Bass Highway, Tasmania

The Bass Highway is a highway in Tasmania, Australia. It is a part of the National Highway, named National Highway 1. It joins the major cities across the north of the state - Burnie, Devonport and Launceston. The Bass Highway is, like Bass Strait, named for explorer George Bass.

The highway connects the following towns:

• Launceston
• Prospect and other Launceston suburbs
• Hadspen
• Carrick
• Hagley
• Westbury
• Exton
• Deloraine
• Elizabeth Town
• Sassafras
• Latrobe
• Devonport
• Forth
• Ulverstone
• Penguin
• Burnie

From Burnie, the Bass Highway is no longer a National Highway, and connects the following towns:

• Somerset
• Wynyard
• Smithton
• Marrawah

As part of the National Highway, there have been many changes to the highway. In the 1980s it was made longer to join the southern exit at Launceston which connects to the Midland Highway. Almost the entire length of the highway has been re-aligned to allow for dual carriageway, overtaking lanes, and the bypass of small towns.

Between Launceston and Deloraine, this had included Carrick and Hadspen in the 1980s and Deloraine in the early 1990s. The longest stretch of highway, the Hagley-Westbury bypass, was completed in 2001. People living in the small towns have been concerned that they no longer get passing trade. The 'old' highway, now known as the Meander Valley Highway, is promoted as a tourist route.

The highway between Latrobe and Somerset has had a similar re-alignment. This section of the highway is more of a commuter highway than a tourist highway, and as such the local economy does not rely on passing tourists.