Great Alpine Road
Template: Infobox several high-level roads / maintenance / AU AB
States:
Victoria
The Great Alpine Road is a suburban street for tourists in the east of the Australian state of Victoria. It connects the Old Hume Highway ( C314 ) in Wangaratta with the Princes Highway (A1 ) at Bairnsdale. They crossed the Australian Alps. The road was given its present name because it is the equivalent of the world famous Great Ocean Road in the southwest of the state in the mountains.
The Great Alpine Road winds through mountains, valleys and forests, across rivers and past vineyards and farms. With its length of 303 km, it is Australia's highest motorable all year round, paved road. The section on Mount Hotham rises to a height of 1840 m above sea level and in winter is snowy, so it must be cleared daily. During heavy snowfall, it may happen that the road from Harrietville and Omeo is disabled.
The Great Alpine Road connects with the Victoria's north-east Gippsland. Finally, the section between Mount Hotham and Dinner Plain were paved and on 4 April 1998, the road was officially opened to traffic. The trail linkage existed in one form or another since the colonization of Australia. She was never paved before 1998 on the full length and also received only their names.
The current Great Alpine Road also integrates the previous Ovens Highway from Wangaratta to Brightwood and part of the former Omeo Omeo Highway from Bruthen and after the route Bruthen - Bairnsdale des Princes Highway. Other attractions in the range include Mount Buffalo National Park, the famous tourist town of Bright, the Alpine Park in Mount Hotham and Dinner Plain, the old gold rush town of Omeo, and the magnificent views and the challenging route.
Route
The Great Alpine Road is 303 km long. The starting point is Wangaratta. Bright Up the road passes through farmland, vineyards and valleys. Next it passes through open country to Harrietville. Here, the ascent begins to Mount Hotham. This section is very accident prone and requires the driver to increased attention, since it is very curvy and steep and even provided with some hairpin turns. From Mount Hotham can be reached in 15 minutes' Dinner Plain. There, in turn, winding and steep descent begins Omeo. About ten minutes' drive outside the city to reach a level. From Omeo, the road follows curvy and moderately steep most of the valley of the Tambo River to Bruthen. The last 26 km to Bairnsdale are flat.