Benara Road

Benara Road is an east–west road in the north-eastern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia.

Benara Road from Altone Park

Benara Road entering the City of Swan

Benara Road Western Australia
Benara Road entering the City of Bayswater
General information
Type	Road
Length	8.1 km (5.0 mi)[1]
Route number(s)	State Route 76 (Caversham)
Major junctions
West end	Camboon Road Noranda
	Beechboro Road North (State Route 53) Lord Street (State Route 76)
East end	West Swan Road (State Route 52), Caversham
Location(s)
Major suburbs	Noranda, Beechboro, Caversham

Route description

Benara Road starts off at a roundabout with Camboon Road in Noranda as a two-lane, single carriageway road with a speed limit of 60 km/h (37 mph). The road continues east, in a completely straight line, passing Noranda Shopping Villiage. 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) from the western terminus, just before Holden Drive, Benara Road turns into a four lane dual carriageway, and the speed limit changes to 70 km/h (43 mph), which is what the speed limit is for the rest of the road. 1.5 km (0.93 mi) from Holden Drive, Benara Road passes over Tonkin Highway as a bridge.[2]

1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) after Tonkin Highway, Benara Road exits the City of Bayswater and enters the City of Swan.[3][4] The road also changes back to a two lane single carriageway. Just after that, Benara Road passes Kiara College on one side, and Altone Park on the other side. 2.3 km (1.4 mi) after entering the City of Swan, the road intersects with Lord Street, gaining the State Route 76 allocation. Just after that, the road passes over Bennett Brook. Past there, the surrounding area is partially rural, with Vineyards on the side of the road. The road comes to an end shortly after, at a roundabout with West Swan Road, in Caversham. Heading south on West Swan Road leads to Guildford, and heading north leads to Reid Highway, Great Northern Highway and the Swan Valley.[2]

History

Originally when the road was built, it was a two lane road travelling through farms and bushland on the outskirts of Perth. In the 1930s, Benara Road was considered an option for a highway between Midland and the beach. That plan was shelved.[5]

In the 1970s and 1980s, the area around Benara Road gradually shifted from rural to urban, as it was developed. Small areas of farmland still exist near the road's eastern end in Caversham, which is the southernmost extent of the Swan Valley.[6]

Prior to the late 1970s, Benara Road extended west of Camboon Road, however it was cut off west of Camboon Road, and the cut off section was renamed Bramwell Road. Between 1981 and 1985, the road was upgraded to a four lane dual carriageway between Holden Drive and Della Road. On 18 December 1989, the Tonkin Highway extension to Benara Road was opened, as a traffic light controlled intersection, and the dual carriageway section of Benara Road was extended east to Tonkin Highway. Benara Road was the northern terminus of Tonkin Highway until 11 November 1991, when Tonkin Highway was extended north to link to Reid Highway. In the 1990s, several intersections were modified to be roundabout intersections, and between 1995 and 1998, the dual carriageway was extended again, to Danube Avenue, which is still the current extent of the dual carriageway.[6]

From 2016 to 2018, the intersection with Tonkin Highway was converted to a flyover as a part of the NorthLink WA project. An interchange was considered, but it would have been too close to Tonkin Highway's interchange with Reid Highway, so that was not chosen.[7][8]

Future

As a part of the Morley–Ellenbrook railway line, Noranda Station is planned to be built at the flyover of Tonkin Highway. A pedestrian entrance to the station would be on the bridge, and the entrance to the station's car park would be from Benara Road.[9]

Junction list

LGA[3][4]	Location	km	mi	Destinations	Notes
Bayswater	Noranda	0.0	0.0	Camboon Road – Mirrabooka, Dianella, Morley	Benara Road western terminus; Roundabout intersection
		0.7	0.43	McGilvray Avenue – Malaga, Morley	Roundabout intersection
		1.5	0.93	Crimea Street – Ballajura, Malaga, Morley	Traffic light controlled intersection
	Noranda–Morley border	2.7	1.7	Tonkin Highway (State Route 4)	Formerly traffic light controlled intersection; currently flyover
	Morley	3.4	2.1	Beechboro Road North (State Route 53) – Bennett Springs, Beechboro, Morley	Traffic light controlled intersection
Swan	Beechboro–Kiara–Lockridge tripoint	5.3	3.3	Altone Road – Bennett Springs, Beechboro, Kiara, Lockridge	Traffic light controlled intersection
	Beechboro–Lockridge–Caversham	6.3	3.9	Lord Street (State Route 76) – Beechboro, Lockridge, Eden Hill, Bassendean	State Route 76 concurrency terminus: continues south; Roundabout intersection
	Caversham	6.7	4.2	Bennett Street – Caversham, Dayton, Brabham, Ellenbrook	Roundabout intersection
		7.3	4.5	Waldeck Road – Caversham	Roundabout intersection
		8.1	5.0	West Swan Road (State Route 52) – Guildford, Caversham, West Swan, Henley Brook	State Route 76 eastern terminus; Roundabout intersection
Closed/former       Concurrency terminus

See also

• List of major roads in Perth, Western Australia
•  Australian Roads portal

References

1. "Benara Road". Google Maps. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
2. "Road Information Mapping System". Main Roads Western Australia. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
3. "City of Bayswater, Perth WA - Suburbs 2019" (PDF). City of Bayswater. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
4. "Place map". City of Swan. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
5. "Midland to the Ocean Beach". Trove. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
6. "Landgate Map Viewer Plus". Landgate. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
7. "NorthLink WA". Main Roads Western Australia. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
8. "Project Update - June 2018" (PDF). Main Roads Western Australia. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
9. "Noranda Station". Metronet. Retrieved 31 July 2020.