Joondalup Drive is a major distributor road in the northern suburbs of

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Western Australia. The road travels through the

City of Joondalup The City of Joondalup is a Local government areas of Western Australia, local government area in Perth, Western Australia. Its central business district is located in the suburb Joondalup, and it includes the town centres of Hillarys, Western A ...

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

and extends for a few kilometres east through neighbouring residential suburbs in the

City of Wanneroo The City of Wanneroo is a local government area with city status in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. It is centred approximately north of Perth's central business district and forms part of the northern boundary of the Perth ...

. The road was extended in 2005 to the northern suburb of Banksia Grove to provide easy access for residents to Joondalup's city centre, and to provide a complete connecting route to the

Brand Highway Brand Highway is a main highway linking the northern outskirts of Perth to Geraldton in Western Australia. Together with North West Coastal Highway, it forms part of the Western Australian coastal link to the Northern Territory. The highway i ...

from the

Mitchell Freeway The Mitchell Freeway is a controlled-access highway, freeway in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, linking Perth (suburb), central Perth with the city of Joondalup. It is the northern section of List of road routes in Western ...

. The route from

Ocean Reef Road Ocean Reef Road is an arterial east-west road in Perth, Western Australia. It is located within the northern suburbs of Perth, from Ocean Reef in the west, to Landsdale in the east, with a portion travelling northwards along the coast to Ilu ...

Burns Beach Road Burns Beach Road is an arterial east-west road in Perth, Western Australia, linking the suburbs of Burns Beach, Western Australia, Burns Beach and Iluka, Western Australia, Iluka to the Mitchell Freeway and Joondalup. As of December 2023, only ...

was gazetted as Road No. 10951 by the Shire of Wanneroo in 1953.

Route description

Joondalup Drive is part of State Route 85. The south-western terminus is

in Edgewater and the north-eastern terminus is Old Yanchep Road (formerly

Pinjar Road Pinjar Road is a major distributor road in the north-eastern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Wanneroo. The road was formerly part of the now-decommissioned State Route 86, and one of Perth's major arterial ...

) in Mariginiup, continuing eastwards as Neaves Road to Bullsbrook in the

City of Swan The City of Swan is a Local government areas of Western Australia, local government area of Western Australia, in the Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council, eastern metropolitan region of Perth. It is named after the Swan River (Western Austral ...

. It is a four-lane dual carriageway for most of its length, reducing to a two-lane single carriageway for the remainder of its length east of Tumbleweed Drive and Joseph Banks Boulevard. The speed limit is mostly , though there is a short section at the northern extent of the suburb of Joondalup.

City of Joondalup

Joondalup Drive commences at a traffic light controlled T-junction at Ocean Reef Road in Edgewater in the

LGA, and then travels through said suburb for before intersecting at Eddystone Avenue, heading over into

Joondalup Joondalup () is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, approximately north of Perth central business district, Perth's central business district. It contains the central business district of the regional City of Joondalup and acts as the primar ...

. takes the road to Sundew Rise and Lakeside Drive, the latter of which acts as an outer ring road and suburban street within the

CBD. Joondalup Drive runs through the CBD for about , intersecting Grand Boulevard,

Hodges Drive Hodges Drive is a main west–east road in Joondalup, north of Perth, Western Australia. It begins in the suburb of Ocean Reef at a T-junction with Boat Harbour Quays in the Ocean Reef Marina and runs through the residential areas in Ocean Re ...

Shenton Avenue Shenton Avenue is an east–west distributor road in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Joondalup. The road primarily links Joondalup's coastal suburbs with the Joondalup central business district, thr ...

, and Moore Drive, as well as access to the Joondalup industrial area,

Lakeside Joondalup Lakeside Joondalup Shopping City is a major shopping centre in the Perth suburb of Joondalup. Located adjacent to the Joondalup railway station, it is the third largest shopping centre in Western Australia after Westfield Carousel and Karrinyup ...

, and

Arena Joondalup Arena Joondalup is a multi-purpose sports complex in Joondalup, Western Australia, located on of parkland approximately north of Perth. Opened in 1994, Arena Joondalup is a super complex with many facilities including an outdoor sports grou ...

. Grand Boulevard connects to Hodges Drive at its southern end and Moore Drive at its northern end. After the northern end of Lakeside Drive, Joondalup Drive runs through residential areas at the northern extent of Joondalup before reaching

at a roundabout . About further east, Joondalup Drive leaves the City of Joondalup LGA and heads over into the neighbouring

City of Wanneroo

Joondalup Drive travels briefly through the northern edge of

Wanneroo Wanneroo is a northern suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Wanneroo. Geography As it is on the Swan Coastal Plain, the Wanneroo wetlands stretch parallel to the coastline and to the north and south of the suburb. Ed ...

, providing access to the Wanneroo Botanic Gardens and Mini Golf complex, before reaching a

roundabout interchange A roundabout interchange is a type of interchange (road), interchange between a controlled access highway, such as a motorway or freeway, and a minor road. The slip roads to and from the motorway carriageways converge at a single roundabout, w ...

with

Wanneroo Road Wanneroo Road is a arterial highway in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia linking Joondanna and Yokine in the south with Wanneroo and Yanchep in the north. As part of State Route 60, it begins from Charles Street in the inner ...

further east. The road then travels through the residential suburbs of Carramar and

Tapping Tapping is a playing technique that can be used on any stringed instrument, but which is most commonly used on guitar. The technique involves a string being fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion. This is in contrast to stand ...

for before reaching a roundabout with Pinjar Road, after which the road is completely within Banksia Grove. Joondalup Drive reduces to a two-lane single carriageway further north, and ends a further northeast at Old Yanchep Road. The road, and State Route 85, continue east as Neaves Road towards Bullsbrook, and to

Tonkin Highway Tonkin Highway is an north–south highway and partial freeway in Perth, Western Australia, linking Perth Airport and Kewdale, Western Australia, Kewdale with the city's north-eastern and south-eastern suburbs. As of April 2020, the northern ...

and

Great Northern Highway Great Northern Highway is an Australian highway that links Western Australia's capital city Perth with its northernmost port, Wyndham. With a length of almost , it is the longest highway in Australia, with the majority included as part of the ...

History

Early history

Joondalup Drive was originally known as Osborne Drive, but was renamed in the late 1979 when the proposal to change its name was brought before Wanneroo Shire Council by the Joondalup Development Corporation.

2005 extension and duplication

In the early months of 2005, construction of a major extension to Joondalup Drive was undertaken, extending from its then-northern terminus at Yandella Promenande,

, to Neaves Road, Banksia Grove. The duplication and extension was necessitated mainly by the large traffic volumes that used the section of Joondalup Drive between Wanneroo Road and Hodges Drive during morning and evening peak hours, mainly caused by heavy traffic flows to and from the

at its then-northern terminus at Hodges Drive. The extension was constructed as a two-lane single carriageway, expanding to a four-lane dual carriageway in the vicinity of a major

roundabout A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are types of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junct ...

with

. It then reduced back to a two-lane single carriageway for the remainder of the road before intersecting with Neaves Road. The construction of this extension also required the upgrade of Joondalup Drive from before

beyond

to before Millendon Street, Carramar. The construction of the extension including associated works caused some significant issues, particularly given its involvement in two local governments (the

and the

), a

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...

department (

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 ''M ...

), one

utility ( Western Power), and one

public utility A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and ...

(

Alinta Alinta Limited was an Australian energy infrastructure company. It has grown from a small, Western Australia–based gas distributor and retailer to the largest energy infrastructure company in Australia. It was bought in 2007 by a consortium i ...

). This caused significant issues in synchronisation of works, with each group causing delays for the other as their work progressed. One of the main delays in construction of the Wanneroo Road duplication was the relocation of 225 kVA high voltage

power lines Electric power transmission is the bulk movement of electrical energy from a generating site, such as a power plant, to an electrical substation. The interconnected lines that facilitate this movement form a ''transmission network''. This is ...

from the

Substation A substation is a part of an electrical Electricity generation, generation, electric power transmission, transmission, and electric power distribution, distribution system. Substations transform voltage from high to low, or the reverse, or pe ...

that resided within the road reserve area that was needed for these works. Additionally, significant upgrade works were needed on the Burns Beach Road approaches to Joondalup Drive and the subsequent roundabout at this intersection that also required duplication. The full works on this section were finally completed in 2006, some 18 months after they had commenced. During that time nearby Pinjar Road had been realigned, and State Route 86 was replaced by State Route 85 and Tourist Drive 359 (with the exception of Pinjar Road).

Subsequent works

Joondalup Drive was turned into a dual carriageway from St Stephens Crescent to Tumbleweed Drive in 2011. In 2018 work started on upgrading the intersection with Wanneroo Road to a roundabout interchange, with Joondalup Drive passing over a roundabout with Wanneroo Road. This work is expected to be completed by late-2020.

Major intersections

References

{{WA road routes , route=State Route 85 , shield={{AUshield, S, 85 , roads={{WA road routes/R, 85 Roads in Perth, Western Australia Joondalup Articles containing video clips