Tonkin Highway
 |
This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (September 2010) |
| Tonkin Highway | |
 |
|
 |
|
| A freeway standard section of Tonkin Highway, south of Great Eastern Highway | |
| Length | 45 km (28 mi) |
| Direction | North-South |
| From |  Reid Highway,Malaga, Perth |
| via | Bayswater, Perth Airport, Forrestfield, Maddington, Brookdale |
| To |  Thomas Road,Oakford, Perth |
| Established | 1980 |
| Allocation | State Route 4 |
| Major junctions | Morley Drive, Guildford Road, Great Eastern Highway, Leach Highway, Roe Highway, Albany Highway, Armadale Road
for full list see |
Tonkin Highway is a major arterial highway in Perth, Western Australia, connecting Reid Highway in the north with Thomas Road in the south. It is at 45 kilometres (28 mi) long and forms the entire length of State Route 4.
While primarily a dual carriageway, some intersections briefly increase the highway's capacity from 4 to 6 lanes. The speed limit varies in parts from 80 to 100 km/h, and large swathes of the highway are of freeway standard, with free flow of traffic through grade-separated interchanges.
One of only four limited access roads to cross the Swan River (the other three being Kwinana Freeway, Graham Farmer Freeway and Reid Highway), Tonkin Highway is one of two connecting access roads for Perth Airport (the other being Great Eastern Highway). It is also an important heavy vehicle route for the Perth metropolitan area, connecting Perth's northeastern and southeastern suburbs with Welshpool, a major industrial area for the city.
Contents |
[edit] History
A proposal for a highway along a similar alignment was first proposed in 1955, as part of a network of arterial roads under a metropolitan-wide plan produced for the Western Australian government by Gordon Stephenson and Alastair Hepburn. The road reservation was formally gazetted in the 1963 Metropolitan Region Scheme.
Like most Perth arterial road projects, the highway was built in stages. It was first named "Beechboro-Gosnells Highway", the name coming from the two suburbs it was originally planned to link. The highway's first construction stage, from Welshpool Road to Hardey Road, opened in 1980. The second stage, south from Welshpool Road to Albany Highway was completed in 1981. Stage 3 was a north-of-the-river section from Railway Parade to Morley Drive completed in 1984. Stage 4 linked Hardey Road and Great Eastern Highway, and included the construction of four bridges over the Forrestfield railway marshalling yards, the first bridges in Australia to be constructed using the incremental launch technique. On opening of this stage in 1985, the Beechboro-Gosnells Highway was renamed "Tonkin Highway", in honour of former West Australian premier John Tonkin.
In 1988, the northern and southern sections were linked with the opening of the Redcliffe Bridge. Following minor extensions northwards, Tonkin Highway spent a decade remaining largely unchanged, linking Reid Highway in Malaga with Albany Highway in Gosnells. Then in 2003, a new southern extension was commenced, and it was completed through to Thomas Road on 16 December 2005. The new extension improved links with the localities of Kwinana, Armadale, Rockingham and Byford. It also provided a new important freight route, relieving Nicholson Road, Albany Highway and South Western Highway of large quantities of heavy vehicle traffic.
[edit] Future works
[edit] New freeway intersections
In 2009 the Westralia Airports Corporation (WAC) and Main Roads Western Australia (MRWA,) in conjunction with Infrastructure Australia (IA), announced a $584 million upgrade of the Tonkin Highway and its intersections. The upgrade features three lanes in each direction, a diamond interchange at Horrie Miller Drive (international terminal access), a new grade-separated interchange with Boud Avenue (domestic terminal access) and two freeway-to-freeway stack interchanges with flyover ramps at Leach Highway and Roe Highway. The upgrade will create a 13 kilometre stretch of freeway-standard highway, with free-flowing traffic, between Collier Road and Hale Road.
[edit] Extensions
Tonkin Highway reaches past the edge of suburbia at its southern extent. Planning provides for it to be extended when required. In the south, the planned route takes it through many undeveloped or semi-rural areas such as Mundijong, Cardup & Jarrahdale. South of Mundijong, the planned route deviates east so as to terminate at South Western Highway near Jarrahdale Road. In the future, the major junction with Roe Highway could possibly be upgraded to a parclo, cloverleaf or modified stack interchange if required, though such a proposal is unfunded and a low priority at present.
Planning is also in place for a future extension north. Such an extension would bring it to Beach Road/Marshall Road, and then link up with a similarly planned extension of Hepburn Avenue where it would be the highway's northern terminus. This could eventually see the Tonkin Highway terminating at Hepburn Avenue. If Hepburn Avenue is built to the same limited access dual carriageway standard as Tonkin HIghway, it would greatly improve access to new urban areas such as Darch, Landsdale and Madeley. However such as proposal of the Tonkin Highway is still in early planning stages and currently there are no plans to warrant the construction.
[edit] Junctions
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Controlled intersection
- ^ Tonkin Highway continues as Reid Highway West after terminating
- ^ a b Parlco interchange for Tonkin Highway
- ^ Modified Parlco interchange for Tonkin Highway
- ^ Northbound exit
- ^ a b Diamond interchange for Tonkin Highway
- ^ Uncontrolled; East and West separated
- ^ a b Uncontrolled intersection
- ^ Terminal
[edit] See also
- Highways in Australia
- Highways in Western Australia
- Freeways in Australia
- Freeways in Western Australia
[edit] References
- Skyview WA - Department of Land Information, Western Australia
- Various Perth metropolitan street directories - 1970s-1990s
- Main Roads WA
- Edmonds, Leigh (1997). The vital link: a history of Main Roads Western Australia 1926-1996. Nedlands, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press. ISBN 1-875560-87-4.
- Infrastructure Australia, A Report to the Council of Australian Governments, Page 70
- Westralia Airports Corporation, Preliminary Draft Masterplan 2009, Page 73
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
