Gateway WA, formally called the Gateway WA Perth Airport and Freight Access Project, was a $1 billion project that upgraded the road network around

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 project was located on portions of the southern parts of Perth Airport land, and adjacent land allocated for transport. It lay mainly within the local government area of the City of Belmont, with the eastern area located in the City of Kalamunda. It was the largest project

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 ' ...

had ever undertaken, covering the upgrade of

Tonkin Tonkin, also spelled ''Tongkin'', ''Tonquin'' or ''Tongking'', is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain '' Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, includ ...

, Leach, and

Roe Roe ( ) or hard roe is the fully ripe internal egg masses in the ovaries, or the released external egg masses, of fish and certain marine animals such as shrimp, scallop, sea urchins and squid. As a seafood, roe is used both as a cooked in ...

Highways, and the construction of four new interchanges. The project was jointly funded by state and federal governments, which provided $317.5 million and $686.4 million respectively. As part of the project, Tonkin Highway was expanded from two to three lanes in both directions, between

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

Roe Highway Roe Highway is a limited-access highway and partial freeway in Perth, Western Australia, linking Kewdale with the city's north-eastern and south-western suburbs. The northern terminus is at Reid Highway and Great Northern Highway in Middle ...

, and the existing intersections in this section was

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 ...

. A new diamond interchange was constructed at Boud Avenue (since known as the Dunreath Drive Interchange), to provide access to the domestic terminal precinct. International terminal access was provided via a new freeway-to-freeway cloverstack interchange at Leach Highway, and a

single-point urban interchange A single-point urban interchange (SPUI, or ), also called a single-point interchange (SPI) or single-point diamond interchange (SPDI), is a type of highway interchange. The design was created in order to help move large volumes of traffic thr ...

which was constructed at

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 ...

's intersection with Horrie Miller Drive and Kewdale Road. The existing diamond interchange with Roe Highway was only upgraded to a partial freeway-to-freeway interchange, but with plans to further upgrade it to a completely free-flowing interchange in the future. The Gateway WA works were separate to Perth Airport redevelopment works undertaken at the same time. The new airport access road, Airport Drive, featured in both projects: the portion in the vicinity of its interchange with Leach and Tonkin Highways was constructed as part of Gateway WA,Gateway WA Perth Airport and Freight Access Project map
(PDF). Gateway WA. Retrieved 27 January 2015. with the remainder – the majority of the road – part of the airport redevelopment. In January 2013, works were undertaken to protect or relocate sections of the Canning Trunk

water main A water distribution system is a part of water supply network with components that carry potable water from a centralized treatment plant or wells to consumers to satisfy residential, commercial, industrial and fire fighting requirements. Definit ...

and the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline in the vicinity of the project. Construction on the Gateway WA project officially began on 1 February 2013 with a groundbreaking ceremony attended by the state and federal transport ministers,

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 ...

and Anthony Albanese. The first section to be constructed was an entrance ramp from

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 ...

to Tonkin Highway southbound. Work on the Leach Highway interchange was expected to commence at the end of 2013, with construction of the other interchanges scheduled to start at the end of 2014. The whole project was due to be completed by 2017, but then moved to mid-2016 due to the project's construction moving faster than predicted. In September 2015, the completion date was moved to March 2016 following the completion of the Tonkin Highway/Leach Highway, Leach Highway/Abernethy Road and Tonkin Highway/Dunreath Drive Interchanges that same month. The project was also estimated to be 50 million dollars under-budget. The project was announced as completed in April 2016.

Components

Construction of Gateway WA involved several components, with construction divided into three main zones: northern, western, and southern.

Northern zone

The northern zone comprised the upgrade of Tonkin Highway, from Great Eastern Highway to Leach Highway, to a six lane standard. A

dumbbell 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 i ...

was constructed at Dunreath Drive. A free-flowing interchange was constructed to connect Leach Highway, Tonkin Highway, and a new airport access road. The airport access road in the vicinity of this interchange was constructed as part of Gateway WA, while the majority of the road will be constructed as part of the separate airport redevelopment project.

Western zone

The western zone covered upgrades in Kewdale, including an interchange at Leach Highway and Abernethy Road, and upgrading Leach Highway to expressway standard. Various improvements to the local road network were undertaken, including installing traffic signals at some intersections, and restricting access at others.

Southern zone

The southern zone comprised the upgrade of Tonkin Highway, from Leach Highway to Roe Highway, to a six lane standard. A

single point urban interchange A single-point urban interchange (SPUI, or ), also called a single-point interchange (SPI) or single-point diamond interchange (SPDI), is a type of highway interchange. The design was created in order to help move large volumes of traffic thro ...

was constructed to connect Tonkin Highway, Kewdale Road, and Horrie Miller Drive. The existing diamond interchange at Tonkin Highway and Roe Highway was upgraded with additional ramps, and an entrance ramp was constructed from Abernethy Road to Tonkin Highway southbound.

Other works

Other works undertaken as part of Gateway WA include noise walls around the project where it exists near residential areas, as well as along Roe Highway in

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

, and a grade separated interchange between Roe Highway and Berkshire Road.

Community relations

Measures to keep communities affected by the changes informed include pamphlet and newsletters, as well as publicity surrounding the specific milestones of bridge completion and other significant events.

References

{{reflist Transport in Perth, Western Australia Articles containing video clips Road interchanges in Australia