Orrong Road is a major arterial road servicing the metropolitan area 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 as well as the south-eastern continuation of the

Graham Farmer Freeway Graham Farmer Freeway is a inner-city freeway in Perth, Western Australia. It links Rivervale and Burswood with West Perth and Leederville, providing an east-west bypass of Perth's central business district. The freeway, in conjunction w ...

. It is a dual carriageway for its entire length, with multiple sets of traffic lights. In addition to servicing the southeastern suburbs of Perth, the road provides a vital connection from the Perth CBD to

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 ...

, the

Kewdale Freight Terminal Kewdale Freight Terminal is a large Intermodal freight transport, intermodal Rail transport, rail facility in the Perth suburb of Kewdale, Western Australia. Branching off the Kwinana freight railway, it was built in the 1960s to replace the Per ...

and the

Darling Scarp The Darling Scarp, also referred to as the Darling Range or Darling Ranges, is a low escarpment running north–south to the east of the Swan Coastal Plain and Perth, Western Australia. The escarpment extends generally north of Bindoon, to t ...

. It is designated H27 (''Rivervale–Wattle Grove Link'') in Main Roads' internal designation along with Welshpool Road East west of

Tonkin Highway Tonkin Highway is an north–south highway and partial freeway in Perth, Western Australia, linking Perth Airport and Kewdale with the city's north-eastern and south-eastern suburbs. As of April 2020, the northern terminus is at the intercha ...

Route description

The entire length of Orrong Road is a four lane dual-carriageway, similar to other major roads in the area such as

Albany Highway Albany Highway links Western Australia's capital city Perth with its oldest settlement, Albany, on the state's south coast. The highway travels through the southern Wheatbelt and Great Southern regions, and is designated State Route ...

Welshpool Road Welshpool Road is a major arterial road running through the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia. Although the road is now split in two, having had its western and eastern sections disconnected due to the extension of Roe Highway, it r ...

and

Abernethy Road Abernethy Road is a long minor arterial road linking Belmont with the Great Eastern Highway Bypass in Hazelmere, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. It runs along the eastern boundary of the Perth Airport area. It serves as an alternativ ...

. Unlike those roads however, the carriageways of Orrong Road are separated by a wide tree-lined central median, giving the road more of a

boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway. Boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former city walls. In American usage, boulevards may ...

appearance. The western terminus of Orrong Road is located just to the southeast of the

parclo interchange A partial cloverleaf interchange or parclo is a modification of a cloverleaf interchange. The design has been well received, and has since become one of the most popular freeway-to- arterial interchange designs in North America. It has also be ...

between

and

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 ...

where the road transitions from a freeway to an at-grade dual carriageway. The road continues in a south-easterly direction forming the boundary between the

Town of Victoria Park The Town of Victoria Park is a local government area of Western Australia. It covers an area of 17.62 km² in metropolitan Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It had a population of approximately 35,000 as at the 2016 Census. It li ...

's Lathlain and the

City of Belmont The City of Belmont is a local government area in the inner eastern suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth, located about east of Perth's central business district on the south bank of the Swan River. The City covers an ar ...

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 ...

. The first traffic light intersection is encountered at Francisco Street. At Roberts Road the southern suburb boundary changes to

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

, with the northern suburb swapping to Kewdale just south of the signalised intersection with Archer Street (at the Sydenham Street cul-de-sac). The next signalised intersection, with Wright Street, connects Orrong Road to Belmont Forum. The final set of lights prior to

Leach Highway Leach Highway is a east-west arterial highway in the southern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, primarily linking Kewdale and Perth Airport with the city of Fremantle. It is allocated State Route 7 and is a dual carriageway for its enti ...

is found at the intersection with Oats Street. At Briggs Street the southern suburb boundary changes to the

City of Canning The City of Canning is a local government area in the southeastern suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth, about southeast of Perth's central business district. The City covers an area of and had a population of approximatel ...

Welshpool Welshpool ( cy, Y Trallwng) is a market town and community in Powys, Wales, historically in the county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn; its Welsh language name ''Y Trallwng'' m ...

with the road now marking the northern limit of the Welshpool industrial area The road then intersects with Leach Highway 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 ...

with Leach Highway free-flowing over Orrong Road, after which the northern side also transitions from a residential to an industrial area. The next signalised intersection with Division and Bell Street sees the road fully enter Welshpool. Two more sets of lights are encountered at Pilbara Street and Kewdale Road. After Kewdale Road the road curves to the east and runs parallel with

to the south. The two roads eventually connect to each other via a signalised intersection with McDowell Street as a proxy for Welshpool Road. Orrong Road's eastern terminus is at the diamond interchange with Roe Highway. As with Leach Highway, Roe Highway is also free-flowing over Orrong Road, which continues as Welshpool Road East from this point.

History

Orrong Road was gazetted in 1937 from sections of roads at the time that were originally known as Hawkstone Street, Prospect Road, Burswood Avenue and Wickalls Avenue. The road was named after Orrong Road in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, itself an important road in Melbourne's inner south eastern suburbs. Since gazetting Orrong Road has undergone major changes. Originally a two lane road with additional lanes at traffic signals, it was widened significantly in the 1980's and early 1990's in preparation for the construction of

. This required the demolition of several properties. At this time, trees were planted in the median. In 1997 the intersection with

was converted to an interchange in preparation for the connection to Graham Farmer Freeway. In 2002, before Roe Highway's extension, Orrong Road terminated at McDowell Street in the form of a T-junction, where vehicles could then travel south to Welshpool Road. Orrong Road was extended to meet Roe Highway in the form of a

when Roe Highway was extended beyond Welshpool Road in 2003 and now continues as Welshpool Road East. In 2007 the Leach Highway intersection was converted to an interchange.

Future

In 2011 a study was announced by the then Transport Minister,

Troy Buswell Troy Raymond Buswell (born 19 March 1966) is a former Australian politician who was a Liberal member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 2005 to 2014, representing the seat of Vasse. He was Treasurer of Western Australia in th ...

, to look into building an Airport expressway. This would involve upgrading Orrong Road, along with Leach Highway from Orrong Road to the Airport, to a 100km/h freeway. This seems to have been dropped at the time, in favour of the Airport Line. In late May 2019 a new planning study was announced by Mainroads WA. The concept planned for Orrong Road to be substantially upgraded in the future to a four lane

expressway Expressway may refer to: * Controlled-access highway, the highest-grade type of highway with access ramps, lane markings, etc., for high-speed traffic. * Limited-access road, a lower grade of highway or arterial road. *Expressway, the fictional s ...

, running in a trench structure along the current median from Graham Farmer Freeway to President Street, before rising onto a viaduct over Leach Highway and Division and Bell Streets. Service roads along each side would provide access to properties on Orrong Road. Overall support for the concept is high, with 87 percent of respondents supporting the concept in community consultation. The

, (which includes part of the Orrong Road Road reserve north of Wright Street, and all of it from Wright Street to Kew Street) has given support for the concept, noting the high level of community support. However they have noted some opposition to the removal of the existing trees in the median.

Junctions

References

{{WA road routes , route=State Route 8 , shield={{AUshield, S, 8 , roads={{WA road routes/R, 8 Highways and freeways in Perth, Western Australia