Leach Highway

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Leach Highway
Leach Highway in Melville
Leach Highway in Melville
Length 23 km
General direction East-West
From Tonkin Highway, Kewdale, Perth
via Welshpool, Wilson, Rossmoyne, Winthrop, Melville
To High Street,
Palmyra, Perth
Allocation Kwinana Freeway - Willagee:
(duplex with )
Major Junctions Abernethy Road
Orrong Road
Welshpool Road
Albany Highway
Manning Road
Centenary Drive
High Road
Karel Avenue
Kwinana Freeway
Riseley Street
North Lake Road
Stock Road

Leach Highway is a major dual carriageway arterial road in Perth, Western Australia, which varies between 4 and 6 lanes wide. The speed limit is either 70 or 80 km/h. It is located south of the Swan River and links Fremantle with Kewdale, a distance of 23 kilometres (14 mi).

Contents

[edit] History

Leach Highway is named for J.D. "Digby" Leach, former Commissioner of Main Roads Western Australia. In 1972 the first section was opened between its present western terminus at Carrington Street, Melville (now Palmyra), and High Road in Canning (now Willetton).

It was soon extended eastward from High Road through to Manning Road, using the old timber Riverton Bridge over Canning River. In 1976 it was further extended from Manning Road to Orrong Road, including bridges over the Armadale line (necessitating the closure of private sidings at Wesfeeds and Master's Dairy) and Albany Highway. Then in 1978 the 4-lane concrete Shelley Bridge over Canning River opened, with Riverton Bridge retained for local traffic.

In the early 1980s the highway was extended further eastward to the new Beechboro-Gosnells Highway which remains as the highway's present eastern terminus.

Also around that time a number of intersections were built to coincide with new roads being built around Leach Highway. A parclo interchange was constructed at the newly extended Kwinana Freeway, and an intersection was constructed for the new Centenary Avenue in Wilson to improve access to the West Australian Institute of Technology. New at-grade intersections were built at Murdoch Drive and Winthrop Drive to service the new suburbs of Bateman and Winthrop.

Although not strictly Leach Highway, in 1985 Stirling Highway was extended southwards from its then terminus at Canning Highway to a new terminus at High Street (an extension of Leach Highway). This marked the final piece of an improved freight link between the Port of Fremantle and Perth's major industrial areas around Kewdale

Then, apart from minor modifications, the highway remained largely unchanged until 2005/2006 when work on projects at Kwinana Freeway and Orrong Road commenced.

[edit] High Street, Fremantle

Main article: Roe Highway

Although Leach Highway's western terminus as a 6-lane divided carriageway is at Carrington Street in Palmyra, the road continues as High Street for a further 1.5 km. Here, it is a 4-lane undivided carriageway (speed limit 60 km/h) until the intersection at Stirling Highway, whereafter it is a much smaller local road. The t-junction at Stirling Highway is part of the main freight access for vehicles accessing the Port of Fremantle, and is a very busy intersection for trucks.

[edit] Heavy Vehicles

Leach Highway is one of the state's most important heavy vehicle routes, linking the major industrial areas of Kewdale/Welshpool with Western Australia's major container port at Fremantle. The highway was constructed in the 1970s to provide, in conjunction with Roe Highway, good heavy vehicle access along this route.

However, due to planning limitations arising from existing development, much of the route was not constructed as limited access, meaning driveways and a large number of side streets intersect Leach Highway. Along its length there are 22 sets of traffic signals and some argue that there should be more. Although this would be acceptable for a road in, for instance, metropolitan Sydney, it is rather undesirable for a predominantly 6-lane highway with large numbers of heavy vehicles.

With cancellation of Roe Highway stage 8, Leach Highway seems likely to remain this way for the foreseeable future. However things may improve depending on the success of the state government's 6-point plan for moving freight into and out of the Port of Fremantle.

[edit] Orrong Road interchange

In November 2005, the state government announced plans for the construction of a bridge at the intersection of Leach Highway and Orrong Road in Welshpool. Orrong Road, which is a continuation of Graham Farmer Freeway has experienced increased in traffic by approximately 40% since the freeway was completed in 2000. The new bridge will bring Leach Highway over Orrong Road. The intersection is currently Perth's worst blackspot. Approximately 70,000 vehicles, including substantial numbers of trucks, use the intersection daily. Funding for the project was made available through the sale of land reserved for the Fremantle Eastern Bypass. The bridge is expected to cost approximately $21 million and be completed by late-2006.

[edit] Bull Creek railway station

Main article: Bull Creek railway station, Perth

Bull Creek railway station is being built at the interchange of Leach Highway and Kwinana Freeway for the new Perth-Mandurah railway. A new bridge has been built immediately south of the present highway bridge to cater for bus access to the railway station. Alterations to the Kwinana Freeway on and off ramps to Leach Highway have also been undertaken, entailing modifications to the layout of the parclo interchange.

[edit] Blackspots

Perth's 3rd and 4th worst unfunded blackspots are located on Leach Highway, at the intersections of Tonkin Highway and Welshpool Road respectively.

[edit] Major Interchanges and Exits

As Leach Highway is not limited access, a large number of the roads that Leach Highway are connected to are not controlled. Major intersections are at-grade and controlled. The Albany Highway interchange is grade separated, in favour of Leach Highway, while the Orrong Road interchange is presently at-grade, with grade separation in favour of Leach Highway currently under construction.

Signed as :

Signed as :

Signed as

Leach Highway then continues as High Street

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • 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. 
  • (2002) StreetSmart Perth 2003 Street Directory. Midland, Western Australia: Department of Land Administration and West Australian Newspapers Ltd. ISBN 0-909699-87-9. 

[edit] External links

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Road infrastructure in Perth
Freeways
Highways
Bridges