Mounts Bay Road is a major road 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, extending southwest from the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

along the north bank of the Swan River, at the base of Kings Park.

Route description

Mounts Bay Road runs between William Street and

Winthrop Avenue Winthrop Avenue is a major north–south road in the Perth suburbs of Nedlands and Crawley. For most of its length, the road travels alongside the south-western edge of Kings Park, connecting Thomas Street with Stirling Highway, Mounts Bay ...

Crawley Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of ...

, continuing towards

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

Stirling Highway Stirling Highway is, for most of its length, a four-lane single carriageway and major arterial road between Perth, Western Australia and the port city of Fremantle in Western Australia on the northern side of the Swan River. The speed lim ...

and linking Perth with the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilitie ...

(UWA) and the riverside suburbs of Nedlands and Claremont. The road circles around the northern and western sides of The Narrows Interchange, which was built on reclaimed land. The interchange connects to the

Mitchell Mitchell may refer to: People *Mitchell (surname) *Mitchell (given name) Places Australia * Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate * Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst * Mitchell, Northern Territ ...

and Kwinana freeways, and the Narrows Bridge. To the east it travels to William Street and The Esplanade, along northern side of the Perth Convention Centre and the

Elizabeth Quay Bus Station Elizabeth Quay Bus Station, formerly the Esplanade Busport, is a Transperth bus station, located at the southern edge of the Perth CBD in Western Australia, next to the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre and Elizabeth Quay railway station. It h ...

. South-west of the interchange the Point Lewis Rotary connects the road with an entrance ramp to the Kwinana Freeway southbound, and westbound traffic from Riverside Drive (which is one-way at that point). Mounts Bay Road then follows the Swan River estuary, and forms the southern and southeastern boundary for Kings Park. It ends at an intersection with Winthrop Avenue and Stirling Highway, overlooked by UWA's

Winthrop Hall The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilities ...

. Mounts Bay Road is also home to the Old

Swan Brewery The Swan Brewery is a brewing company, whose brewery was located in Perth, Western Australia. History The brewery was established in 1857 by Frederick Sherwood at the foot of what is now Sherwood Court in Perth. The brewery was named for ...

, as well as a number of expensive high rise apartments and hotels overlooking the river.

History

Mounts Bay Road was named after Mounts Bay in 1845, the body of water in the Swan River Estuary that was infilled for the construction of the Narrows Interchange, and the road follows the boundary of the bay at the Narrows. Prior to its new naming, it was known as Morgan Street after J. Morgan, the Resident Magistrate of Perth in 1832, who built the original road. It was, during the era of

trams in Perth The Perth tramway network served Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, from 1899 until 1958. The network was initially run by a private company but was taken over by the state government in 1913. From a single line along Hay Street, th ...

, a notable location of tram derailment.

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 ...

installed roundabout metering traffic lights on Mounts Bay Road's eastern approach to the Point Lewis Rotary during 2013. The signals have the usual red and yellow signal phases, plus a blank phase for proceeding through the roundabout, following the normal roundabout the rules. The signals are activated when queue detectors on the Kwinana Freeway on-ramp and Mounts Bay Road southbound, out of

, indicate there is sufficient traffic congestion. Eastbound traffic on Mounts Bay Road is expected to experience only minimal delay, while the roundabout intersection is expected to operate more efficiently, preventing gridlock and reducing the number of crashes. Construction started in October 2013, with the roundabout metering signals beginning operation on 9 November 2013.

Future

The

City of Perth A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be de ...

plan to upgrade Mounts Bay Road to accommodate increasing traffic demand and improve accessibility. Their plan would reintroduce two-way traffic between Mill and William Streets, which is currently limited to eastbound traffic. A new shared pedestrian and cycle path would be constructed along that same section, and the median-side lanes would be converted into bus priority lanes. Existing onroad parking would be retained, as would existing trees. The plan proposes widening the southbound carriageway into the adjacent Sir John Oldham Park. The required amount of land is described as "small portions along the edge". The project is still in the planning phase.

Notes

References

* Gervas, Stan (2003) ''Sunday mornings in Perth'' Maylands .A.: Gervas Books. – pp. 160–168

Route description

History

Future

See also

Notes

References

Further reading