Wanneroo Road
Wanneroo Road is a 44 kilometre arterial highway in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, linking Joondanna and Yokine in the south with Wanneroo and Yanchep in the north. As part of State Route 60, it begins from Charles Street in the inner city and becomes Indian Ocean Drive up to Dongara.
Originally a narrow and often country road with a single lane in each direction it has been periodically widened and straightened. Around the Carabooda area the road has been realigned. Short sections of the original, narrow road remain providing access to properties and businesses along the road.
The road is also multiplexed with State Routes 81 and 83 for short lengths.
Route description
Wanneroo Road is part of State Route 60, as an alternative route to the Mitchell Freeway in Perth’s northern suburbs. The road’s southern terminus is London Street in Joondanna, where it continues southwards as Charles Street, and its northern terminus is at Yanchep Beach Road in Yanchep, where it continues northwards as Indian Ocean Drive. Maintained by Main Roads Western Australia, the road is mostly a four-lane dual carriageway, namely south of Dunstan Road as well as a short section in Carabooda between Trian Road and Bernard Road South, with the remainder in the outer rural northern suburbs a two-lane single carriageway.The speed limit is predominantly 70 km/h; however, it is 60 km/h south of Royal Street in Tuart Hill and within the Wanneroo Town Centre, 80 km/h north of Neerabup Road in Neerabup, and then 90 km/h north of Hester Avenue until its terminus in Yanchep.
From its southern terminus to Beach Road, the road is within the City of Stirling local government area, after which it forms the boundary between the City of Joondalup and Wanneroo LGAs — this remains as such until Whitfords Avenue, where it is exclusively within the City of Wanneroo for the remainder of its length.
Joondanna to Wanneroo
Wanneroo Road starts as the continuation of Charles Street from the south at the traffic light Y-intersection at London Street. Commencing within the City of Stirling, it straddles along the suburbs of Joondanna, Tuart Hill, and Yokine, encountering traffic light controlled intersections of Cape and Royal Streets. The first intersection with a major road is with Morley Drive, 2.5 km later.North of Morley Drive, it travels through the suburbs of Balcatta, Westminster, and Nollamara, during which it encounters traffic light controlled intersections at Nollamara Avenue, Amelia Street, Main Street, Balcatta Road, and Victoria Road/Halley Road, eventually reaching a diamond interchange with Reid Highway following a 3.5 km run along the aforementioned suburbs. Reid Highway runs uninterrupted under Wanneroo Road, where both ramp junctions are controlled by traffic lights.
Wanneroo Road travels along the suburbs of Hamersley to the west of the road and Balga to the east, reaching a traffic light controlled intersection with Beach Road 1.9 km later. Following this intersection the road forms the boundaries of both the City of Joondalup and Wanneroo LGAs. Wanneroo Road then travels through numerous residential suburbs, including Girrawheen and Madeley, for 4.8 km on approach to the industrial suburb of Wangara, intersecting with traffic lights at Warwick Road, Marangaroo Drive, Hepburn Avenue, Kingsway, Gnangara Road and Whitfords Avenue. Because the T-junctions at Warwick Road and Marangaroo Drive are located within a close distance of each other, Wanneroo Road also carries State Route 81 between those two roads. A similar situation exists with Gnangara Road and Whitfords Avenue, except the short stretch between the two intersections carries State Route 83.
After Whitfords Avenue, the road is exclusively within the City of Wanneroo, travelling along the industrial suburb of Wangara to the east and Woodvale to the west for around 2 km, where there is evidence of new residential developments. Within Wangara a traffic light controlled T-junction with Prindiville Drive is encountered, before reaching Ocean Reef Road. Initially a traffic light controlled intersection, it is currently a temporary roundabout due to works to upgrade the intersection to a grade-separated interchange.
North of Ocean Reef Road, Wanneroo Road travels along the residential suburbs of Pearsall and Hocking for around 2.5 km before entering the Wanneroo town centre. Running within the town centre for 1.7 km it intersects with Conlan Avenue/Hastings Street and Dundebar Road. The road then travels through the residential suburbs of Sinagra, Ashby, and Tapping for 4.1 km, during which it intersects with Pinjar Road and Wallawa Street at traffic light T-junctions, and eventually reaches Joondalup Drive. Like Ocean Reef Road, this was initially a signalised intersection that became a temporary roundabout as a result of works to upgrade the intersection to an interchange.
North of Wanneroo
After Joondalup Drive, development starts to become more sparse, and transitions from a suburban to rural landscape. Wanneroo Road travels through predominantly bushland in Neerabup before reaching a traffic light controlled intersection with Flynn Drive and Neerabup Road 3.5 km later. The road continues to travel through Neerabup for 3.1 km before reaching a traffic light controlled T-junction with Hester Avenue, which is the northernmost signalised intersection on Wanneroo Road, as well as the northernmost link to both the Mitchell Freeway and fellow arterial road Marmion Avenue. Within that stretch, alongside the road are portions of the original, narrow road that are now access roads for businesses and properties along the route. Now within the suburb of Nowergup, the road reduces a two-lane single carriageway 2.6 km north of that intersection, which continues as such until Trian Road in Carabooda, where a four-lane single carriageway reappears and continues as such for 3 km until Bernard Road South, reducing to a single carriageway once again. After about 4 km, Wanneroo Road terminates at a T-junction with Yanchep Beach Road, with the road continuing northwards as Indian Ocean Drive to coastal localities beyond the northern limit of the Perth metropolitan area, such as Lancelin, Cervantes, and Jurien Bay. Indian Ocean Drive would eventually reach Brand Highway as the main route northwards to Geraldton.History
After the enactment of the Road Districts Act 1871, the Perth Road Board requested that the Legislative Council proclaim eight public thoroughfares through its territory, and on 4 June 1872, Road No.3, intended as a route from Perth to Champion Bay via Wanneroo, was published in the Government Gazette. However, the act of proclaiming the road was not contiguous with its development, and progress on surfacing the track occurred at a slow rate.A proposal to rename the road as "Yanchep Highway" was made in November 1940. The Perth Road Board was in favour of the proposal, subject to the Wanneroo Road Board renaming their portion of Wanneroo Road, but the Wanneroo Road Board indicated that they would support a name change if it included Charles Street, in the Perth City Council area. There was no agreement reached.
In 2008, the intersection with Ocean Reef Road was upgraded. A second left turn lane was added for drivers entering Ocean Reef Road westbound from Wanneroo Road from the North, a second right turn lane to enter Ocean Reef Road westbound, and a second left and right turn lane at Ocean Reef Road.
During 2010, Wanneroo Road was duplicated from Wallawa Street to Joondalup Drive. In 2013, traffic lights were installed at Hester Avenue, which was later duplicated in 2017 as part of the Mitchell Freeway extension works.
During 2016 and 2019, significant portions of the road north of Joondalup Drive were duplicated: the section between Flynn Drive and north of Hall Road during 2016 and 2017 as part of the Mitchell Freeway extension works, and then the section between Joondalup Drive and the Flynn Drive/Neerabup Road intersection between 2018 and 2019. Work also started in 2018 to convert the existing traffic light intersections with Ocean Reef Road and Joondalup Drive to grade-separated interchanges, with both works expected to be complete by 2020.