Morley Drive is a major east–west road in the inner northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, connecting the residential areas of Balcatta, Osborne Park, Tuart Hill, Nollamara, Yokine, Dianella, and Morley with major north-south arterial roads including Wanneroo Road, Alexander Drive, and Tonkin Highway.

Morley Drive

View east from Dianella
Map
General information
TypeHighway
Length8.6 km (5.3 mi)
Opened1970s
Route number(s) State Route 76
Major junctions
West endMain Street, Balcatta
 
East end Tonkin Highway (State Route 4), Morley
Location(s)
Major suburbsNollamara, Dianella, Morley
Highway system
Directions sign on the western approach to the hamburger roundabout

Route description

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The road is part of State Route 76, which connects the coastal suburb of Trigg, Western Australia, with the Swan Valley in the east.[1] Morley Drive runs through the following local government areas City of Stirling, City of Bayswater and City of Swan. The entire road is controlled by Main Roads Western Australia for its entire length, and is designated as part of the Karrinyup-Morley Highway (H28).[2]

Morley Drive commences at a traffic light intersection with Main Street on the boundary of Balcatta and Tuart Hill, with Morley Drive continuing from Karrinyup Road west of the intersection. 900 metres (3,000 ft) further east, Morley Drive meets Wanneroo Road and then travels along the suburbs of Nollamara and Yokine for 1.1 kilometres (0.68 mi) before intersecting with Flinders Street. The road is now within the suburb of Dianella, travelling through said suburb for 5.8 kilometres (3.6 mi), intersecting with Dianella Drive, Grand Promenade, Alexander Drive and The Strand. The former two intersections are standard traffic light T-junctions, while the intersection with Alexander Drive and The Strand (north-west and south-east) is designed as a hamburger roundabout.

At Camboon and Wellington Roads, Morley Drive heads over into the City of Bayswater and the suburb of Morley. The roads runs through the suburb for 2.8 kilometres (1.7 mi), intersecting with McGilvray Avenue and Crimea Street, before ending at a roundabout interchange at Tonkin Highway.[1] Morley Drive, and State Route 76, continue as Morley Drive East to Caversham and the Swan Valley.

History

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Morley Drive was first built during the 1970s to service the then-new inner northern suburbs of Perth. Before then, North Beach Drive was the main route to the coast in the west, as well as some similar situations in Morley, with Morley Drive being mostly discontinuous. Upon the opening of the road, which made the whole road continuous, the existing roads that were affected were made into discontinuous local roads. Also of note was Grand Promenade being cut off from what is known today as Dianella Drive. During the late 1980s, the six-way roundabout with Alexander Drive and the Strand was converted into a hamburger roundabout, resulting in The Strand becoming discontinuous. Morley Drive represented the northern terminus of the section of Tonkin Highway north of the Swan River from 1984 until 1989, when it was extended further north to Benara Road (Tonkin Highway became continuous in 1988).

Apart from minor modifications, Morley Drive remained relatively unchanged until 2010, when the terrain of the eastbound carriageway near McGilvray Avenue was lowered to improve road safety around that area. 2016, the Flinders Street intersection was upgraded with longer turning lanes and better pedestrian facilities. Between 2016 and 2018, as part of the NorthLink WA road project, the intersection with Tonkin Highway was upgraded to a roundabout interchange with Tonkin Highway free-flowing over Morley Drive, a first in WA.[3]

Videos

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Major intersections

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LGALocationkmmiDestinationsNotes
StirlingBalcatta, Tuart Hill00.0Main Street – Balcatta, Osborne ParkMorley Drive western terminus: continues as Karrinyup Road (State Route 76)
Balcatta, Nollamara, Yokine, Tuart Hill0.90.56  Wanneroo Road (State Route 60) – Perth, Wanneroo
Nollamara, Yokine2.01.2Flinders Street – Nollamara, Yokine
Dianella3.22.0Dianella Drive north – Dianella, MirrabookaTraffic light controlled T Junction
3321  Grand Promenade (State Route 55) southeast – Dianella, Bedford, BayswaterTraffic light controlled T Junction
4.1–
4.2
2.5–
2.6
  Alexander Drive (State Route 56) north & south / The Strand northwest & southeast – Perth, Malaga, Dianella, BedfordHamburger roundabout: Morley Drive continues through roundabout
Stirling, BayswaterDianella, Morley5.83.6Camboon Road north / Wellington Road southeast – Dianella, Morley, Noranda
BayswaterMorley7.34.5Crimea Street – Morley, Noranda
8.65.3   Tonkin Highway (State Route 4) – Joondalup, Midland, Armadale, Perth AirportMorley Drive eastern terminus: continues as Morley Drive East (State Route 76). Roundabout interchange favouring Tonkin Highway.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
Note: Intersections with minor local roads are not shown

See also

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  Australian Roads portal

References

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  1. ^ a b Department of Land Information. StreetSmart Perth Street Directory (54th ed.). West Australian Newspapers Ltd. pp. Maps 310-315. ISBN 978-0-909439-67-5.
  2. ^ "Main Roads Metropolitan Road Fact Sheet" (PDF). Main Roads. 1 February 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  3. ^ "NorthLink WA | Main Roads Western Australia". www.mainroads.wa.gov.au. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
KML is from Wikidata