Roe Highway
Roe Highway is a limited-access highway and partial freeway in Perth, Western Australia, linking Kewdale with the city's north-eastern and south-western suburbs. The northern terminus is at Reid Highway and Great Northern Highway in Middle Swan, and the southern terminus is with Murdoch Drive at the Kwinana Freeway interchange in Bibra Lake. Roe Highway, in addition to Reid Highway, form State Route 3, a partial ring road around the outer suburbs of the Perth metropolitan area. Roe Highway also forms part of National Highway 94 from Great Eastern Highway Bypass to Great Eastern Highway, and National Highway 95 from Great Eastern Highway to Great Northern Highway.
Although planning for Roe Highway's route began in the 1950s, construction on the highway's first segment only began in 1981, which was opened in 1983, concurrent with the construction of Tonkin Highway and development of the Kewdale industrial area. The highway remains a key heavy vehicle route in the Perth metropolitan area. In the 1980s and 1990s, most of the highway's interchanges with other roads were constructed as at-grade intersections with traffic lights, as were Perth's other arterial highways also constructed during that time. From 2002 to 2006, the section of the highway from Tonkin Highway to Kwinana Freeway was constructed as a continuous freeway, with grade-separated interchanges and free traffic flow, and since 2012 several remaining at-grade intersections of the rest of the highway have been grade-separated. Six at-grade traffic-light controlled intersections remain on the highway today.
Planning provisions have proposed for Roe Highway to be extended from its current south-western terminus in Bibra Lake towards Fremantle since the 1950s. These plans have been controversial amongst conservationist and community groups due to the highway's proposed route through the environmentally sensitive Beeliar Wetlands. The Western Australian state government commenced construction on the first stage of an extension of Roe Highway from Kwinana Freeway to Stock Road in December 2016; construction of the extension was suspended in March 2017 following a change of government in the 2017 state election. The new government has since reconfigured the extension to curve northwards to link with Murdoch Drive instead. Construction on this project commenced in 2018 and was completed in April 2020.
Route description
Roe Highway is part of State Route 3, Perth's partial outer ring road, though it also carries National Highways 94 and 95 for parts of the highway. A dual carriageway limited-access highway maintained by Main Roads Western Australia, most junctions along the road are grade-separated interchanges, though some are at-grade traffic-light controlled intersections; the section between Tonkin Highway and the Kwinana Freeway is a continuous freeway.The speed limit for the highway is mostly ; however, the section between Great Northern Highway and Morrison Road carries a, and it is at the Great Eastern Highway Bypass intersection. Otherwise, the speed limit near at-grade intersections is. A principal shared path exists alongside most of Roe Highway, from Kalamunda Road to Kwinana Freeway.
Middle Swan to Forrestfield
Roe Highway commences in Middle Swan within the City of Swan local government area at Great Northern Highway at a traffic light controlled intersection as an eastern continuation of Reid Highway. Upon the highway's commencement it is carrying both State Route 3 and National Highway 95. The highway then curves to the south, reaching Toodyay Road later. From there the highway briefly borders the suburb of Stratton before entering Midvale, reaching another traffic light controlled intersection with Morrison Road later. Only another takes the highway to Great Eastern Highway at a modified diamond interchange with a northbound to eastbound loop ramp to cater for heavy vehicles. At this interchange, National Highway 95 terminates here, and simultaneously gains the National Highway 94 allocation, continuing from Great Eastern Highway to the east.Following the Great Eastern Highway interchange Roe Highway is entirely within the suburb of Bellevue, getting to Clayton Street only further on. It is a half diamond interchange with only a northbound exit and southbound entry ramp. Not any further from that interchange, the highway crosses the Helena River, sending the highway into the suburb of Hazelmere, passing under Bushmead Road, and reaching the Great Eastern Highway Bypass another south of Clayton Street. At this intersection National Highway 95 continues west on the Bypass. After, Roe Highway enters the City of Kalamunda LGA, bordering the suburbs of High Wycombe and Maida Vale and then reaches Kalamunda Road at a dogbone interchange later. Another takes the highway to another half diamond interchange at Maida Vale Road, also with only northbound exit and southbound entrance ramps. later, Roe Highway reaches Berkshire Road at a diamond interchange with a "tennis ball" configuration, with traffic cutting through the roundabouts rather than circulating around them. At the same time the highway enters the suburb of Forrestfield. Another takes the highway to Tonkin Highway. This major junction was originally a diamond interchange favouring Tonkin Highway, but is now a partial freeway-to-freeway interchange, with the left turns from Roe Highway free-flowing. There are plans to upgrade this junction into being a fully free-flowing interchange in the future.
Forrestfield to Bibra Lake
Following the interchange at Tonkin Highway, Roe Highway now forms the boundaries of the City of Belmont and Kalamunda LGAs to the west and east, respectively, as well as their respective suburbs, Kewdale and Wattle Grove, before crossing freight railway lines and briefly entering the suburbs of East Cannington and Welshpool within the vicinity of the Orrong Road and Welshpool Road East interchange, within the City of Gosnells LGA, further south from Tonkin Highway. Within this stretch the highway is four lanes southbound and three lanes northbound. Roe Highway is thereafter within the suburb of Beckenham, with the freight railway line travelling alongside the highway's eastern side. Roe Highway reaches Kenwick Link further south. Midway through these interchanges, the highway passes under Brixton Street and the bypassed section of Albany Highway. A further southwest of the interchange takes the freeway to the Canning River, which Roe Highway crosses over as the Djarlgarra Bridge, after which the highway is now bordering the suburbs of Langford and Thornlie. Roe Highway passes under Spencer Road before reaching Nicholson Road, west of the river. The highway, which is now within the City of Canning and bordering the residential suburb of Parkwood and industrial suburb of Canning Vale, reaches Willeri Drive further west, after which it is now bordering Willetton to the north, and then reaches South Street further southwest. Following this interchange Roe Highway is now within the City of Cockburn and bordering the suburbs of Leeming and Jandakot, reaching Karel Avenue further west. After, Roe Highway reaches a partial combination interchange at the junction of the Kwinana Freeway in Bibra Lake; Roe Highway terminates at this interchange, continuing northwards as Murdoch Drive.History
Roe Highway was first proposed in 1955 by Gordon Stephenson as part of what was to become the Metropolitan Region Planning Scheme. The highway was intended to form the southern and eastern sections of a ring route around the Perth metropolitan area. It is named in honour of John Septimus Roe, who arrived in Western Australia in 1829 and served as the first state Surveyor General of Western Australia for 41 years.Work began in 1981, with the first section between the Beechboro-Gosnells Highway and Bushmead Road opening in 1983. The next section, from Bushmead Road to Great Eastern Highway was opened in 1984. The third stage, linking the Great Eastern Highway and Great Northern Highway opened on 14 December 1988, at the same time as the Great Eastern Highway Bypass opened. The state Minister for Transport, Bob Pearce was assisted in the opening ceremony by Jason and Rachael Roe, two of the sixth generation of the Roe family to live in Australia and descendants of John Septimus Roe. The new roads provided a limited access dual carriageway bypass of the historical Guildford and Midland districts that were much needed at the time.
In 1994, the highway was extended further southwards from Tonkin Highway to Welshpool Road. Following seven years in hiatus, work recommenced, and in 2001 a new southwestern extension known as stage 4 was completed from Welshpool Road to the purpose-built Kenwick Link most of which replaced the overtaxed William Street in Beckenham. Work on the stage 5 was undertaken simultaneously with stage 4, bringing the highway to Nicholson Road in 2002.
Stage 6, a extension from Nicholson Road to South Street was completed in 2004, with stage 7 being announced shortly afterwards. Prior to 2006, the exit to the freeway from the present Roe Highway Intersection was Hope Road. When the, $75 million extension from South Street to Kwinana Freeway was completed in March 2006, this meant that Hope Road was severed to the connection of the freeway with the road east of Berrigan Drive being renamed to Karel Avenue. Hope Road is now a series of local streets with the east of the freeway accessing to the West Power Jandakot Distribution Centre.
The of road built since 1994 between Tonkin Highway and Kwinana Freeway, is to a freeway standard. It may in the future be upgraded to a freeway classification.
In June 2012, the new grade-separated interchange opened at the Great Eastern Highway intersection, allowing free-flowing traffic on Roe Highway over Great Eastern Highway. The design includes a northbound to eastbound loop ramp to cater for heavy vehicles, and three pedestrian underpasses.