Yarra Scenic Drive

Yarra Scenic Drive

Victoria
Yarra Scenic Drive; Victoria
General information
Type	Road
Length	60 km (37 mi)
Tourist routes	Tourist Drive 2
Major junctions
East end	Warrandyte–Ringwood Road, Warrandyte
West end	Battery Road, Williamstown (Point Gellibrand)
Location(s)
Major suburbs	Templestowe, Bulleen, Ivanhoe, Kew, Burnley, South Yarra, Southbank, Melbourne, Yarraville, Newport

Yarra Scenic Drive is a tourist drive following the Yarra River, in Victoria, Australia. The route traverses approximately 60 km from Warrandyte - where the Yarra diverts from any thoroughfares - to Williamstown - where the Yarra empties into Port Phillip Bay.

Signage

Tourist Drive 2 route marker

The drive was originally signed as metropolitan route 2, and was signed accordingly with the standard blue and white curved shield signs. When the route was extended from Ivanhoe East to Warrandyte, it was resigned using the brown five-sided shield. Usually, the brown shield is shown in the centre of a small green and white sign bearing the words Yarra Scenic Drive.

Streets Covered by the Route

BEGIN at: Intersection b/w Warrandyte-Ringwood Rd/Kangaroo Ground-Warrandyte Rd and Warrandyte Rd, Warrandyte (a.k.a. Warrandyte Bridge)
Warrandyte Rd, Warrandyte - Doncaster East - Templestowe
Newmans Rd, Templestowe
Porter St, Templestowe
Anderson St, Templestowe
Swilk St, Templestowe
Parker St, Templestowe Lower
Union St, Templestowe Lower
Templestowe Rd, Templestowe Lower - Bulleen
Bridge St, Bulleen
Manningham Rd West, Bulleen
Banksia St, Heidelberg
Lower Heidelberg Rd, Eaglemont - Ivanhoe East
Burke Rd North, Ivanhoe East
Intersection b/w the Boulevard and Burke Rd North, Ivanhoe East (Original beginning)
The Boulevard, Ivanhoe East - Ivanhoe
Heidelberg Rd, Ivanhoe - Alphington
Chandler Hwy, Alphington - Kew
Yarra Blvd, Kew
Walmer St, Kew
Studley Park Rd, Kew
High St South, Kew
Church St, Hawthorn
Bridge Rd, Burnley
Yarra Blvd, Burnley
Grange Rd, Burnley - Toorak
Alexandra Av, Toorak
Williams Rd North, South Yarra†
Alexandra Av, South Yarra - Melbourne
Yarra Bank Hwy, Southbank
City Rd, Southbank
Clarendon St, Southbank
Spencer St, Southbank - Melbourne
Flinders St, Melbourne
Montague St, Docklands - Southbank
West Gate Freeway, South Melbourne - Port Melbourne - Spotswood
Williamstown Rd, Yarraville
Francis St, Yarraville
Hyde St, Yarraville
Douglas Pde, Spotswood - Newport
North Rd, Newport
The Strand, Newport - Williamstown
Nelson Pl, Williamstown
Battery Rd, Williamstown
END at: Point Gellibrand, Williamstown

A large amount of winding road on this route means it takes at least a couple of hours to complete.

† Williams Rd North only on Warrandyte-Williamstown journey, because right turns cannot be made on Alexandra Avenue when crossing from Toorak into South Yarra

Route Description

Warrandyte to Bulleen

Through these outer north-eastern suburbs, the route winds near to the Yarra River, but rarely can the driver see the river itself. The roads do, however, pass by a number of Yarraside parks, including Pound Bend, Westerfolds Park, Finns Reserve, Birrarung Park and Banksia Park, which are all well-liked serene picnic locations with a view of the outer-suburban Yarra River, where it is still safe to swim and canoe.

Heidelberg to Alphington

There is little in the way of a Yarra view along this section of the drive. The best Yarra vantage point is found alongside the Boulevarde, but there are lots of stores and some industry through these middle-northern suburbs.

Yarra Boulevard, Kew

A winding but road on the edge of a hill which provides a marvellous view of both the Yarra and the inner suburbs. It also runs alongside several golf courses.

Burnley to Southbank

For most of this section, the road runs directly alongside the Yarra River after it widens past Dights Falls, with a clean view of the bridges and surroundings. Alexandra Avenue also provides access to the Royal Botanic Gardens and Birrarung Marr. Alexandra Avenue, however, is an important thoroughfare in inner-eastern Melbourne, and so traffic can often be unpleasant.

City

Route 2 briefly takes in the CBD, driving directly past Crown Casino and the Melbourne Aquarium.

West Gate Bridge

The famous West Gate Bridge spans the Yarra at its widest, and gives a panoramic view of the city, the docks, the industrial Western Suburbs, and Port Phillip Bay. Traffic is chaotic during peak hour.

Yarraville to Williamstown

This is a drive along the inner-western beachfront to the end of the mini-peninsula at Williamstown, finishing the route alongside a scenery of blue skies, yellow sand and marinas - a far cry from the leafy green beginnings of Warrandyte. This section coincides with the newer Bay West Trail, signed as Tourist Route 11.

gollark: Yes, it's because I work for the GOVERNMENT, which works for BIG GRAVITY.

gollark: They're connected because of Higgs boson flux within neutron stars.

gollark: That's not proof, you just posted some papers which are apparently related because vaguely relevant physics term you don't understand, yes.

gollark: Burden of proof.

gollark: Like I said, unless you actually make a coherent claim/set of claims and set out what exactly you think is the evidence for them, it's very hard to actually show you're "wrong".