Yarra Glen is a major

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 ...

arterial road in Canberra. It is in length connects

South Canberra South Canberra, or the Inner South, is a central district of Canberra, the capital city of Australia. South Canberra is located to the south of Canberra's city centre and is on the south bank of Lake Burley Griffin. It is one of the oldest par ...

to the

Woden Valley The District of Woden Valley () is one of the original eighteen districts of the Australian Capital Territory used in land administration. The district is subdivided into divisions ( suburbs), sections and blocks. The district of Woden Valley ...

district. It links at its northern end to Adelaide Avenue, and at its southern end to Melrose Drive and Yamba Drive via a large roundabout.Google Maps

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

, Accessed 30 April 2013ACTMAPi
,

ACT Government The Government of the Australian Capital Territory, also referred to as the Australian Capital Territory Government or ACT Government, is the executive authority of the Australian Capital Territory, one of the territories of Australia. The lea ...

, Accessed 30 April 2013 It was designed to have no traffic lights nor cross roads on it.

Route description

Yarra Glen continues from the western end of Adelaide Avenue, at Novar Street interchange. As the road begins to curve towards the south ramps are provided to Cotter Road, the road continues in a gradual curve before straightening when heading roughly north-south. Another interchange is provided halfway along this section to Carruthers Street, and the roadway terminates at a large roundabout at the northern end of

Woden Town Centre Woden Town Centre is the main commercial centre of the district of Woden Valley in Canberra, Australia. It is located in the Canberra suburb of Phillip, Australian Capital Territory, Phillip. The town centre has a variety of shops and amenities, ...

, which interfaces with the northern ends of Melrose Drive and Yamba Drive.

History

The

National Capital Development Commission The National Capital Authority (NCA) is a statutory authority of the Australian Government that was established to manage the Commonwealth's interest in the planning and development of Canberra as the capital city of Australia. Timeline of the ...

unveiled its plans for Yarra Glen, which was then known as the Woden Parkway, on 22 January 1965. It was originally proposed to continue north through to meet with a then unbuilt extension what is now part of

Parkes Way Parkes Way is a major road in Canberra, Australia, which runs east-west between Kings Avenue and the Glenloch Interchange. At Glenloch Interchange it intersects with William Hovell Drive, Tuggeranong Parkway, and Caswell Drive ( Gungahlin Dri ...

on the northern side of

Lake Burley Griffin Lake Burley Griffin is an artificial lake in the centre of Canberra, the capital of Australia. It was completed in 1963 after the Molonglo River, which ran between the city centre and Parliamentary Triangle, was dammed. It is named after Wal ...

, this would have included a major bridge across the lake twice the length of the Commonwealth Avenue bridge. And also to have extended further south into the Woden Valley, connecting via a number of interchanges to collector roads. and each carriageway was to have 2 or 3 lanes depending on location, which provision for a fourth. The posted speed limit was to be up to .Plans for huge Woden scheme unveiled
an
associated imagery
''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

'', Page 3, 23 January 1965SIX LANE TUNNEL PLAN - Highway route to be decided soon
''The Canberra Times'', Page 3, 6 February 1965Woden Parkway construction
''The Canberra Times'', Page 10, 19 September 1966 The contract to build Stage 1 of the envisaged Woden Parkway, which stretched from Adelaide Avenue to the Carruthers Street interchange, was awarded to

Leighton Contractors CIMIC Group Limited (formerly Leighton Holdings) is an Australian construction contractor. It is active in the telecommunications, engineering and infrastructure, building and property, mining and resources, and environmental services industries ...

in May 1966. By this stage, plans required 2 lanes per carriageway to be built instead, with provision for a third. The construction of the roadway required partial closure of Adelaide Avenue, with traffic diverted through existing thoroughfares in nearby suburbs.Diversion for Woden Parkway
''The Canberra Times'', Page 16, 1 September 1966 The second stage of what was now known as Yarra Glen, which stretched from Carruthers Street interchange to Melrose Drive was also built by

, and completed was opened on 21 December 1967.Extension to road
''The Canberra Times'', Page 7, 25 August 1967Yarra Glen extension
''The Canberra Times'', Page 4, 21 December 1967 The final name of ''Yarra Glen'' is based upon an early homestead in the area which bore the same name. It was gazetted on 29 September 1966. A spokesman for the Department of the Interior said that the usual roadway suffixes weren't used as the name sounded better without them.ACT Planning and Land Authority (ACTPLA) - Place name search
ACT Government, Accessed 30 April 2013WODEN VALLEY HIGHWAY'S OFFICIAL NAME YARRA GLEN
''The Canberra Times'', Page 1, 30 September 1966 Currently, Yarra Glen has not been extended beyond the second stage of the originally envisaged Woden Parkway, with the at-grade Callam Street and Athllon Drive taking the place of further grade-separated construction to the south, neither road connects directly to Yarra Glen. Plans were abandoned for an extension to the north with the nearby

Tuggeranong Parkway Tuggeranong Parkway is an major highway in Canberra, Australia. Often referred to as "The Parkway" by locals, Tuggeranong Parkway links Civic to the southern Canberra metro district of Tuggeranong, and is a bypass road to the Woden Valley- West ...

taking over the function of the originally proposed northern extension, but instead located to the west of Lake Burley Griffin. The roadway still has 2 standard lanes per carriageway, though an additional bus lane has been added along most of the northbound extension. The current posted speed limit is .SLIDE OUT OF SEQUENCE
''The Canberra Times'', Page 3, 27 April 1972

Junctions

References

{{Road infrastructure in Canberra Transport in Canberra Highways in the Australian Capital Territory

Route description

History

Junctions

See also

References