Colin Barnett will today unveil plans to build the Southern Ocean Drive — an 850km tourist route through some of the most striking attractions of WA’s south coast.

The road will stretch from Balladonia on the Eyre Highway to Walpole, running through Cape Le Grand National Park, Esperance, the Fitzgerald River National Park, Albany and the forests of Denmark.

It will cost $305 million and take several years to build in three stages.

The first stage — the upgrade of the existing South Coast Highway east of Ravensthorpe to Albany, including road widening and passing lanes — will cost $42 million and be finished by 2019-20.

The Premier, who will announce the plans at a Tourism Council breakfast today, said a re-elected Liberal government would fund the first stage from the partial sale of Western Power.

He said South Coast Highway would be renamed Southern Ocean Drive and, like Victoria’s Great Ocean Road, the route would be promoted as a significant tourist destination.

Tourist facilities would be upgraded, including new toilets, camping facilities and rest stops.

“I have seen a lot of the south coast in recent years and have literally fallen in love with it,” Mr Barnett said. “This road will give tourists access to these attractions, from the whales at Bremer Bay to the revitalised Esperance with its new foreshore and Albany’s ANZAC Centre and The Gap. It will ensure tourists have more options to explore the incredible natural beauty of the south coast when they come to WA. They will be able to travel from the east to west coasts of Australia via the beautiful Southern Ocean coast of WA and on to Perth.

“I would expect the drive would become the same kind of tourist drawcard as the Indian Ocean Drive.”

The first stage of the Southern Ocean Drive would also involve 60km of road upgrades at Kalgan, Kojaneerup and Jerdacuttup. Mr Barnett said this work had already begun, with $17.2 million allocated for high-priority improvements to the road in this year’s State Budget.

He said a re-elected Liberal government would begin routine grading of Balladonia Road and Parmango Road, which would be upgraded from gravel to bitumen.