Portrush Road is a major arterial route through the eastern suburbs of

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, the capital of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. This name covers many consecutive streets and is not widely known to most drivers except for the southernmost section, as the entire allocation is still best known as by the names of its constituent parts: Hampstead Road, Taunton Road, Ascot Avenue, Lower Portrush Road, and Portrush Road proper. Formerly, there were also sections known as Kensington Terrace and Wellington Road. This article will deal with the entire length of the corridor for sake of completion, as well to avoid confusion between declarations. Portrush Road (including all its constituent roads) is designated route A17.

Route

The Portrush Road corridor runs north–south through Adelaide's eastern and south-eastern suburbs, to the foot of the

Adelaide Hills The Adelaide Hills region is located in the southern Mount Lofty Ranges east of the city of Adelaide in the state of South Australia. The largest town in the area, Mount Barker, South Australia, Mount Barker, is one of Australia's fastest-growi ...

at its southern end. From its intersection with Grand Junction Road in Northfield, it runs south as Hampstead Road through to Manningham, where it turns southeast into Taunton Road to intersect with North East Road, changing name to Ascot Avenue and continuing southeast, crossing the

River Torrens The River Torrens (Karrawirra Parri / Karrawirraparri) is the most significant river of the Adelaide Plains. It was one of the main reasons for the siting of the city of Adelaide, capital of South Australia. It flows from its source in the Ad ...

and changing name again to Lower Portrush Road, before intersecting with Payneham Road. It continues south as Portrush Road through Adelaide's inner eastern suburbs to eventually terminate with the western end of the South Eastern Freeway in Glen Osmond. Portrush road carries approximately 36,000 vehicles per day, including heavy freight trucks. It is an authorised route for trucks up to B-double and vehicle carrier size. Along with Grand Junction Road, Portrush Road constitutes a major heavy road transport route through suburban Adelaide from

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 ...

to the South East of South Australia and the adjacent state of Victoria.

History

Portrush Road was named by Nathaniel A. Knox after

Portrush Portrush () is a small seaside resort town on the north coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It neighbours the resort of Portstewart in County Londonderry. The main part of the old town, including the Portrush railway station, railway stati ...

in Northern Ireland. Knox owned land near the intersection with Greenhill Road, in the area now occupied by the suburbs of Glenunga and Glenside. In a 1949 street directory, the southern end of Portrush Road had its current route to Kensington Road. North of Kensington Road, it took the name Kensington Terrace, then Wellington Road north of the Magill Road intersection to Payneham Road. What is now Lower Portrush Road (including the bridge over the

) did not exist at all. Ascot Avenue was a minor street running off of North East Road which did not exactly line up with Taunton Road on the other side of North East Road. The nearest bridge over the River Torrens was the Felixstow Bridge on Felixstow Road, which is now O.G. Road. Lower Portrush Road and the bridge across the Torrens was opened in November 1970. Had the Metropolitan Adelaide Transport Study of the 1960s progressed, a Hills Freeway would have been constructed to link the South Eastern Freeway to the Port of Adelaide. This would have subsequently removed the freight that utilises Portrush Road today.

Major intersections

References

{{Road infrastructure in Adelaide City of Burnside Roads in Adelaide Freeways and highways in Adelaide

Route

History

Major intersections

See also

References