville.
A 2.5m wide multi-user path is planned for construction along with the western side of the bypass between Bridgewater and Brighton township.

Documentation

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