Northern suburbs commuters will save up to seven minutes on their drive to work and home to their families with the opening of the new $73.2 million Wanneroo Road and Ocean Reef Road interchange.
The upgrades, which started in March 2019, have supported more than 350 local jobs over the life of the project.
More than 75,000 motorists use the interchange daily and in 2017 it was ranked as Perth’s 13th most congested intersection.
Wanneroo Road is a crucial arterial passenger route and alternative route to the Mitchell Freeway providing access between the Perth central business district, Joondalup and the North West Corridor.
Premier Mark McGowan said he was pleased to see another government election commitment delivered.
“We are continuing to deliver on our election commitments to create and support local jobs, while slashing travel times on our roads,” the Premier said.
“This is part of the $2.3 billion major infrastructure package we negotiated with the Australian Government in April 2017 that has seen thousands of jobs created around Perth.
“It’s projects like these that are keeping our State economy safe and strong, and moving beyond COVID-19.”
Federal Minister for Population, Cities and Urban Infrastructure Alan Tudge said crucial funding from the Morrison Government was helping to roll out major projects in Perth and across WA.
“That includes an additional $1.1 billion for key projects in last week’s budget that will support an estimated 6,800 direct and indirect jobs,” Mr Tudge said.
“We know that an economic boost and jobs are what hard working West Australians need right now as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Western Australian Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said this was part of a suite of upgrades the McGowan Government was delivering across the northern suburbs.
“This project will help cut travel times, improve safety and traffic flow in our northern suburbs along with other recently completed projects such as the Mitchell Freeway southbound widening between Vincent to Cedric,” Ms Saffioti said.
“We have a huge raft of projects planned and underway across the northern suburbs including the Yanchep Rail extension, the Wanneroo Road-Joondalup Drive interchange and the Mitchell Freeway extension.
“We also recently announced that we will be rolling out the Smart Freeways technology across the Mitchell Freeway southbound which is an exciting new project for commuters to look forward to.”
Senator for Western Australia Dean Smith said as people have returned back to work and their busy lifestyles after easing of the COVID-19 restrictions, the area is again experiencing very high traffic volumes.
“As patron Senator for Perth’s growing northern suburbs, I’m delighted the Morrison Government has provided 80 per cent of the funding to deliver this transformative upgrade for local families and businesses, easing congestion and improving road safety,” Senator Smith said.
Federal Member for Moore Ian Goodenough said some of the key features of the upgrade include a new dual-lane, free-flowing traffic bridge over Ocean Reef Road, along with modified local road connections at Villanova Street, Backshall Place and Woodvale Drive.
“A new access road to Wanneroo’s iconic Cockman House has been built off Woodvale Drive as part of the project, improving safety and removing the risk for right-turn crashes,”
Mr Goodenough said.
Shared path facilities, including an underpass, have been constructed to connect with the local path network, enabling safer access and improved amenity for cyclists and pedestrians in and around the interchange.
Artistic elements within the project’s design provide linkage to the area, drawing inspiration from the historic use of nearby agricultural and horticultural land.
The $73.2 million project is jointly funded by the Australian Government committing $58.6 million and the Western Australian Government providing $14.6 million.
