Connolly Drive

Connolly Drive is an arterial road in the outer northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. The road takes its name from the Perth suburb of Connolly, which lies just beyond the road's terminus.

Connolly Drive

Western Australia
Connolly Drive running through Currambine.
General information
TypeRoad
Length12.3 km (7.6 mi)
Opened1990s
Major junctions
South endShenton Avenue, Currambine
 
North endBenenden Avenue, Butler
Location(s)
Major suburbsKinross, Tamala Park, Clarkson, Merriwa, Ridgewood

Route description

Connolly Drive starts at Shenton Avenue in Currambine, west of Joondalup's central business district, and ends after a 12.3 kilometres (7.6 mi) run at Benenden Avenue in the outer northern suburb of Butler. Connolly Drive runs parallel with fellow arterial road Marmion Avenue to the west and Mitchell Freeway to the east, where, currently, the traffic flow eases past Hester Avenue, which is currently the latter's terminus. The road is a dual carriageway for its entire length, and for most of its length is two lanes in each direction, though it reduces to one lane in each direction after Lukin Drive. The speed limit is mostly 70 kilometres per hour (43 mph), though it decreases to 60 kilometres per hour (37 mph) after Lukin Drive as well. The road runs within both the City of Joondalup and Wanneroo local government areas.

City of Joondalup

Connolly Drive starts at a traffic light controlled T-junction at Shenton Avenue in Currambine, running through the suburb of Currambine for 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) before encountering Burns Beach Road at a roundabout; midway it encounters Moore Drive at a roundabout. Both Connolly and Moore Drives divide Currambine into quarters. From Burns Beach Road, Connolly Drive travels through Kinross for about 1.6 kilometres (0.99 mi), intersecting local roads such as Kinross Drive, Selkirk Drive, Geoff Russell Avenue and Macnaughton Crescent. After Macnaughton Crescent, Connolly Drive heads over into the City of Wanneroo, and the uninhabited locality of Tamala Park.

City of Wanneroo

Now within the City of Wanneroo, Connolly Drive travels through Tamala Park for about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) before entering the suburb of Clarkson and encountering Neerabup Road at a roundabout. The road proceeds to travel through the suburb for about 2.8 kilometres (1.7 mi), intersecting through several local roads, before encountering Hester Avenue at a roundabout. Hester Avenue is currently the northern terminus of the Mitchell Freeway. From there the road forms the boundary of Merriwa to the west and Ridgewood to the east for 2.1 kilometres (1.3 mi) before encountering Lukin Drive at a traffic light controlled intersection.

Following this intersection Connolly Drive reduces to one lane in each direction and travels through the suburb of Butler for about 1.7 kilometres (1.1 mi), after which it terminates at a roundabout with Benenden Avenue, where it continues northwards at Exmouth Drive, which provides road access to the Butler railway station.

History

Connolly Drive was first built during the mid-1990s to service the then-new outer northern suburbs of Perth, with three discontinuous sections: two in the City of Joondalup (Currambine and Kinross) with the other in the City of Wanneroo (Merriwa and Ridgewood). The two sections within the City of Joondalup became continuous (running from Shenton Avenue to Selkirk Drive, then to Macnaughton Crescent) by 2001.[1]

By 2007, the missing link through Tamala Park (MacNaughton Crescent to Neerabup Road) as a dual carriageway made the entire road continuous, and the road was extended north of Lukin Drive, to service the growing suburb of Butler. During 2010 and 2011, all single carriageway sections south of Tamala Park were duplicated in response to the growing traffic demand in the area, with several intersections being upgraded during that time as well.

More recently, the section between Neerabup Road and Lukin Drive has been duplicated and widened, in response to the extension of the Mitchell Freeway to Hester Avenue, during 2016. The remaining section of two-lane road, between Lukin Drive and Butler Boulevard, was widened to two lanes in each direction in 2020.

Intersections

The most significant intersections are with Shenton Avenue, Burns Beach Road and Hester Avenue.[2] Below is a list of all major junctions of the road.

  • Shenton Avenue, Connolly–Currambine boundary. Southern terminus at traffic light controlled T-junction.
  • Moore Drive, Currambine. Roundabout
  • Burns Beach Road, Currambine–Kinross boundary. Roundabout.
  • Selkirk Drive, Kinross. Traffic light controlled T-junction.
  • Neerabup Road, Clarkson. Roundabout.
  • Hester Avenue, Clarkson–Merriwa–Ridgewood tripoint. Roundabout.
  • Lukin Drive, Merriwa--–Ridgewood–Butler tripoint. Traffic light controlled intersection.
  • Benenden Avenue, Butler. Northern terminus at roundabout; continues north as Exmouth Drive.
  • Connolly Drive Kinross - being extended into Tamala Park and on up to Clarkson (June 2007).
  • Sign showing widening of Connolly Drive up to McNaughton Crescent - Kinross (June 2007).
  • Connolly Drive Kinross - being extended "Aerial burn planned" sign (June 2007).
  • Connolly Drive Kinross - looking south to the widening works (June 2007).
  • Connolly Drive's missing link between Kinross and Clarkson which opened August 2007.

See also

 Australian Roads portal

References
  1. "Landgate Map Viewer Plus". maps.landgate.wa.gov.au. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  2. UBD 2007 Perth and surrounds Street Directory 2007 - 49th Edition.

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