Projects

Great Ocean Road and inland routes upgrades

Built by First World War (WWI) diggers and almost 100 years old, the iconic Great Ocean Road is being upgraded to ensure future generations can enjoy it as much as we do.

Project status:

Underway

Overview

The Victorian Government has invested $255 million to the Great Ocean Road and its inland routes.

This includes $140 million to upgrade and improve the resilience of the Great Ocean Road and another $115 million to upgrade inland routes between the Great Ocean Road and the Princes Highway, which are vital connections for tourism, freight and local communities.

Update – October 2024

Thank you for your patience while we work on the Great Ocean Road and its inland routes.

We’ve been working hard to upgrade and improve these roads to ensure they can continue to carry millions of people each year as Victoria’s iconic tourist region.

Road rehabilitations

We've been working to rehabilitate the pavement along the Great Ocean Road and its inland routes, including sections of:

Birregurra-Forrest Road
Cobden-Port Campbell Road
Colac-Lavers Hill Road
Forrest-Apollo Bay Road
Great Ocean Road
Princetown Road
Timboon-Nullawarre Road
Winchelsea-Deans Marsh Road.

We’ll provide more information to communities as additional road rebuilding projects take place under this program.

Bridge upgrades

Numerous bridges have been upgraded and strengthened to improve safety and connectivity across waterways along the Great Ocean Road and its inland routes.

Completed bridge works on the Great Ocean Road include:

Barham River bridge
Gellibrand River bridge
Sheoak Creek bridge
Saint George River bridge.

Geotechnical works

Geotechnical engineering works are essential to protect the longevity of the natural roadside landscape of the region and improve safety for all road users travelling across the network.

Completed works along the Great Ocean Road and its inland routes include:

20 rockfall netting sites
20 retaining walls.

Works will continue at various locations over 2024 and 2025.

Safety upgrades

We’re creating a safer road environment on the Great Ocean Road and its inland routes through various safety treatments, including:

a speed change at Aireys Inlet
new wombat crossings in Apollo Bay
an intersection upgrade at Princes Highway.

We’ve completed other minor safety upgrades under this program, including sites at Anglesea, Apollo Bay, Big Hill, Saint George River and Timboon.

Program of works 2024/2025

Our current program of works includes a number of projects in the design and delivery stages including:

Bridge upgrades
- Great Ocean Road
  - Calder River bridge
  - Ford River bridge
  - Latrobe River bridge
  - Skenes Creek bridge
  - Wye River bridge
  - Spout Creek
- Inland routes
  - Kennedy Creek bridge
  - Scotts Creek bridge
Geotechnical program
- Retaining walls and rockfall netting at:
  - Colac-Lavers Hill Road
  - Forrest-Apollo Bay Road
  - Great Ocean Road, between Lorne and Apollo Bay
  - Timboon-Port Campbell Road
- Erosion control rock armour walls at:
  - Kennett Creek
  - Petticoat Creek
Road rehabilitation
- Colac-Forrest Road in Yeo
- Deans Marsh-Lorne Road in Deans Marsh
- Forrest-Apollo Bay Road in Barramunga
- Great Ocean Road in Mepunga West, Peterborough, Princetown and Nullawarre
- Timboon-Colac Road in Timboon
- Winchelsea-Deans Marsh Road in Bambra, Winchelsea and Winchelsea South
Safety upgrades:
- Intersection upgrades
  - Cooriemungle
  - Aireys Street at Colac
- Shoulder widening, safety barrier installation, linemarking and signage
  - Maits Rest
  - Beauty Gully

Traffic impacts

You'll see us working at various locations as we continue to upgrade and improve the resilience of the Great Ocean Road and its inland routes. Vital works to ensure the road remains strong include road rebuilding, bridge strengthening, geotechnical works, and safety upgrades.

We'll make every effort to minimise disruption to traffic while works are completed.

Our work sites may include any of the following traffic management:

lane closures
reduced speed limit
traffic lights or controllers
electronic message signs
detours.

Please look out for changed traffic conditions, plan ahead and allow extra time for your journey.

Emergency works

In the case of unforeseen events, emergency works may occur to ensure the safety of the roads and road users. Please be aware of signs and drive to changed conditions, which may include reduced speed limits and temporary lane closures.

History of the Great Ocean Road

Thursday 19 September 2019 marked 100 years from the day WWI diggers commenced construction on the Great Ocean Road.

To celebrate the centenary, we proudly supported an event series in September 2019 from Great Ocean Road Tourism, which featured a new documentary, gala screenings, pop-up cinemas in shipping containers and new art and augmented reality activations from Torquay to Apollo Bay.

The documentary, titled ‘The Story of the Road’, showcased how the road came to be—detailing its construction by WWI returned servicemen and their lives as they built the now 243-kilometre-long road, joining the isolated towns lining the western Victorian coastline.

We now use modern technology to protect and improve this historic coast route, to ensure it remains strong and safe for future generations.