Bogong Alpine Way (Bogong High Plains Road) - Falls Creek
| (Updated Thursday 18th February 2010) | |
Bogong High Plains Road gets final seal. | |
| The Bogong High Plains Road will receive its final seal starting on Wednesday, 24 February. The work is expected to take more than a week. Alpine Shire Council¹s Manager Strategic Services, John Carter said the final seal and guard rail will be installed to complete the road sealing project. "It is expected there will be minor delays while the work is in progress and the surface will be vacuumed of loose stones at the same time," Mr Carter said. "This will be welcomed by all the road users. The unique Alpine loop that can be enjoyed by car tourers, motorcyclists and road cyclists alike is already proving popular. More than 450 cyclists used the road as part of the Audax Alpine Classic last month and more than 1500 cyclists will ride it as part of Bicycle Victoria¹s 3 Peaks Challenge which starts on 7 March," he said. Alpine Shire Council is overseeing the project control group, managing the $10million project to seal 36km of road on behalf of its partners; the Australian Government, the Victorian Government through Parks Victoria, East Gippsland Shire Council, Falls Creek Resort Management Board and Falls Creek Ski Lifts Pty Ltd. The Victorian Government has contributed $5.2million through Parks Victoria through the value of rock, haulage and $2million cash. The Australian Government has contributed $4.206million toward the sealing of the Bogong High Plains Road under its AusLink Strategic Regional Program. | |
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| (Updated Thursday 29th October 2009) | |
The Bogong High Plains Road has been reopened to coincide with the Melbourne Cup long weekend. | |
| Those who have orchestrated a four day break could explore beyond Falls Creek now the iconic, recently sealed, road through the Alpine National Park is clear of snow. It is about to become amongst the most sought-after touring adventures in Australia!!! The Bogong Alpine Way Touring loop, taking in Falls Creek, Omeo, Dinner Plain, Mount Hotham, Bright, Mount Beauty and back to Falls Creek, is a spectacular 230 km drive. Opening it for this weekend, a long weekend for some, will encourage additional non winter visitation. The Falls Creek community is well placed to cater for what is expected to be a significant increase in summer guests. The recent sealing of the road gives greater access to Wallace's Hut and other key tourism and historical sites in the Alpine National Park. Alpine Shire Council's Manager Strategic Services, John Carter said late season snowfalls had delayed re-opening the road by a few weeks. Mr Carter said the final seal of the road and completion of interpretive areas by Parks Victoria are planned for this summer. | |
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Recently sealed Bogong High Plains Rd a huge boost to building non winter visitation | |
 On Friday April 24 history will be created (almost 45 years since the road was opened beyond Falls Creek by Ron White,. former Principal Hydro Engineer with the SEC) when the Hon Gavin Jennings MP Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Innovation proclaims the Bogong High Plains Rd officially open. Ron White (who resides in Mt Beauty) was a key person in the development of the Kiewa Hydro Power Scheme which was the catalyst for the road from Mt Beauty to Falls Creek to be upgraded from a track formerly used by mountain cattlemen and bush rangers, to one capable of handling the heavy machinery required to build power stations and Rocky Valley Reservoir, which is brimming with wild bred trout. Ron said:”I had the best job in the State Electricity Commission (SEC) which built the Kiewa Hydro Power Scheme (the largest hydro electric scheme in Victoria) and managed the land where Falls Creek is today.” White was the person who declared open the Bogong High Plains Rd beyond Rocky Valley to Basalt Hill in 1965. It was closed the following day because of heavy snow and didn't reopen until the following summer. "Back then there was a 20 mile an hour speed limit and there wasn't one fatality up until we handed it (the Bogong High Plains Rd) back to the Country Roads Board who built the original road between Mt Beauty and Falls Creek in the late 1930's.,” said White. “I spent 29 years working in numerous roles with the SEC. The Bogong High Plains Rd was designed to build a hydro scheme and take heavy machinery, so it isn't as windy as the road between Harrietville and hotham. Reflecting on the road's historical significance it is interesting to note the first users (of a much different road that what exists today) were mountain cattlemen, who travelled up a bush track to Falls Creek and the Bogong High Plains, mining prospectors and bush rangers. The original name for Falls Creek was Horse Shoe Creek because it was often boggy and their horses frequently lost their shoes. It was renamed Falls Creek in 1939 by a supervisor working for the Country Roads Board (CRB). Some of the names guests travelling up the road today will notice names such as the Cranky Charlie roundabout (named after one of the original pioneering farming families in the Kiewa Valley), Lyre Bird Creek (named by the SEC in 1958 after workers watched a Lyre Bird build a nest and raise a chick about 15 metres from the road) and Howman's Gap (named after Fred Howman another early settler in the picture-postcard Kiewa Valley) which will be recognised by a series of interpretive signs erected next summer. Mt Beauty has evolved into a tourist-orientated town as the hydro-scheme workers moved on and a younger generation has taken their place to moved in work at Falls Creek and the numerous tourism-related ventures in the Kiewa Valley. Bogong Village, originally the field headquarters of the Kiewa Hydro Power Scheme, has also had an injection of 'new blood' with private owners acquiring about 30 of the houses originally built to accommodate the workers. The entire network of hydro-power stations and related facilities is now owned by AGL who purchased it from Southern Hydro (who acquired it from the SEC) for $1.4 Billion Dollars . A dramatic flow of visitors occurred some years age when the final link in the Great Alpine Road was sealed. A similar scenario is anticipated (next summer) by the Falls Creek, Mt Beauty and Bogong Village tourism-related businesses. It will become one of the most popular tourist drives in Victoria and a Mecca for motor and road cyclists seeking a new, interesting touring route. | |
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ICONIC TOURING LOOP ONE STEP CLOSER | |
 The Bogong High Plains Road, from Falls Creek to the Omeo Highway, is now completely sealed, a month ahead of schedule.Alpine Shire Council’s Manager Strategic Services, John Carter said the project control group was very pleased to complete this first stage of the project which will ultimately deliver a unique new tourism product through its environmental, heritage and tourism appeal. “Visitors to Victoria’s high country over Easter will have better access to the Alpine National Park via the Bogong High Plains Road now that the road has been sealed,” Mr Carter said. Alpine Mayor, Cr Nino Mautone said delivering the sealing component ahead of time and within budget is a significant achievement and offered his congratulations to all involved, especially AG Project Consultants and Winslow Constructors. “This is the biggest project Council has ever managed and it produces a great outcome for tourism by providing a new touring loop,” Cr Mautone said. Alpine Shire Council is overseeing the project control group, managing the $10million project to seal 36km of road on behalf of its partners; the Australian Government, the Victorian Government through Parks Victoria, East Gippsland Shire Council, Falls Creek Resort Management Board and Falls Creek Ski Lifts Pty Ltd. Mr Carter said the project was quite complex, relying on rock from AGL’s power station being built near Bogong Village and having to run over two construction seasons because the Bogong High Plains Road is closed for winter due to snow. “We are now looking forward to the official opening in early May,” Mr Carter said. The Victorian Government has contributed $5.2million through Parks Victoria through the value of rock, haulage and $2million cash. The Australian Government has contributed $4.206million toward the sealing of the Bogong High Plains Road under its AusLink Strategic Regional Program. The final phase, lead by Parks Victoria will deliver improved visitor facilities and interpretive signage next year providing a world-class nature-based tourism product. | |
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The upgrading of the Bogong High Plains Road is gaining momentum | |
 The collective vision for a sense of discovery is becoming a reality. A world class touring route and a high quality interpretive experience has been spearheaded by the Alpine Shire.It is overseeing a project control group, managing the project to seal 36km of road on behalf of its partners; the Australian Government, the Victorian Government through Parks Victoria, East Gippsland Shire Council, Falls Creek Resort Management Board and Falls Creek Ski Lifts Pty Ltd. The $10million investment by the partners will ensure there's a sealed touring loop for three of the four seasons which is expected to increase visitation to the Alpine National Park and incorporates improvements for park users such as improved visitor areas and signage Throughout the summer and autumn visitors to Falls Creek would have noticed numerous large trucks negioating the road between Bogong Village (where AGL are building a new hydro power station) and the unsealed section of the Bogong High Plains Road. 27.5km of sub-base material, sourced from the AGL power station tunnel construction near Bogong Village, was placed on the road in readiness for the current work - the sealing of the road (for the Australia Day holiday weekend) from Falls Creek to Rocky Valley Lake and just beyond Langfords Gap to Basalt Hill. The Alpine Shire's Manager Strategic Services John Carter said:"Seal works will be halted at the end of this week for 2-3 weeks while further base material is laid and preparation is done. "Next month seal works will resume at the Omeo Highway end of the project and work back toward Basalt Hill. | |
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| For more information on the progress of the sealing project please click here. |
