Commonwealth Avenue (route A23) is a major road in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It connects

Civic Civic is something related to a city or municipality. It also can refer to multiple other things: Civic or CIVIC can also refer to: General *Honda Civic, a car produced by the Honda Motor Co. *Civics, the science of comparative government * Civic ...

with

South Canberra South Canberra, or the Inner South, is a subdivision of Canberra Central in the Australian Capital Territory in Australia. South Canberra is separated from North Canberra by Lake Burley Griffin. The two subdivisions combined form the district o ...

. Specifically, it runs between City Hill and Capital Hill.

History

The first Commonwealth Avenue Bridge was constructed in 1928; that replaced a

ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

across the

Molonglo River The Molonglo River is a perennial stream, perennial river that is part of the Murrumbidgee River, Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray–Darling basin. It is located in the Monaro (New South Wales), Monaro and Capital Country regions of New ...

; and two earlier bridges. The current bridge was completed in 1963.

Description

Commonwealth Avenue is a six-lane-wide road with a wide median down the middle. The road crosses

Lake Burley Griffin Lake Burley Griffin is an artificial lake in the centre of Canberra, the capital of Australia. It was created in 1963 by the damming of the Molonglo River, which formerly ran between the city centre and Parliamentary Triangle. The lake is na ...

over the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge. The road is connected with

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 ...

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

style on-ramps. Along its length on the northern side are the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

's residence and

Commonwealth Park Commonwealth Park is in Canberra, Australia, adjacent to the north side of Lake Burley Griffin. Centrally located in the city, it is an important part of the urban landscape. The park has an area of 34.25 hectares, which includes a variety of ...

. On the south side of the lake the road is lined with large trees and is bounded by the suburb of

Parkes Parkes may refer to: * Sir Henry Parkes (1815–1896), Australian politician, one of the earliest and most prominent advocates for Australian federation Named for Henry Parkes * Parkes, New South Wales, a regional town * Parkes Observatory, a radi ...

on the east and Yarralumla on the west. Significant sites along this stretch include the

Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genre ...

, the

Hotel Canberra The Hotel Canberra, also known as Hyatt Hotel Canberra, is a historic hotel in the Australian national capital, Canberra. It is located in the suburb of Yarralumla, near Lake Burley Griffin and Parliament House. It was built to house politi ...

(

Hyatt Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an American multinational corporation, multinational hospitality company headquartered in the 150 North Riverside, Riverside Plaza area of Chicago that manages and franchise ...

) and the High Commissions of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Upon reaching Capital Hill, the road turns into Capital Circle which circles around

Parliament House Parliament House may refer to: Meeting places of parliament Australia * Parliament House, Canberra, Parliament of Australia * Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament of South Australia * Parliament House, Brisbane, Parliament of Queensland * P ...

before connecting with

Adelaide Avenue Adelaide Avenue is a limited-access road in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The road connects Yarralumla with the Parliament House area. Adelaide Avenue is a popular tourist route, since Parliament house, The Lodge, the residence of ...

which connects it with

Woden Valley Woden Valley () is a district in the Australian Capital Territory in Australia. The district is subdivided into divisions (suburbs), sections and blocks. The name of Woden Valley is taken from the name of a nearby homestead owned by James Murr ...

. There is a ramp at the end of Commonwealth Avenue which allows access to

. Between the spans on the southern side are four

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

stones from the 1817

Waterloo Bridge Waterloo Bridge () is a road and foot traffic bridge crossing the River Thames in London, between Blackfriars Bridge and Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges. Its name commemorates the victory of the British, Dutch and Prussians at the ...

across the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, two at each end of the bridge. These were presented to Australia after the 1817 bridge was demolished in the 1940s and replaced by a modern structure. A plaque reads, in part, "Stones such as these from the bridge were presented to Australia and other parts of the British world to further historic links in the British

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...

Gallery

File:Underneath Commonwealth Avenue Bridge January 2013.jpg, Commonwealth Avenue crossing

at Commonwealth Avenue Bridge File:Waterloo Bridge stone Canberra.jpg, One of four granite stones from the 1817

File:British High Commission in Canberra.jpg, The

British High Commission A British High Commission is a British diplomatic mission, equivalent to an embassy, found in countries that are members of the Commonwealth of Nations. Their general purpose is to provide diplomatic relationships as well as travel information, ...

building on Commonwealth Avenue

References

Streets in Canberra Transport in the Australian Capital Territory {{Australia-road-stub

History

Description

Gallery

See also

References