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Graham Farmer Freeway is a inner-city freeway in
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. It links
Rivervale Rivervale may refer to: In Australia * Rivervale, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth In Singapore * Rivervale, Singapore, a precinct of the district of Sengkang located in north-eastern Singapore In the United States * Rivervale, Arkansas, a s ...
and Burswood with West Perth and Leederville, providing an east-west bypass of Perth's central business district. The freeway, in conjunction with
Great Eastern Highway Great Eastern Highway is a road that links the Western Australian capital of Perth with the city of Kalgoorlie. A key route for road vehicles accessing the eastern Wheatbelt and the Goldfields, it is the western portion of the main road link ...
and
Orrong Road Orrong Road is a major arterial road servicing the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia as well as the south-eastern continuation of the Graham Farmer Freeway. It is a dual carriageway for its entire length, with multiple sets of traffic ...
, is also an important connection between the city centre and
Perth Airport Perth Airport is an international, domestic and general aviation airport serving Perth, the capital city of Western Australia. It is the fourth busiest airport in Australia measured by passenger movements and falls within the boundaries of ...
. It is allocated State Route 8, and was named in honour of the
Australian rules Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
footballer, Graham "Polly" Farmer, who played between 1953 and 1971 in both the West Australian and Victorian Football Leagues.


Route description


Western terminus

The freeway's western terminus is a hybrid interchange, combining a Full Y interchange with the
Mitchell Freeway The Mitchell Freeway is a freeway in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, linking central Perth with the city of Joondalup. It is the northern section of State Route 2, which continues south as Kwinana Freeway and Forrest ...
, an exit to James Street, and an entrance ramp from and exit ramp to
Loftus Street Loftus Street is a major north-south road in the Perth suburbs of and , connecting London Street with Thomas Street. These roads, together with Winthrop Avenue further south, form State Route 61, which links with and . History Loftus St ...
. The interchange also incorporates a partial Y interchange that connects Charles Street to the Mitchell Freeway. This is known as the ''Hamilton Interchange''.


Northbridge Tunnel

Immediately east of the interchange is the Northbridge Tunnel, Western Australia's only freeway tunnel. The tunnel has three traffic lanes in each direction, with an escape passageway between the carriageways. The tunnel is colloquially known as the "Polly Pipe", a reference not only to the freeway's namesake, but also to the colloquialism "Poly Pipe" in reference to plastic pipes (commonly made from
polyethylene Polyethylene or polythene (abbreviated PE; IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most commonly produced plastic. It is a polymer, primarily used for packaging ( plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes and containers including bo ...
or polyvinyl chloride materials) used in reticulation and plumbing. Both tunnel portals feature public art installations. At the western end, there is a pictorial history of Northbridge, and at the eastern end, the Aboriginal artist Ron Corbett created images based on indigenous artwork. The transportation of dangerous goods and explosives through the freeway tunnel is prohibited.


Perth City exits

At the eastern end of the tunnel is the diamond interchange with East Parade, which connects the freeway to East Perth. The East Parade exit ramps allow traffic movements to the opposite entrance ramp, as the westbound entrance ramp also connects to Lord Street, whilst the eastbound exit ramp merges with a ramp from Lord Street. This allows a connection between the city centre and the freeway, via Lord Street.


Windan Bridge

The freeway then crosses the Swan River over the , six lane
Windan Bridge The Windan Bridge is a six-lane road bridge in East Perth, Western Australia which crosses the Swan River and forms part of the Graham Farmer Freeway. Opened in 2000, it sits next to the Goongoongup railway bridge which was built in 1995. A ...
. The bridge is one of the more recent constructions of the 19 bridges that cross the river. It includes pedestrian and cycling access.


Burswood

Graham Farmer Freeway continues into Burswood as a six lane freeway. There is a diamond interchange with Victoria Park Drive for access to the adjacent
Belmont Park Racecourse Belmont Park Racecourse is one of the two major horse racing venues within the Perth, Western Australia metropolitan area, the other being Ascot Racecourse, and is located just outside of the central business district on the Burswood Peninsula ...
, and the nearby
Optus Stadium Perth Stadium, currently known as Optus Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of Burswood. It was completed in late 2017 and officially opened on 21 January 2018. The s ...
and
Crown Perth Crown Perth (formerly Burswood Island Casino, Burswood Island Complex and Burswood Entertainment Complex) is a resort and casino located in Burswood, Western Australia, near the Swan River. The resort consists of a casino, a convention centre ...
complex. The eastern terminus is a modified diamond interchange with
Great Eastern Highway Great Eastern Highway is a road that links the Western Australian capital of Perth with the city of Kalgoorlie. A key route for road vehicles accessing the eastern Wheatbelt and the Goldfields, it is the western portion of the main road link ...
, that includes a looped ramp for the south-westbound to north-eastbound traffic movement. The freeway continues south-east as Orrong Road, an arterial road that is also part of State Route 8.


History

Graham Farmer Freeway was constructed between 1996 and 2000, and used over 180,000 cubic metres of concrete. The project finished three months early and within budget, costing $313 million. It has been designed to have a 150-year lifespan, following the
Main Roads Western Australia Main Roads Western Australia (formerly the Main Roads Department) is a statutory authority of the Government of Western Australia that is responsible for implementing the state's policies on road access and main roads. It operates under the ''M ...
specification. Stage 1 involved construction of the tunnel and was undertaken by a
Clough Clough ( ; ) is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It sits about 3 miles from Dundrum, County Down, Dundrum on the A2 road (Northern Ireland), A2 between Newcastle, County Down, Newcastle and Belfast. The A2 road (Northern ...
/
Baulderstone Hornibrook Baulderstone, formerly Baulderstone Hornibrook, was an Australian construction company. History MR Hornibrook In 1926, Manuel Hornibrook founded a construction company in Brisbane. Amongst its notable projects were the Story Bridge and William Jo ...
joint venture, was a finalist for the 2001
Australian Construction Achievement Award Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...
. Stage 2 included the Windan Bridge, and nine other traffic and pedestrian bridge structures. This stage won an award from
Austroads Austroads is the apex organisation of road transport and traffic agencies in Australia and New Zealand. It publishes guidelines, codes of practice and research reports that promote best practice for road management organisations in Australasia. A ...
, the Association of Australian and New Zealand Road Transport and Traffic Authorities.


2013 tunnel expansion

During several weekend closures in April 2013, the existing breakdown shoulders were removed to accommodate an extra lane of traffic in each direction, without modifying the tunnel's structure. The removal of the breakdown lanes was criticised by the state Opposition, and the RAC raised concerns about emergency response times. As part of the upgrade,
Main Roads Western Australia Main Roads Western Australia (formerly the Main Roads Department) is a statutory authority of the Government of Western Australia that is responsible for implementing the state's policies on road access and main roads. It operates under the ''M ...
implemented an incident response plan, including a dedicated towing service, and the fire control and ventilation systems were upgraded. The new eastbound lane opened on 16 April, a day after it was originally scheduled to open, due to delays in commissioning the new lane use management system. The third westbound lane opened on 29 April, as scheduled. The works were designed to improve the traffic flow in the Perth CBD, which was affected by construction projects such as the development of
Elizabeth Quay Elizabeth Quay is a mixed-use development project in the Perth#cbd, Perth central business district. Focusing on an area located on the north shore of Perth Water near the landmark Swan Bells, the precinct being developed by the project was nam ...
.


Exits and interchanges


See also

*
Freeways in Australia Australian Capital Territory Canberra region * Majura Parkway Other freeways (no route number) * Adelaide Avenue * Yarra Glen * Capital Circle * Gungahlin Drive Extension * Parkes Way * Tuggeranong Parkway Gallery File:Highw ...
* Freeways in Western Australia


Notes and references

{{WA road routes , route=State Route 8 , shield={{AUshield, S, 8, size=x18px , roads={{WA road routes/R, 8 Highways and freeways in Perth, Western Australia Tunnels in Western Australia Tunnels completed in 2000 Articles containing video clips Road tunnels in Australia