South East Traffic Solution

*NOTE - These projects are subject to complex Australian and Tasmanian Government environmental approval processes. As such the timeframes are indicative and may be adjusted to reflect the Australian and Tasmanian environmental regulators assessment processes.

The Sorell area is leading population growth in Tasmania’s south, increasing at nearly three times the rate of the whole state. With that growth comes increasing pressures on the local road network. This has resulted in heavier traffic and reduced travel time reliability at peak times for those travelling between the southern beaches (including Dodges Ferry and Carlton), Sorell and Hobart.

Further pressure on the local road network is generated by strong growth in tourist traffic, with Sorell at the junction of the Tasman Highway and Arthur Highway, carrying through-traffic on the Great Eastern Drive to the north, and to Port Arthur and the Tasman Peninsula in the south-east.

View a full-size version of the map here.

• Arthur Highway Overtaking Lane - an overtaking lane has been constructed on the Arthur Highway south of Iron Creek Bridge.
• Midway Point Intersection Solution - the Tasman Highway roundabout at Penna Road has been replaced with a signalised intersection.
• Sorell Southern Bypass - a bypass has been built between the Tasman Highway near Giblin Drive intersection and the Arthur Highway near Nugent Road.
• Hobart Airport Interchange Upgrade - the Tasman Highway roundabout at Holyman Avenue and Kennedy Drive has been replaced with a new highway bridge (flyover), ramps and roundabouts, safely separating highway and airport traffic and allowing highway traffic to pass this area at higher speed.

Community consultation on SETS projects

2022

In March 2022 we asked the community for feedback on the Midway Point and Sorell causeways.

The proposed Midway Point causeway upgrade includes a duplicated causeway (increasing the causeway from two to four lanes) and a new bridge to the north of McGees bridge, while the existing Sorell causeway would also be widened to four traffic lanes.

Both upgrades will include shared walking and cycling paths, and access for recreational fishing will also be retained on McGees Bridge.

A copy of the Community Consultation and Feedback report can be viewed here.

Further consultation with the community is planned to occur during early 2025.

2019

In Mid-2019 we asked the community for their feedback on options for:

• Sorell Southern Bypass
• Hobart Airport to Midway Point Causeway
• Midway Point Intersection Solution.

The first consultation period closed on 28 June 2019. You can view a summary of all the feedback received: Consultation Summary - South East Traffic Solution 2019

After that consultation, we reviewed the community feedback and worked with key stakeholders to draft a revised design for the Hobart Airport to Midway Point Causeway project.

The design was available for public comment in December 2019.

You can view the consultation report for this project here: Hobart Airport Interchange to Midway Point Causeway Stakeholder and Community Feedback Report.

More information, including key issues raised during the consultation and our response, is in the Project Update (DOCX 1.2 MB).

In January 2019, a network of revised bus services was launched in Southern Tasmania. This included a significant increase in services to several locations including Sorell.