Mitchell Freeway to be extended to reduce congestion
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd awarded contract to extend Mitchell Freeway
- Project to create about 120 jobs
- Works are planned to begin in mid-2015
Transport Minister Dean Nalder today announced Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd has been awarded the $160 million Design and Construct contract for the extension of the Mitchell Freeway from Burns Beach Road to Hester Avenue.
The project will directly create about 120 jobs as well as flow-on benefits to suppliers of goods and services.
The six kilometre extension to the freeway, consisting of two lanes in each direction with the capacity to add a third lane in the future, will significantly improve transport flow to the far northern suburbs and ease traffic on local roads.
Mr Nalder said the area had experienced strong traffic growth due to widespread residential development over recent years, which was expected to continue.
“The community in the far northern suburbs will benefit from a reduction in travel times, decreased pressure on local arterial roads and increased residential and business development in the area,” he said.
Works will include the extension of Neerabup Road east from Connolly Drive to Wanneroo Road, duplication of Hester Avenue, and construction of principal shared paths, pedestrian underpasses and grade-separated interchanges at Burns Beach Road, Neerabup Road and Hester Avenue.
Detailed design work will start this month and construction is expected to commence mid-2015. The freeway extension is planned for completion by mid-2017.
Fact File
- A number of strategies were considered by the Department of Parks and Wildlife and other environmental groups to minimise the project’s environmental impacts. For example, underpasses will be incorporated into the road design to aid fauna movement
- Throughout the pre-project stage, Main Roads met with a community reference group to discuss local intersection design, environmental impacts, noise walls, the principal shared path and public art
Source: News Release, Government of Western Australia, 9 April, 2015