Road Photos & Information: Western Australia: Forrest Highway, Kwinana Freeway & Mitchell Freeway (State Route 2)

Road Photos & Information: Western Australia

Forrest Highway, Kwinana Freeway & Mitchell Freeway (State Route 2) - Duncraig to Osborne Park

Statistics:

Length: 140 km (Mitchell Fwy: 30 km)
Northern Terminus: Burns Beach Road (SR87) at Currambine
Southern Terminus: Old Coast Road (NR1) at Lake Clifton
Suburbs, Towns & Localities Along Route: (Mitchell Fwy) Perth, Northbridge, Leederville, Glendalough, Osborne Park, Stirling, Gwelup, Hamersley, Duncraig, Kingsley, Woodvale, Heathridge, Joondalup, Connolly and Currambine

Route Numbering:

Current:
Road Authority Internal Classification: H16 Mitchell Freeway 1

The Forrest Highway, along with the Kwinana and Mitchell Freeways, are without a doubt one of the most important road systems in the Perth metropolitan area, and the southwestern part of the state.

Running in a north-south direction, the freeways link the north and southern suburbs of Perth together plus the southern city of Mandurah and the state's southwest, but also act as a coastal link between the northern and southern parts of the state. Built in stages from the late 1950s the route has seen enormous changes / extensions and is continuously undergoing expansion to this day.

Unique to the freeway sections is the passenger railway line down the median of the road corridor, which in parts also travels alongside other modes of public transport such as buses.

The route varies from 2 to 3 lanes wide in each direction, with provision in most of the newer sections to have another 1 to 2 lanes to be added when required. Exits along the route are somewhat close together, this is probably due to the large number of suburbs state route 2 services, south of Baldivis, the spacings are longer.

When first planned, the Mitchell Fwy was called the Yanchep Highway, as its envisaged that eventually the route will connect to the town.

State Route 2 is joined by National Route 1 at Brentwood from the Leach Hwy (SR7) interchange, forming a duplex through to the Canning Hwy (SR6) interchange at Como.

History (Mitchell Fwy):

1967 to 1973: construction of the section between the Narrows Bridge and Sutherland Street West Perth commenced - eventually forming the Narrows Interchange.
8 March 1976: Mitchell Freeway extension (1.6 km) from Railway Parade to Vincent Street opened. (Stage 2). 1
2 June 1978: Mitchell Freeway extension (4.8 km) from Vincent Street to Hutton Street opened. (Stage 3). 1
12 December 1983: Mitchell Freeway extension (3.5 km) from Roberts Street to Karrinyup Road opened. (Stage 4). 1
21 September 1984: Mitchell Freeway extension (1.8 km) from Karrinyup Road to Erindale Road opened. 1
6 August 1986: Mitchell Freeway extension to Hepburn Avenue opened. 1
1987: the freeway extended to Ocean Reef Road Craigie.
2 July 1988: Mitchell Freeway to Ocean Reef Road opened. 1
1992: the median strip of widened for the Joondalup railway line. Also, Mitchell Fwy widening to McDonald St completed. 1
1993: Mitchell Fwy widening to Erindale Rd completed, providing three lanes in each direction. 1
2001: freeway extension to Hodges Dr at Joondalup opened.
2 November 2008: $171.5 million extension to Burns Beach Road Currambine opened to traffic by State Premier, Colin Barnett. 1

Osborne Park to Duncraig		Duncraig to Osborne Park
Preview:	Description:	Preview:	Description:
	Advance Exit Sign: Approaching Karrinyup Rd outside Stirling railway station. December 2007. Image © Paul Rands		Advance Exit Sign: Advance exit signs approaching Reid Hwy (SR3) in Warwick, southbound. December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Karrinyup Rd Interchange: Looking northbound at Innaloo. December 2007. Image © Paul Rands		Lane Allocation Sign: Approaching Reid Highway outside Warwick railway station. December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Distance Sign: Northbound through the Karrinyup Road interchange, Innaloo. December 2007. Image © Paul Rands		Approaching Reid Hwy Interchange: Reid Hwy (SR3) exit at Hamersley, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Advance Exit Sign: Approaching Erindale Rd Gwelup. December 2012. Click here for a photo of this location from December 2007. Image © Paul Rands		Exit Distance Sign: Southbound carriageway of the Mitchell Freeway as it passes through the Reid Hwy Interchange at Balcatta. Sign is used to indicate distances to the next 3 exits, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Eridale Rd Exit: Looking up the ramp for Erindale Rd at Gwelup, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands		Advance exit Sign: Southbound advance exit signs at Balcatta for Erindale Road, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Advance Exit Sign: Approaching Reid Hwy (SR3) at Gwelup. December 2007. Image © Paul Rands		Distance Sign: Southbound RD sign at Stirling, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Reid Hwy interchange: Northbound through the Reid Hwy interchage ar Carine, December 2012. Image © Paul Rands		Exit Sign: Karrinyup Rd (SR76) interchange at Stirling, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Freeway Green Advance Exit Signs: Old style advance exit signs with 90° corners for Warwick Rd, at the Reid Hwy Interchange in Carine. December 2012. Click here for a photo of this location from December 2007. Image © Paul Rands		Cedric Street Exit: Cedric St (SR73) interchange at Stirling, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Beach Road Overpass: Northbound at Carine as you pass under Beach Road, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands		Cedric Street Interchange: Cedric St (SR73) interchange at Stirling, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Warwick Road Exit: Northbound approaching Warwick Road in Duncraig, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands		Cedric Street Interchange: Cedric St (SR73) interchange at Stirling, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
	Distance Sign: Northbound at Duncraig, December 2007. Image © Paul Rands		Cedric Street Interchange: Cedric St (SR73) interchange at Stirling, December 2007. The strange split here is because of the on ramp to the freeway from Karrinyup Road. Image © Paul Rands
	Freeway Green Advance Exit Signs: Northbound approaching Hepburn Av Duncraig, December 2012. Click here for a photo of this location from December 2007. Image © Paul Rands		Advance Directional Sign: AD sign at Stirling for the Hutton Street Interchange. November 2008. Image © Paul Rands
	Hepburn Av Exit: Northbound at Duncriag as you pass through the interchage with Hepburn Av, December 2012. Click here for a photo of this location from December 20077 featuring a freeway green exit sign. Image © Paul Rands		Freeway Green ID Sign: Freeway green intersection directional sign at the Hutton Street interchange at Stiring. November 2008. Image © Paul Rands
	Hepburn Rd Interchange: Northbound through the interchange with Hepburn Road in Duncraig, outside Greenwood Station, December 2012. Click here for a photo of this location from December 2007 featuring a freeway green distance sign. Image © Paul Rands		Advance Directional Sign: Eastbound advance directional sign for Mitchell Fwy on Powis Street at Glendalough. Image © Paul Rands
			ID Sign: Typical ID signage at on ramps for the Mitchell Fwy. This one is located on the Powis St interchange at Glendalough. December 2007. Image © Paul Rands
			Exit Distance Sign: Southbound RD sign at Glendalough, April 2016. Image © Paul Rands
Click here for the continuation of SR2 between Duncraig and Currambine Click here for the continuation of SR2 between Osborne Park and Perth

1 Main Roads WA

Last updated: 23-Jan-2019 0:31

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