Overview

We’ve realigned a stretch of the South Gippsland Highway between Koonwarra and Meeniyan, locally known as the Black Spur.

The Australian and Victorian Government invested $115.2 million to realign the highway and make it easier and safer for you to travel through the area.

Major construction started on the project in early 2020 and was completed in late 2022.

As part of the project, we:

  • built a new section of highway between Old Koonwarra-Meeniyan Road and Minns Road and reduced the length of highway from 3.4km to 2.3km
  • removed 9 sharp corners
  • built 2 new bridges over the Tarwin River
  • built an underpass east of the new Caithness Road intersection for the Great Southern Rail Trail
  • realigned the Great Southern Rail Trail under the new river bridge at Minns Road
  • closed off access to the old section of highway to through traffic east of Caithness Road while retaining access for local residents
  • kept access to Caithness Road by a new intersection and upgrades to the existing intersection at Minns Road
  • installed safety barriers.

View a larger version of the South Gippsland Highway realignment project map (PDF, 132.7 KB)

Community

We worked with a range of people from different interest groups on the planning of this project for more than 10 years.

They include:

  • local landowners
  • the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP)
  • South Gippsland Shire Council
  • West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority
  • Southern Rural Water
  • Museum Victoria
  • Geological Survey Victoria
  • Nerrena Land Care Group
  • the Great Southern Rail Trail Committee of Management.

Video

See our community event introducing locals to the new Tarwin River bridge.