Portal:Australian roads
Introduction
The decades following the war saw substantial improvements to the network, with freeways established in cities, many major highways sealed, development of rural roads in northern Queensland and Western Australia, and interstate routes upgraded. In 1974, the federal government assumed responsibility for funding the nations most important road links, between state and territory capitals cities, which were declared National Highways. Those roads were gradually improved, and by 1989, all gravel road sections had been sealed. In the following decades, the National Highway system was amended through legislation, and was eventually superseded in 2005 by the broader National Land Transport Network, which includes connections to major commercial centres, and intermodal freight transport facilities.
The first route marking system was introduced to Australia in the 1950s. National Routes were assigned to significant interstate routes – the most important road links in the country. National Route 1 was designated to a circular route around the Australian coastline. A state route marking system was designed to supplement the national system, for inter-regional and urban routes within states. When the National Highway system was introduced, National Routes along it became National Highway routes with the same numbers, but with distinctive green and gold route markers. During the late 1970s, planning began for a new alphanumeric route system in the state of Tasmania. Alphanumeric routes have since been introduced in most states and territories in Australia, partially or completely replacing the previous systems.
Selected article
Forrest Highway is an 37-kilometre-long (23 mi) highway in Western Australia's Peel region, that bypasses the original Perth–Bunbury route through the coastal city of Mandurah. It is the southern section of State Route 2, continuing south from the Kwinana Freeway's terminus in Ravenswood to Old Coast Road's dual carriageway in Lake Clifton. There are a number of at-grade intersections with minor roads in the shires of Murray and Waroona, including Greenlands Road and Old Bunbury Road, both of which connect to South Western Highway near Pinjarra. Since the 1980s, the state government has been upgrading the main Perth to Bunbury route, by extending the Kwinana Freeway south from Perth, and constructing a dual carriageway on Old Coast Road north of Bunbury. The existing alignment through Mandurah would form a bottleneck, so the Main Roads Department began planning a bypass. The proposed road underwent detailed environmental reviews and assessments in the 1990s and 2000s. Construction of the New Perth Bunbury Highway project, which included the final Kwinana Freeway extension, began in December 2006, and the new highway was opened on 20 September 2009. Within one year of opening, the number of road accidents in the area had decreased by 60%; however, as Forrest Highway drew a significant amount of traffic away from the inland route, South Western Highway, tourism and businesses in the towns on that highway were affected.
Selected video
International road news
- March 11: BBC suspend presenter Jeremy Clarkson over 'fracas' with producer
- February 9: Four die in dump truck crash in Bath, England
- February 7: Man steals dying lorry crash victim's purse in Greater Manchester, England
- December 22: Multiple fatalities in bin lorry crash in Glasgow, Scotland
- May 14: Cornwall police arrest coach driver after two killed in crash
- March 12: Fire burns at Barangaroo construction site, Sydney, Australia
Selected picture
Did you know...
- ... that the 1862 opening of the second Causeway in Perth, Western Australia, was disrupted by a young man on horseback who raced across after announcing that he would be first to do so?
- ... that in 1794, Old Windsor Road was the second major road in Sydney?
- ... that Stuart Highway is named after John McDouall Stuart, the first European to cross Australia from south to north?
Categories
Topics
Lists of highways by state/territory:
Road infrastructure:
.svg){kind=small}
WikiProjects
Related portals
Wikimedia
- What are portals?
- List of portals
- Featured portals
