3.3 Frankston and the Outside World

The road network to the East

The major roads linking Cranbourne with Frankston and Melbourne were formed at an early date, although it was some time before they were more than rough bush tracks. By the 1880s and early 1890s, however, a district road network had been established in which the major roads from Frankston to Melbourne, Frankston to Cranbourne, Frankston to Langwarrin, and Frankston to Hastings, were shown on district maps.

Such a road system was the life-blood of farming communities needing to get their produce to markets. Also, by 1890, a number of smaller east-west and north-south roads had been formed. An 1891 map of the Mornington Peninsula included Robinsons Road; Camp Road (now McClelland Drive) running along the west side of the Langwarrin Military Reserve (now Langwarrin Flora and Fauna Reserve); and Warrandyte Road on the east side of the Reserve. However, North Road along the Reserve's northern boundary, was indicated as merely a track.1

Another early 1890s map showed that the road from the Frankston-Dandenong Road to Skye was also still only a track.2 The district roads, particularly the major ones, were improved during the first decades of this century, especially after the formation of the Country Roads Board in 1912 and the advent of the motor car, and motorised transport. A 1925 Army Ordnance map confirmed that, by this time, the Frankston-Dandenong, Frankston-Cranbourne and Frankston-Hastings Roads had all been metalled. A section of the Frankston-Hastings Road to Baxter Junction Station (now Baxter Station) had also been metalled.

Lesser roads were described as "formed" and "unformed", suggesting degrees of roughness down to the most basic bush track. The "formed" roads were linked to the most important local destinations. Thus, a portion of Robinsons Road on the east side of the Reserve was "formed", and there were "formed" sections linking the Lyndhurst South (Skye) and Carrum Downs townships to the major roads. There were "formed" roads also in a section of Camp Road (McClelland Drive) to Langwarrin Station and of the Warrandyte Road down to the Langwarrin township. However, North Road, a "track" in the 1890s was still only an "unformed" road.3