Marmion Avenue

Marmion Avenue
Length 38 km (24 mi)
Direction South-North
From West Coast Highway,
Trigg
Major settlements North Beach, Marmion, Sorrento, Duncraig, Hillarys, Mullaloo, Craigie, Currambine, Burns Beach, Tamala Park, Clarkson, Mindarie, Quinns Rocks, Butler, Alkimos
To Yanchep Beach Road, Yanchep
Established 1960s
Allocation State Route 71
Major junctions Karrinyup Road
Reid Highway
Hepburn Avenue
Ocean Reef Road
Burns Beach Road

Marmion Avenue is a major arterial road in Perth, Western Australia. It forms the majority of State Route 71.

It runs through the northern coastal suburbs of Perth, from the end of West Coast Highway in Trigg to the outer northern suburb of Yanchep where it terminates. Its speed limit is almost exclusively 80 km/h, with only brief 70 km/h sections through the suburbs of Karrinyup and Butler. It is a highway-grade dual carriageway for most of its length, reverting to two lanes at Lukin Drive in Butler.

The road generally runs parallel to the coast in the west, as well as Mitchell Freeway and Wanneroo Road in the east. It provides an important link between Fremantle and Perth's outer northern coastal suburbs.

Contents

History

Marmion Avenue was first created as an arterial road that tracked the then-new outer northern suburbs of Perth, following the outer northern limit as it expanded. Its namesake, the suburb of Marmion was the start of the road in the late 1960s, when it was an arterial road from Warwick to then-remote Mullaloo Beach.

Until the early 1980s, the road was a single carriageway. In 1984-85, West Coast Highway, the main road from Scarborough and Fremantle, was brought inland from Pearl Parade and joined to the end of Marmion Avenue at Karrinyup Road, and Marmion Avenue - now the most important road in the coastal suburbs - was dualled to Whitfords Avenue. In early 1986, it was assigned State Route 71, and from then on, it was gradually extended as a single carriageway road further north - extending first to Prendiville Avenue (just north of Ocean Reef Road), then Burns Beach Road in 1991 and then in the mid-1990s to Quinns Rocks. Marmion Avenue was completely dualled in 2001, with the last portion being the empty stretch between Burns Beach Road & Quinns Rocks.

After delays due to disagreements at State Government level about what route the road should follow, Marmion Avenue was extended further north to Yanchep, with the extension open to traffic at the start of November 2008. The extension is currently a single carriageway, but earthworks have already been undertaken to enable conversion to dual carriageway at a later date. The extension also features roundabouts at future major junctions. The completion of this extension allows the future satellite city of Alkimos/Eglinton to start construction.

Marmion Avenue is an important road for those in the northern suburbs, especially those living beyond the end of the Mitchell Freeway and in the broader suburban region of Joondalup.

Future extensions

Extensions to Marmion Avenue are possible to Two Rocks, however there are no plans for this at present - one possible complication would be Two Rocks's past use as a munitions dump, meaning that most non-suburban sections of the suburb are fenced off.

Major intersections

Marmion Avenue begins at the end of West Coast Highway at the Karrinyup Road intersection in Trigg, and currently ends at the coastal suburb of Yanchep and the Yanchep Beach Road roundabout. Almost all major intersections are controlled by traffic lights, with roundabouts more prevalent in the north, from Shenton Avenue onwards.

Gallery

Notes

  1. ^ Southeast of the intersection of Marmion Avenue and Hepburn Avenue is a tangle of streets named after Gilbert and Sullivan characters and personalities. Gilbert Road meets Sullivan Road there, near Savoy Place, Pinafore Court, and streets named after 30 characters from the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. The only Gilbert and Sullivan performer with a street named after him is Bernard Manning (1888–1961), a performer with the J.C. Williamson company and founder of the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Western Australia in Perth. See Detail of Duncraig streets. Mapquest.com, accessed 6 September 2011; "A brief history of the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of WA". The Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Western Australia, accessed 6 September 2011; and Stone, David. Bernard Manning. Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, 27 August 2001, accessed 6 September 2011

References

See also