Stanley Highway Upgrade

About the project

The Stanley Highway leads to some of the state’s most iconic tourist destinations, including The Nut and the historic township of Stanley.

We are upgrading the highway to improve safety, traffic flow, and enhance the visitor experience along this popular tourist route.

Stanley Highway Tourism Route Upgrade

The Stanley Highway Tourism Route Upgrade will improve safety and accessibility along a 2.8 km stretch of the Stanley Highway, between West Inlet Track and Dovecote Road.

These upgrades highlight the project’s commitment to balancing road safety with community priorities.

Key improvements for the Stanley Highway include:

• wider lanes and sealed shoulders for safer travel
• wildlife awareness signage to protect local fauna
• improved roadside drainage to support new pavement.
• reconstruction of a stock underpass to support farming operations.

Trethewies Lookout upgrades (completed)

Upgrades to the Trethewies Lookout were completed in early 2025.The works delivered safer access, a new traffic island and barrier, sealed parking, line marking, and signage, making the lookout more welcoming for visitors and safer for road users.

Current situation

Tenders are expected to be advertised in early 2026 for upgrades to the 2.8 km stretch of the Stanley Highway, between West Inlet Track and Dovecote Road. Construction is expected to start in mid-2026, subject to final approvals and contractor availability.

We will continue to engage with impacted landowners and stakeholders as we finalise the designs and prepare the project for tender.

Funding

This project has funding of $10 million from the Tasmanian Government, as part of its North West and West Coast Infrastructure Program.

Project history

The original project scope included upgrading two sections of the Stanley Highway – section A, starting at Dovecote Road and continuing south past the residential area for around 500 metres, and section B, beginning at the Bass Highway intersection and continuing north towards Stanley, past Trethewies Lookout.

Initial cost estimates for the project indicated that the available budget would not be enough to upgrade both sections, and that one section would need to be prioritised over the other.

In October 2023 we spoke with landowners near the highway, residents, and other key stakeholders, including Circular Head Council and the Stanley Chamber of Commerce, to get their feedback on a concept design for two sections of the highway:

• Section A: The northern section of the Stanley Highway, which starts at Dovecote Road and continues past the residential area for around 500 metres
• Section B: The southern section of the Stanley Highway, starting at the Bass Highway intersection, which includes the approach to Stanley and passes Trethewies Lookout.

We learned that Section B is the overwhelming priority, and the community supports increasing the scope of the project to include safety improvements at Trethewies Lookout.

Based on our discussions with the community, and the increased costs to Section B due to the requested safety improvements at the lookout, it was necessary to shorten the length of highway to be upgraded to meet the priorities of the community and our budget requirements.

Accessibility

If you would like to find out more information and you have accessibility requirements, please contact the project engagement consultant (details below).

You can find out more about Transport Services' commitment to accessibility.

Contact

If you have any questions regarding these works, please contact the project team at stanleyhighwayupgrade@stategrowth.tas.gov.au or Stakeholder Engagement Consultant Sarah Sutton 0418 828 896.