Kwinana Freeway

The Kwinana Freeway is a 72-kilometre freeway in and beyond the southern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. It is the central section of State Route 2, which continues north as Mitchell Freeway to Clarkson, and south as Forrest Highway towards Bunbury. Along its route are interchanges with several major roads, including Roe Highway and Mandjoogoordap Drive. The freeway has been adapted to cater for public transport, with the introduction of bus priority measures in 1987.

About Kwinana Freeway in brief

Summary Kwinana FreewayThe Kwinana Freeway is a 72-kilometre freeway in and beyond the southern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. It is the central section of State Route 2, which continues north as Mitchell Freeway to Clarkson, and south as Forrest Highway towards Bunbury. Along its route are interchanges with several major roads, including Roe Highway and Mandjoogoordap Drive. The freeway has been adapted to cater for public transport, with the introduction of bus priority measures in 1987. The median strip of the freeway north of The Spectacles also houses the Mandurah railway line. The speed limit is 80 kilometres per hour north of South Terrace, increasing to 100 kilometers per hour north of Safety Bay Road, while south of the road route access is uncontrolled. From Perth to Mill Point Road, the freeway has five lanes northbound and six lanes southbound, including a bus lane in the southbound direction only. The busiest section is at the northern end, on the Narrows Bridge, which averaged over 93,000 vehicles per weekday in 1979. The slowest section is from South Street to Canning Highway, with an average speed of 24 kilometresper hour between afternoon and evening peak periods. As 2013, the worst segment was south of Central Central, measured as less than 40km per hour during the morning peak. The average speed when driving north from Cockburn to Central Central was 40 kilometres perhour during afternoon peak periods during peak period. The northbound section of KwinANA Freeway north of Roe Highway, since 2020, is a Smart freeway system, with ramp signalling north of Crane Avenue, variable speed limits north of Cranford Avenue, and hard shoulder running north of canning Highway.

There are no bus lanes except for bus-only ramps at the Canning Bridge interchange, which remains until the following Berrigan Drive interchange. All intersections with the freeway are grade separated, with three lanes reducing to two lanes in each direction at Russell RoadGibbs Road, which remain until the terminus at Pinjarra Road. There is a shared pedestrian and bicycle path is built alongside most of the highway except for the area around Cranford Ave. There were fewer than 46,000 cars per weekday near the southern end near Canning highway in 199889, while there were under 45,000 near the South Street terminus near Thomas Road, in 200708. The final extension began as the New Perth Bunbury Highway project, constructed between December 2006 and September 2009. In early 2009, the section north of Pinjarr Road was named as part of the Kwinane Freeway, with the remainder named Forrest Highway. The northern terminus of the Freeway was at the N narrows bridge, which crosses the Swan River, and the southern terminus is at PinJarra Road, east of Manduah. The southern terminu was at South Street in Murdoch, and in June 2001, it reached Safety Bay road in Baldivis. The traffic volume generally declines as the freeway travels south, with the fewest vehicles recorded near the south end.