The East Tamar Highway is a highway in Tasmania, Australia. It covers the eastern edge of the Tamar River, from Launceston to the lighthouse at Low Head.
It is labelled as route A8, but prior to 1980 was signed as State Route 1.
Plans for a high-speed East Tamar Highway date back to the 1950s.
Upgrades The East Tamar Highway has had a majority of upgrades since the 1950s to it.
East Tamar Outlet The East Tamar Outlet is a dual carriageway that starts from Invermay to the Dilston Bypass. It bypasses Mowbray, Alanvale and Newnham. The dual carriageway previous went on Mowbray Link, then University Way, now bypasses all of those roads.
Dilston Bypass The Dilston Bypass is a bypass that starts/ends from the East Tamar Outlet to John Less Drive. It replaces the old route going to Dilston. It opened in 2011.
Mowbray Link Roundabout In 2018 or 2019, roadworks was settled near Mowbray Link and the East Tamar Outlet constructing a new roundabout replacing the multiple slip lanes T interchange connector.
Route description East Tamar Outlet (Launceston to Dilston) The highway leaves the Launceston CBD then goes through Invermay then leaves Invermay after the last pair of traffic lights. The East Tamar Outlet has a few intersections as a roundabout, a T-interchange and a trumpet interchange. Dilston to George Town After the East Tamar Outlet, the Dilston Bypass begins then ends at an intersection. There are many overtaking lane opportunities from the Dilston Bypass to the roundabout of where Bell Bay Road starts. The highway goes through many bushes and bridges with another trumpet interchange as the Batman Highway intersects with the East Tamar Highway. It goes through more bushes, bridges and intersections. The highway goes onto a roundabout then goes on a bridge over the Bell Bay Railway Line then enters George Town. George Town to Low Head After leaving George Town, the highway is entirely narrow after leaving the town of George Town with many intersections. The highway ends where the Low Head Lighthouse is.
Major intersections Four shielded routes terminate at the intersections of streets in the Launceston CBD. Because all the involved streets are one-way each route has separate inbound and outbound termini. One of these routes is the East Tamar Highway. Distances from each terminus to a point on the route may not be identical. Those shown below are from the outbound terminus.
See also
Highways in Australia List of highways in Tasmania List of highways in Launceston, Tasmania
References
External links Tasmania's Highways on OZROADS