Fairbairn Avenue is a major arterial road in the eastern suburbs of

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, the capital city of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The road travels from a junction with

Pialligo Avenue Pialligo Avenue is a major arterial road in Canberra, the Capital city of Australia. It forms part of the corridor linking the city to Canberra Airport at Pialligo, and Fairbairn. It is also the most direct route from Queanbeyan to the airpor ...

near

Canberra Airport Canberra Airport is an international airport situated in the District of Majura, Australian Capital Territory serving Australia's capital city, Canberra, as well as the nearby city of Queanbeyan and regional areas of the Australian Capital Te ...

to the

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in wars involving the Commonwealth of Australia and some conflicts involving pe ...

, a distance of . It is the primary access route to the

Australian Defence Force Academy The Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) is a tri-service military Academy that provides military and academic education for junior officers of the Australian Defence Force in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and Royal Aus ...

Campbell Park Campbell Park is the name of the central park for Milton Keynes (England) and of a ward of Central Milton Keynes civil parish. (The nearby Campbell Park (civil parish) previously included the park but no longer does so. It did not change its na ...

and

Mount Ainslie Mount Ainslie is a hill with an elevation of that is located in the northeastern suburbs of Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Mount Ainslie lies within part of the Canberra Nature Park. Location and features Mount Ains ...

. Fairbairn Avenue carries the Alternative National Highway 23 designation for a short distance between

Majura Road Majura Road is a major arterial road in the eastern rural area of Canberra, the capital city of Australia. The road runs north to south, beginning at a grade separated junction with the Federal Highway inside the border of the Australian Ca ...

and Morshead Drive. This eastern section suffers from heavy

traffic congestion Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s. When traffic de ...

during morning and afternoon peak periods and a number of recent upgrades aim to address this. In 2009, works to improve access and traffic flows around the airport precinct saw Fairbairn Avenue duplicated between Pialligo Avenue - where an existing

roundabout A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford En ...

was replaced with traffic lights - and Morshead Drive, also improving the intersection with Majura Road. A

grade separated In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tra ...

interchange constructed over Fairbairn Avenue as part of the

Majura Parkway Majura Parkway is a north–south parkway located in the Majura district of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It links the interchange with Federal Highway and Horse Park Drive at the edge of Gungahlin district to Monaro Highway in ...

project was completed in 2016. The name Fairbairn Avenue was officially gazetted on 8 February 1968, in honour of

Federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

Minister for Civil Aviation

James Fairbairn James Valentine Fairbairn (28 July 1897 – 13 August 1940) was an Australian aviator and politician. A World War I fighter pilot, he represented the United Australia Party (UAP) in federal parliament and served as Minister for Air and Civil ...

, who was killed on 13 August 1940 Canberra air disaster.

References

{{Road infrastructure in Canberra Streets in Canberra

See also

References