Alexander Drive is a major north–south arterial road in the northern suburbs of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia, connecting Perth's central business district (CBD) with

Edith Cowan University Edith Cowan University (ECU) is a public university in Western Australia. It is named in honour of the first woman to be elected to an Parliaments of the Australian states and territories, Australian parliament, Edith Cowan, and is the only Aust ...

Mount Lawley Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

campus and the Malaga industrial area, as well as newer development suburbs to Perth's north. It is used by

Transperth Transperth is the brand name of the public transport system serving the city and suburban areas of Perth, the state capital of Western Australia. It is managed by the Public Transport Authority (PTA), a state government organisation. Train op ...

bus routes, including the 360, 361 and 362. Alexander Drive was named after Mr S.B. Alexander, a former

Wanneroo Road Wanneroo Road is a arterial highway in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia linking Joondanna and Yokine in the south with Wanneroo and Yanchep in the north. As part of State Route 60, it begins from Charles Street in the inner ...

Board member. Alexander Drive runs through the following local government areas

City of Wanneroo The City of Wanneroo is a local government area with city status in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. It is centred approximately north of Perth's central business district and forms part of the northern boundary of the Perth ...

City of Swan The City of Swan is a local government area of Western Australia. It is in the eastern metropolitan region of Perth and includes the Swan Valley and 42 suburbs. It is centred approximately 20 km north-east of the Perth central business d ...

City of Bayswater The City of Bayswater is a local government area in the Western Australian capital city of Perth, about northeast of Perth's central business district. The City covers an area of and has a population of 69,283 as at the 2021 Census. The Ci ...

and

City of Stirling The City of Stirling is a local government area in the northern suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth about north of Perth's central business district. The City covers an area of and has a population of over 223,000, makin ...

. It is known as Road No. 7354 in plans and maps.

Route description

Fitzgerald Street

State Route 56 starts in Northbridge, adjacent to Perth's CBD, as Fitzgerald Street, travelling northwards through West Perth and North Perth before becoming Alexander Drive at the intersection of

Walcott Street Walcott Street is an important east–west road in the inner northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, linking four of Perth's major northern road corridors ( Charles Street, Alexander Drive, Beaufort Street and Guildford Road Guildfor ...

Alexander Drive

Alexander Drive officially commences at the traffic light intersection of

in Menora in the

, with Alexander Drive travelling entirely through the suburb for before reaching Bradford Street. It briefly borders

and the suburb's

campus for before reaching Central Avenue, and changing borders to the east with Inglewood. The border to the west changes to Yokine only later. About later the road is within the suburb of

Dianella Dianella may refer to: * ''Dianella'' (beetle), a species and genus of beetle in the family Carabidae now known as ''Diamella'' * ''Dianella'' (gastropod), a genus of freshwater snails in the family Hydrobiidae * ''Dianella'' (plant), a genus of ...

, with the Woodrow Avenue intersection not any further down. From Woodrow Avenue, Alexander Drive intersects

Grand Promenade The Grand Promenade () is a high-rise residential development built in 2005 in Sai Wan Ho, Hong Kong. The complex consists of five towers, with towers 2, 3, and 5 being interconnected The towers are 213 - 219 metres tall and contain 2,020 ap ...

later, and then

Morley Drive 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 ...

at a hamburger roundabout down the road. This roundabout also features left-in/left-out junctions with the northwestern and southeastern sections of a residential distributor road, The Strand. The road travels through

for before reaching

Reid Highway Reid Highway is a east-west highway and partial freeway in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, linking North Beach with Middle Swan. As part of State Route 3, it forms half of Perth's outer ring road along with Roe Highway, wh ...

at a

diamond interchange A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a controlled-access highway crosses a minor road. Design The freeway itself is grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge. Approaching the ...

. Between there and Widgee Road/Hellenic Drive, Alexander Drive briefly borders

Noranda Noranda may refer to: *Noranda (mining company) * Noranda Caldera, an Archean caldera in Canada *Noranda, Western Australia Noranda is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located in the City of Bayswater. The suburb was named in 1977 after N ...

and the

to the east. After the Reid Highway interchange Alexander Drive now forms the border of the City of Stirling and Mirrabooka to the west, and the

and Malaga to the east. It reaches Beach Road , after which the border to the west changes to the

and Koondoola. north of there, the road intersects with Illawarra Crescent South and the border to the east becomes Ballajura. It then reaches

Marangaroo Drive Marangaroo Drive is an arterial east-west road located in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. This road was originally part of Warwick Road, but in the late 1970s, Warwick Road was realigned, so the section of Warwick Road that was ...

later, after which the border to the west changes to

Alexander Heights Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

. It intersects with Illawarra Crescent North , and then

Hepburn Avenue Hepburn Avenue is an arterial east-west road in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. The road links Sorrento in the west with Malaga and Whiteman in the east. It also connects the residential developments that span its length wit ...

. After Hepburn Avenue, the road now borders Landsdale to the west and Cullacabardee to the east. To the west is mostly residential areas and some bushland and farming area soon to be converted into residential development, while to the east is exclusively bushland and rural area. Alexander Drive travels along these suburbs for before reaching

Gnangara Road Gnangara Road is an arterial east-west road in Perth, Western Australia. It is located within the northern suburbs of Perth, from Madeley in the west, to Henley Brook in the east. Gnangara Road provides a connection between Great Northern High ...

. This intersection marks the northern terminus of State Route 56, but not Alexander Drive, which ends at a cul-de-sac north of the intersection.

History

In May 1932, the

Perth Road Board The City of Stirling is a local government area in the northern suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth about north of Perth's central business district. The City covers an area of and has a population of over 223,000, making ...

(now

) decided to rename Fitzgerald Street, north of

, to Alexander Drive after Mr S.B. Alexander, who was a member of the Wanneroo Road Board (now

). The name change was official made by the state government's Department of Lands and Surveys in September 1932. In 1939, improvement works were proposed for Alexander Drive and other roads in the area. These works included concrete kerbing, surfacing with a two coat bitumen seal, and widening from to . The north-south portion from

to Widgee Road was historically called Uganda Road and was barely more than a track, but was renamed when the dual carriageway was built in the late 1970s. The name change was made official in March 1979. The road was duplicated from Beach Road to the location of what is now the present-day

during the early 1990s, also during the time

linked Alexander Drive to Malaga Drive; this was subsequently extended west from there. In 2006, the original single carriageway northbound from Hepburn Ave was upgraded to a dual carriageway to

, where State Route 56 ends. Traffic lights were installed at the intersection with

in 2007. In 2011, the original traffic light intersection with

was upgraded to a

. Reid Highway is now uninterrupted over traffic light junctions at Alexander Drive. The

MAX light rail The Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) is a light rail system serving the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Owned and operated by TriMet, it consists of five color-designated lines that altogether connect the six sections ...

system, which would run along Alexander Drive and Fitzgerald Street, was announced in 2012. The plans were modified to

bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

in 2015, before being cancelled in 2016.

Major intersections

(State Route 75) – North Perth and Menora * Central Avenue,

– to

(State Route 55) –

(State Route 76) –

(State Route 3) - Mirrabooka,

and Malaga * Beach Road - Mirrabooka, Ballajura and Malaga *

(State Route 81) – Ballajura and

– Ballajura,

and Landsdale *

(State Route 84) – Wangara and Gnangara, to Ellenbrook

References