Grand Junction Road is the longest east–west thoroughfare in the

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

metropolitan area, traversing through Adelaide's northern suburbs approximately 8 kilometres north of the

Adelaide city centre Adelaide city centre (Kaurna: Tarndanya) is the inner city locality of Greater Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It is known by locals simply as "the City" or "Town" to distinguish it from Greater Adelaide and from the City of Ad ...

Route

Travelling from the

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...

region, it is mostly a double-lane sealed road (triple-laned between South Road and Cavan Road/Churchill Road and between Main North Road/Port Wakefield Road and Hampstead Road/Briens Road) (becoming a single-lane road past Tolley Road intersection at

Hope Valley, South Australia Hope Valley is a suburb of Adelaide in the City of Tea Tree Gully. History Hope Valley was more the result of random settlement than of actual town planning. Jacob Pitman first purchased an section (Section 824) in 1839. In the early 1840s he ...

) running 21 kilometres to the base of the Adelaide Hills. The western end at the intersection of Old Port Road, 300 metres east of a causeway which separates the

Port River The Port River (officially known as the Port Adelaide River) is part of a tidal estuary located north of the Adelaide city centre in the Australian state of South Australia. It has been used as a shipping channel since the beginning of European ...

from West Lakes. The 2.4 kilometre section of road that continues west of Old Port Road to

Semaphore South Semaphore South is a beachside suburb of Adelaide, in the City of Port Adelaide Enfield. The Semaphore South Post Office opened on 3 November 1947 and closed in 1978. Politics Semaphore South is located in the state electoral district of Lee ...

is named Bower Road. The eastern end of Grand Junction Road is in the suburb of Hope Valley, at the intersection of Hancock Road and

Lower North East Road Lower North East Road (and its southwestern sections as North Terrace and Payneham Road) is an arterial road in the northeastern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. It links the north-eastern corner of Adelaide to Houghton in the Adelaide Hi ...

, just before the latter proceeds into the Adelaide Hills, past Anstey Hill Recreation Park and on towards the towns of Houghton and

Inglewood Inglewood may refer to: Places Australia *Inglewood, Queensland * Shire of Inglewood, Queensland, a former local government area *Inglewood, South Australia *Inglewood, Victoria *Inglewood, Western Australia Canada * Inglewood, Ontario *Inglewoo ...

History

The ''Grand Junction'', located at today's intersection of Grand Junction Road and

Churchill Road Churchill Road (and its northern section as Churchill Road North) is an arterial road in the inner northern suburbs of Adelaide, Australia. Route Churchill Road North commences at the intersection of Port Wakefield Road and Montague Roads in ...

, is the meeting point of what was once the most accessible route out of Adelaide City to the north (over the Torrens via Port Road). It was the intersection of North Road, later called Lower North Road (today Cavan Road), and the east–west road from Upper Dry Creek to the

Port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

(today's Grand Junction Road from Walkley's Road to Cavan Road). It remained so until January 1843, when migrant labourers completed a new bridge spanning 120 feet over the Torrens River. This enabled travellers to take the more direct route northward on the road from the city to Gawler Town (later called Great North Road, today

Main North Road Main North Road is the major north-south arterial route through the suburbs north of the Adelaide City Centre in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. It continues north through the settled areas of South Australia and is a total of long, f ...

), and the junction of roads at

Gepps Cross Gepps Cross (pronounced 'Jepps Cross') is a suburb and major road intersection in the north of Adelaide, South Australia. Gepps Cross is traditionally seen as the end of the inner suburbs and the start of the outer northern suburbs, as it was hom ...

took on a greater significance than the Grand Junction. In the mid-1850s the track and road from the upper Dry Creek, past the Grand Junction Inn, to the Port, was variously called ‘road to the Port’, ‘Port Road,’ or ‘Grand Junction' to (Port) 'Causeway Road’. In November 1854 the Legislative Council requested the Central Road Board estimate the cost of a continuous road from the Grand Junction to the "Port-road near Albert Town", rendered necessary by the formation of the Adelaide and Port Railway. The road upgrade was shelved though for two years. In 1856 the Central Road Board resolved to upgrade the poor roadway between the Grand Junction Inn and Albert Town through the Alberton Swamp. The matter was a serious concern for many district councils north of Adelaide and, in a united front, the district councils flooded the Legislative Council with petitions. On 9 May the Legislative Council passed a motion "for £2,500 to be placed on the Estimates, to form the road from the Grand Junction to Alberton." Official reference to ‘Grand Junction Road’ was made by the government in a message (No. 42) received from the Governor-in-Chief which appropriate funds for the road to the Central Road Board in 1856. Progress on the road was slow, and it was not until May 1857 that approval was given to metal (pave) the new road with compacted limestone. The woes of the road dragged on. Tenderers defaulted and further works were ordered, including an additional 1,000 cubic yards of limestone on the swamp that still was not laid by the end of 1858. The road between the Grand Junction Inn and Alberton across the swamp turned into a money pit for the road board and the community. The saga continued for years. In July 1861 the Central Road Board yet again called for tenders to make 19 chains of the Grand Junction Road over sands at Alberton Swamp. Popular usage of the name "Grand Junction Road" greatly increased after the upgrade was completed in the early 1860s.

Major intersections

There are a number of major intersections along Grand Junction Road, the largest being at

, where

and Port Wakefield Road meet at a five-way crossing. Main North Road joins from the south and continues on to the north-east, towards Parafield, Elizabeth and

Gawler Gawler is the oldest country town on the Australian mainland in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. It is about north of the ...

, while Port Wakefield Road begins at this location, travelling due north to the northern

Adelaide Plains The Adelaide Plains (Kaurna name Tarndanya) is a plain in South Australia lying between the coast (Gulf St Vincent) on the west and the Mount Lofty Ranges on the east. The southernmost tip of the plain is in the southern seaside suburbs of Ade ...

and 90 kilometres to the town of Port Wakefield. The original ''Grand Junction'' at the intersection with Churchill and Cavan Roads was once a five-way intersection used by most northbound travel out of Adelaide. Another intersection was added in 2011, the Gallipoli Drive.

Railway crossings

Due to the configuration of the Adelaide railway system north of the

, there are a number of current and former railway crossings over Grand Junction Road. These include: * The bridge over the Adelaide to Outer Harbor railway line at Alberton * A disused level crossing over the

Dry Creek-Port Adelaide railway line Dry or dryness most often refers to: * Lack of rainfall, which may refer to **Arid regions **Drought * Dry or dry area, relating to legal prohibition of selling, serving, or imbibing alcoholic beverages * Dry humor, deadpan * Dryness (medical) ...

, at

Rosewater Rose water ( fa, گلاب) is a flavoured water made by steeping rose petals in water. It is the hydrosol portion of the distillate of rose petals, a by-product of the production of rose oil for use in perfume. Rose water is also used to fla ...

* A dismantled level crossing in the proximity of Glenroy Street and Eastern Parade, at Pennington and Ottoway (On the former

Finsbury railway line The Finsbury railway line is a defunct railway in north western Adelaide which was used mainly for industrial purposes in the 20th century. It ran through the suburbs of Woodville, Woodville North, Pennington and Ottoway, connecting the Ou ...

) * The bridge over the Adelaide to Gawler and Adelaide-Port Augusta railway at Kilburn and Wingfield * The

Adelaide O-Bahn The O-Bahn Busway is a guided busway that is part of the bus rapid transit system servicing the northeastern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. The O-Bahn system was conceived by Daimler-Benz to enable buses to avoid traffic congestion by s ...

underpass at Holden Hill (Dedicated Busway)

Educational institutions

Adjoining institutions

A number of schools and other education institutions front onto Grand Junction Road. These include: * St. Paul's College,

Gilles Plains Gilles Plains is a suburb of the greater Adelaide, South Australia area, approximately 10km north-east of the Adelaide central business district. History It is named after the first Colonial Treasurer Osmond Gilles who owned a sheep station adj ...

* Tauondi College at Port Adelaide, opposite Alberton *Torrens Valley Christian School at Hope Valley

Non-adjoining institutions

There are also schools which are located within a few streets of Grand Junction Road, in adjacent suburbs: *

Cedar College Cedar College is an R-12 co-educational Christian school situated in the suburb of Northgate, South Australia, 8 km north-east of the Adelaide CBD. Encompassing both Primary School and High School, Cedar College caters for students from R ...

on Fosters Road, Northgate *Heritage College, Oakden *Kilburn Primary School, Kilburn *Modbury High School, Modbury *Modbury Primary School, Hope Valley *Northfield Primary School, Northfield *Pennington Primary School, Pennington * Mount Carmel College,

Roma Mitchell Secondary College Roma Mitchell Secondary College (RMSC) is a public state secondary school in Adelaide, South Australia. It was established in 2011 by combining four previous schools, Ross Smith Secondary School, Enfield High School, Gepps Cross Girls High and ...

, Gepps Cross *Torrens Valley TAFE and Wandana Primary School, both in Gilles Plains

Other landmarks

Grand Junction Road also passes

Yatala Labour Prison Yatala Labour Prison is a high-security men's prison located in the north-eastern part of the northern Adelaide suburb Northfield, South Australia. It was built in 1854 to enable prisoners to work at Dry Creek, quarrying rock for roads and co ...

, the

Adelaide Pre-Release Centre The Adelaide Pre-Release Centre is a minimum security Australian prison in the Adelaide suburb of Northfield. It is the main pre-release facility in South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern cen ...

and the Adelaide Women's Prison at Northfield.

Gallery

Image:Grand junction road, adelaide.jpg, Looking down Grand Junction Road towards the Adelaide Hills from

. Image:Grand junction road bridge.jpg, The bridge over the Adelaide to Port Adelaide railway line at Alberton. Image:Grand junction road adelaide map.svg, Location of Grand Junction Road in the Adelaide Metropolitan area.

References

{{SA road routes , route=A16 , shield={{AUshield, SA, A16 , roads= * Grand Junction Road * Bower Road * Causeway Road * Semaphore Road Roads in Adelaide Freeways and highways in Adelaide